Research Group Public International Law

Public Inter­national Law can neither provide a one-size fits all solution to inter­national or intra­state conflicts, nor is it irrele­vant to the issue. Rather, it provides a frag­mentary, partially conden­sed frame­work, which can not only be used by politi­cal deci­sion-makers, but can also be resha­ped if neces­sary. The Research Group Public Inter­national Law analy­zes the causes, the course and the conse­quences of inter­national and intra­state conflicts and uses this basis to develop approa­ches for dealing with such conflicts. Beyond trans­discipli­nary and inter­discipli­nary challenges, the research group contri­butes its specific juris­prudential compe­tence, which is focused on the connec­tion between facts of living and legal norms.

In terms of content, the research group deals both with inter­national legal instruments for establishing inter­national security, in particular (preventive) arms control and the insti­tutions of collec­tive security, in addition to public interna­tional law appli­cable in armed conflicts. Further­more, the depart­ment is particularly interes­ted in funda­mental ques­tions of Public Inter­national Law - from its history to its socio­logy. The research group is primarily embed­ded in Research Department II (Inter­national Insti­tutions), but it also takes up ques­tions from the other research depart­ments.

In its projects, the research group benefits from the practical orien­tation of its head and from their net­working in the Hessian uni­versity land­scape.