Institute of Comparative Law

[Feb 09] Graduate students of the Institute of Comparative Law standing proudly on the steps of Old Chancellor Day Hall with some of their professors

Diverse legal traditions and legal systems

The Institute of Comparative Law (ICL) offers graduate students at McGill Law a space for the intellectual development and exchange of ideas related to comparative law and learning. Since 1965, it has played a central role in graduate legal education at McGill, serving as a vehicle for Master’s and Doctoral students pursuing projects with comparative dimensions.

Situated within the broader context of McGill’s unique transsystemic legal pedagogy, the ICL invites its graduate students to think about comparative research as an enterprise that moves beyond the simple acknowledgment or contrast of formal rules in different geographical places.

Instead, students are prompted to imagine the wider promise of a comparative project that espouses an openness to diversity in terms of legal systems, traditions, cultures and histories; disciplinary approaches; research methodologies; and theoretical frameworks.

From its inception, the ICL has been at the vanguard of legal education, as the sole scholarly comparative law institute focused primarily on graduate studies.

Graduate courses

Occasions for such exploration are offered through courses designated specifically for graduate students in law (namely, CMPL 641 Theoretical Approaches to Law and CMPL 610 Legal Research Methodology ), as well as the CMPL 600 Legal Traditions course, required for all ICL students. Students are also encouraged to think about the nature of comparative graduate research in law in the ICL workshops, inaugurated in 2008.

Each workshop is organized around a particular theme or question, and will aim to foster informal exchanges about the intellectual trajectories, developments, queries or challenges that a student pursuing comparative graduate work might encounter. These sessions will thus promote the sharing and support of student work, and foster opportunities for mentoring by and among peers, while overseen and guided by the ICL Director, Assistant Professor Angela Campbell.

Doing a master's degree in law at the ICL

Candidates who are interested in obtaining a master's degree (LL.M.) at the ICL should consult the Faculty of Law's Admissions: Prospective graduate students website.