The Research Group is currently working on three main areas of research: The history of public law, international legal histories and the history of commercial law.
The group is also organizing a series of seminars, normally one or two events per month, and it runs a number of projects, including the international network project DigiReg.
The History of Public Law
Between 2012 and 2021, the Research Group worked on constitutional legal history, with considerable external funding. In this period, the Research Group published a number of books and other works, with contributions from several dozens of researches. A major publication was a legal historical commentary to the Norwegian Constitution, 1814–2020 (2021). For more informastion, see this link.
In the coming years, the Research Group will conduct research on the history of administrative law. This will include research on the history of administrative institutions, the history of administrative professions, and administrative law as a field of law. Cooperation has been initiatied with Karnov Group, who will publish the research output in a separate book series. The work is headed by Professor Geir Heivoll.
Another important topic to the Research Group is constitutional law during the interwar period. The implications of World War I for the global state structure and constitutional thought can barely be exaggerated. With 15 million dead and a traumatized war generation, new social forms and cultural practices were born, often referred to under the heading of modernism. The Research Group will initiate seminars and publications aiming to shed light on Norwegian, Nordic and international constitutional developments during the period. The project is carried out in cooperation with researchers in Bergen and Oslo. Dag Michalsen is coordinating the Group’s activities.
For more information about the Research Group’s participation in the completed UiO:Nordic projects, see «The Public Sphere and Freedom of Expression in the Nordic Countries, 1815-1900» and «Nordic Civil Societies».
International Legal Histories
The Research Group is currently expanding its research on the history of international law, and it has initiated a project on «History and Law in European Integration».
The History of Commercial Law
The Research Group is aiming to develop a larger project within the field of commercial law. Seminars on the topic are currently being held.
Within economic history and economic theory, the role of law has been given a more prominent position in recent time. This new focus on the relation between law and economy is no coincidence, but has rather received increased attention through recent economic instability and crises in Europe and the United States. With this situation as a backdrop, control of capital seems to be one of the major topics of our time.
Law and Literature
The Research Group is working on issues related to law and literature. The main field of research is currently the project IbsenLaw 1828–2028.
The Network Project DigiReg
The project «Rule of Law through Digital Communication of Law» (DigiReg) is an international network project funded by the Norwegian Research Council through the JUREVAL programme for four years (2023–2027).
The main objective behind DigiReg is to strengthen the rule of law by developing a regulative model for digital dissemination of law. The project aims to use the potential inherent in the ongoing digitalisation to make law more accessible both for lawyers and citizens. It works interdisciplinary and will draw upon both historical and comparative research experience. The main objective can only be realized if legal method is adapted to the ways of dissemination. A part of the DigiRett-project is thus about developing legal method. Another part is about mitigating the need for legal aid through the development of the regulative model.
Read more about the project here.
Publication of Legal Historical Sources
The Resarch Group is working actively on publishing edited and text-critical legal historical sources in the book series Oslo Studies in Legal History. So far, Anders Sandøe Ørsted’s comments on a new Norwegian Criminal Code, Frederik Stang’s lectures on natural law from 1830–1831, and Anton Martin Schweigaard’s lectures on administrative law from 1841 have been published.
Several source editions are underway.
Legal Historical Lunch Seminars
Legal historical lunch seminars have been conducted continuously since the autumn of 1997. The seminars are announced here on our webpages and by email to the members of the group.
Book Series: Oslo Studies in Legal History
Oslo Studies in Legal History is a book series aiming to publish books about important topics within legal history. This also includes the publishing of text-critical, edited sources. The book series is edited by Professor Dag Michalsen. For an overview of the books, see this page (in Norwegian).
Legal Historical Commentaries
The Research Group has established a cooperation with Karnov Group and Lovdata Pro about the publication of legal historical commentaries to various legislative Acts. The commentaries are edited by Professor Geir Heivoll. For more information, see this page (in Norwegian).
