The Centre

Research Centre on Law and Society
Welcome to the website of CEDIS - Research Centre on Law and Society.

CEDIS is one of the first Portuguese Research Units in the field of Law, whose creation is linked to the foundation of the NOVA School of Law.

With a plural vision of Law in contemporary society, an interdisciplinary and innovative approach to legal research, an international network with European and Portuguese speaking countries, researchers with diverse backgrounds and an open access orientation, CEDIS was created to be a research centre on Law and Society, reflecting the approach of NOVA School of Law to legal studies.

The research that CEDIS currently conducts is organised in the following areas of Law and Society

  • Criminal Law
  • Equality Law
  • Law and History
  • Law and politics
  • Law and religion
  • Law and security
  • Law, Intercultural and Lusophone
  • Private Law
  • Procedural Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Transitional justice
  • Tax and Social Security Law

Mission

CEDIS mission is to promote quality and innovation in Law teaching and Research in the field of socio-legal studies, to enrich and update the library of NOVA School of Law, to provide the community with open access to legal documents and to support the creation and development of interfaces between research activities and community services.

To fulfil its mission, CEDIS develops its activities around the following themes:

  • Study of law in its relations with society, promoting a multidisciplinary awareness of law and society through an integration of legal and non-legal approaches to research and by opening up to methodologies of legal analysis developed by, or devised in collaboration with, other fields of knowledge, with an emphasis on our sister social sciences, including economics;
  • Studying new or emerging legal realities, such as transnational legal phenomena, alternative forms of dispute resolution, or new issues in the regulation of intellectual property and competition law;
  • Bringing to the fore the study of the practical application of Law;
  • To support the implementation of a new academic and teaching model, based on two-way communication and the participation of students in research activities;
  • To support projects aimed at providing services to the community;
  • To increase the international projection of Portuguese legal studies.

Also within the scope of its mission, CEDIS seeks to intensify the articulation between teaching and research, through the involvement of graduate and postgraduate students in its research teams, especially students attending the PhD programmes in Law and Law & Security.

The Board is composed of the Director, who presides, and two members, appointed for a period of four years.

The Scientific Council is composed of the Director of CEDIS, who chairs it, and all permanent members holding a PhD.

The Scientific Advisory Board is composed by the Director; the Faculty Dean; the President of the Scientific Council, two members of CEDIS and experts in the fields of CEDIS activity.

Regulation n.º 3/2023, Centro de Investigação & Desenvolvimento sobre Direito e Sociedade (CEDIS). Published in Diário da República n.º 02/2023, Série II on 03 January 2023.

Archiving and publication of minutes in accordance with the principle of open administration and in order to ensure the transparency of decisions related to research.

The Activities Reports present the progress of research at CEDIS by describing the work carried out and the results obtained.

Relevant legislation for institutions and people engaged in scientific research.

Research at CEDIS is funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), by European institutions with responsibility in the area of scientific research and development, and by other relevant institutions in the area of Law and Society.

The Research Support Office is responsible for providing secretarial services to the Board and support to CEDIS members throughout their research.

Develop the Science of Law.
Fostering productivity, scientific merit and innovation in research.
Arquivos