ESELS Working Group
Empirical Criminal Law
Description
The Working Group on Empirical Criminal Law provides a collaborative platform for scholars using empirical methods to study criminal law and criminal justice systems across jurisdictions. The aim is to connect researchers investigating how criminal law operates in practice through legislation, prosecution, adjudication, and sentencing.
A particular focus of the working group is placed on the functioning of criminal justice institutions and identifying how they affect criminal justice outcomes.
The group welcomes research employing a wide range of empirical approaches, including quantitative, experimental, qualitative, and mixed-method designs.
Aims and objectives
The Working Group aims to:
• Foster high-quality empirical research on criminal law and criminal justice systems;
• Promote methodological innovation in the study of criminalization, enforcement, sentencing, and punishment;
• Facilitate cross-jurisdictional research and collaboration across disciplines: Legal scholars, criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, data scientists, and practitioners;
• Build and share data resources, methodological tools, and analytical frameworks relevant to empirical criminal law research;
• Provide a forum for early-career researchers to present and refine empirical work-in-progress.
Strategy and planning
The Working Group operates as a hub for empirical inquiry into criminal law. Activities include:
• Organizing thematic panels and workshops at ESELS conferences and related events;
• Hosting seminars and methodological workshops on data collection, coding, and analysis in empirical criminal law research;
• Supporting collaborative projects and datasets on topics such as prosecutorial decision-making, sentencing disparities, or compliance with procedural safeguards;
• Encouraging transparency, replication, and open-science practices in empirical criminal law research.
Chairs
Jakub Drapal (jakub.drapal@prf.cuni.cz)
Michal Šoltés (soltesm@prf.cuni.cz)
Group members
Mojca M. Plesničar
Jose Pina-Sánchez
Alena McClure
Salomé Lannier
Would you like to join this WG? Please register as a member here and indicate your WG preference.