Scientific research

The name of the institute has a programmatic character: the subject area of criminal sciences, which also describes a special focus of the law degree programme in Göttingen, encompasses the dogmatic disciplines of criminal law and their related sciences in equal measure. This means that findings from the humanities and social sciences are also included. The latter is also reflected in the Institute's close cooperation with the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony.

The linking of criminal law dogmatics and related disciplines ties in with longer-standing traditions, as expressed in particular in the Lisztian ‘entire discipline of criminal law’ or in the Anglo-American discipline of ‘criminal justice’. The latter is also reflected in the choice of the Institute's English name: ‘Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice’.

The Institute is divided into four departments, whose specialist areas reflect the increasing specialisation, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation of criminal law as a whole: In addition to the core areas of criminal law and criminal procedure law, the Institute specialises in international and foreign criminal law, medical and biological law, white-collar criminal law as well as criminology, juvenile criminal law and the penal system.