ReseaRch Quality assuRance foR the futuRe a ... - Lund University

Panel 1 – law
The staff of family law consists of only one associate professor and two
doctoral students. A family law thesis focuses on the division of property,
a classic and important family law topic. Child-parent relationship
constitutes a major area in family law research. Research is also carried
out on genetics and family law. A new project on the elderly is planned,
which seems a timely topic of great relevance. Part of the research is of
comparative and interdisciplinary nature, and published in English.
There exists certain integration between family law and social law.
The success of the Norma Programme, in particular, leads to a very positive
evaluation of Private Law II (the Social Dimension). The challenge is,
however, how to replace some key persons, who have deceased or retired.
The grade for Private Law II (the Social Dimension) is excellent.
3.5. Criminal Law and the Law of Procedure
Despite the fact that most of the professors’ and associate professors’ time
goes into basic teaching, four doctoral theses were published in the area of
criminal law and the law of judicial procedure in the period 2003–2007.
At present, there are seven doctoral students working actively on their
theses. The teachers in the area of Criminal Law and the Law of Judicial
Procedure have also been active in writing and publishing articles.
Research in the area has largely been basic legal research, with a traditional
doctrinal approach. However, broader and cross-disciplinary topics
have also been pursued, as in, for example, a thesis, completed in 2004,
which examined sexual violence by discourse analysis methods. Another
thesis published in the same year focused on the criminal liability of
juridical persons, approaching the topic from not only a legal but also
a cultural historical perspective. Such unorthodox methodological
innovations are of course open to criticism. However, they also display a
pioneering spirit and open-mindedness on the part of the Faculty.
Most of the scientific production in the field consists of monograph-style
doctoral theses by individual researchers. As is the case in other Nordic
law faculties, too, the quality of these works varies. However, in Nordic
terms they generally represent a solid standard and also meet international
requirements for the doctorate. What may be criticized is the almost
total lack of empirically-oriented studies with a criminological approach.
65