Research Committee on Sociology of Law

The RCSL was initially conceived as a forum, largely informal, for specialists from all over the world to compare and exchange ideas. A Board was constituted in 1968. Formal by-Iaws were adopted in 1973. Regular elections have been organized every fourth year since 1974. The RCSL has also held regular annual meetings since 1964 (except in 1967). Every four years it meets during the congress of the ISA. It has held also several joint meetings with the Law and Society Association. Since the late sixties, it has established various permanent working groups as a means to promote its research activity more vigorously. Its membership has grown from about two dozen scholars in 1962 to more than 450 in 2002. On December 23, 1988, the RCSL signed an agreement with the government of the Basque Country, giving birth to the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law.