Research areas
The Department of Public and International Law has a wide research profile. Our current main subjects areas are listed below.
Child law deals with issues that particularly relate to the child’s legal position.
Constitutional law is about the fundamental legal norms on the state and its activities – the different state organs and their mutual relationship, towards the private sector and towards the surrounding World. Usually, the Constitution is more difficult to amend than other sorts of legal norms, and it provides the legal basis for other sorts of legal norms. The superior character of the Constitution distinguishes it from other sorts of legal norms within a given legal system.
Research on gender equality and anti-discrimination law is based on legal protection against discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and reduced functional ability, etc., in accordance with the Convention on Human Rights, EC law and Norwegian legislation.
Environmental law concerns itself with the fundamental legal questions assossiated with a sustainable management og of natural ressources and the environment.
The current main subjects within this research area are international tribunals, multinational corporations, as well as legal and political theory of international law. A formal research group on Internationalisation of Law was formed in August 2005.
Labour law deals with the legal relationship between employer and invidual employees, as well as legislation concerning organisations of the labour market and collective agreements.
Combining law and history, the subject of legal history examines law in a historical context. As a subject at the Faculty of Law it adopts a thematic approach to law and legal science in a historical perspective.
Refugee law presents the rules of law applicable to refugees. It forms part of the law relating to foreign nationals, which also includes a number of other rules on the legal status of foreign nationals. The Immigration Act is the basic statute in this field. A number of international treaties also constitute major sources of law, including the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
The aim of Women's law is to describe, explain and understand women's legal position in order to improve women's position in law and society.
Criminal law deals with the legal rules on criminal offences and punishment.
Civil procedure encompasses the rules on court procedure in civil cases. The most important statute is the Act relating to mediation and procedure in civil disputes (no. 90/2005) (the Dispute Act), which entered into force on 1 January 2008. The purpose of the Dispute Act is to reform the processing of civil cases, including assigning greater emphasis to active case management and proportionality. Furthermore, important rules are also stated in the 1915 Act relating to the courts of justice.
Social welfare law deals with the legal rules that are of fundamental significance for the quality of life and the welfare of the individual.
Education law focuses on a variety of issues at all stages of education. It presents questions related to kindergarten, primary and lower secondary school, upper secondary school, university and university college as well as to training courses undertaken at the workplace and in the business sector. These questions are linked to both public and private training courses, as well as to the legal aspects of home education.
International law deals primarily with the legal relations between independent states, but also to some extent the relations between individuals and states, and between organizations and states. International law is primarily based on treaties (agreements between states) and customary international law (the individual practice of states).
Administrative law deals with the activities of public bodies, excluding legislative bodies (which are placed under constitutional law) and judicial bodies (criminal law and criminal procedure).