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Message from the Director
The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Law and Policy (CISLP), affiliated with the Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University

In April 2021, the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Law and Policy (CISLP) was established by restructuring the International Legal and Political Documentation Center and the Center for Law and Policy Studies.
We are now seeing a whole paradigm shift in our society brought about by the development of technology and science, the rapid globalization, and the global environmental change. We need to adapt to such huge social changes and tackle the cutting-edge issues in legal policy. The CISLP’s missions are (1) to engage in interdisciplinary and international research combining theory and practice, (2) to propose legal policy initiatives which help realize human-centered innovation while at the same time ensuring that no one is left behind, (3) and to promote the development of new academic disciplines and the training of creative leaders.

The CISLP has set up an Interdisciplinary/International Collaborative Research Section, and an Educational Support Section for Policy and Practice for faculty members. Professor Keizo Yamamoto serves as Director, Professor Satoshi Machidori as Deputy Director, and other professors and researchers participate as follows: professors (6 full-time professors) who are also concurrent professors at the Graduate School of Law, program-specific researchers (6 full-time researchers), and as instructors with a professional career, professors (4 full-time professors), special professors (6 professors), visiting professors (8 professors), collaborative researchers (3 researchers), and a fellow (1 fellow). Also, 16 cooperating faculty members (professors, associate professors, lecturers, program-specific associate professors) from the Graduate School of Law will participate. 　In addition, program-specific faculty members will be employed through cross-appointment.

Furthermore, the CISLP has set up, as research organizations, an Artificial Intelligence and Law Unit, a Medical Care and Law Unit, and an Environment and Law Unit. Members of the above-mentioned two Sections (Interdisciplinary/International Collaborative Research Section and Educational Support Section for Policy and Practice) can freely participate in the activities of each Unit, depending on their major research fields. The Units will work on research which may be far more diverse than the conventional, traditional areas of law and politics, and on multilateral joint research studies in collaboration with various fields of natural science. They will carry out highly interdisciplinary and international research study in collaboration with other faculties of Kyoto University and with off-campus research institutes.

We are seeing eye-opening advancements of technology including artificial intelligence (AI), the emergence of unknown infectious diseases, and the global environmental change. It can be said that we are now in the midst of a paradigm shift in the entire society. We must now take the initiative to tackle the cutting-edge legal and policy issues relating to this paradigm shift, and play a leading role in the establishment of international rules and standards. Having the three above-mentioned Units at its core, namely the Artificial Intelligence and Law Unit, the Medical Care and Law Unit, and the Environment and Law Unit, the CISLP broadly targets the social changes brought about by the development of science and technology. The CISLP will promote interdisciplinary and international research, collaborating with legal practitioners, and aim to put the legal systems researched into practice for the well-being of people.

Masakazu Doi
Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University
Director, the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Law and Policy

About the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Law and Policy (CISLP)

The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Law and Policy (CISLP) was established in April 2021. The backdrop to the establishment of the CISLP is that we are in the midst of a paradigm shift brought about by development of science and technology, rapid globalization and global environmental change. We have　to adapt to these huge changes in society appropriately. The CISLP focuses on cutting-edge issues in legal policy. Its missions are to work on interdisciplinary and international research combining theory and practice, to propose legal policy frameworks which help realize human-centered innovation while at the same time ensuring that no one is left behind, and to promote the development of new academic disciplines and the training of creative leaders in these disciplines. To achieve these missions, the CISLP aims to recruit and retain qualified personnel who has various backgrounds and who goes beyond the conventional area of study in law and politics, to promote international collaborative research, and then to plow the research product back into education. The CISLP’s flexibility and mobility enable each faculty member to achieve these goals.

Activities

The CISLP is affiliated with the Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University, and tackles cutting-edge issues in legal policy.

The CISLP will work on　(1) interdisciplinary education and research (including an integration of arts and sciences), (2) international research collaboration and communication to the world (3) and collaborative research and education by researchers and practitioners.

We are now seeing a paradigm shift in entire society, due to the development of completely new sciences and technologies for humankind such as AI, and the emergence of unknown infectious diseases. It is an urgent task to work through such cutting-edge issues in legal policy in order to adapt to these social changes and to take the initiative to establish international rules and standards.

The CISLP thinks outside of the box. We encourage our researchers to go beyond the conventional framework of law and politics, to broadly target the changes brought about by the development of science and technology, and to aim to put the legal systems researched into practice. In that sense, the CISLP is the most unique center of its kind.

Organizational Structure of CISLP

The CISLP is administered by a Center Working Meeting hosted by the Director of the CISLP. The CISLP consists of two organizational units, Sections and Units. The Sections are organizations to which faculty members belong and in which they pursue their educational activities. We have two Sections at the CISLP.

The Interdisciplinary/International Collaborative Research Section is an organization that aims to collaborate with the academia of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and with industrial communities. This Section also promotes international collaborative research. This Section consists of 6 researchers who are also concurrent professors at the Graduate School of Law. Cooperative faculty members from the Graduate School of Law will also engage in research activities in this Section. In addition, 6 program-specific researchers belong to the Section and work on the management of the study groups.

The Educational Support Section for Policy and Practice is a faculty organization that promotes connecting with national legislation, administration, judicial practice, or corporate legal affairs, and supports business training at the Law School and the  School of Government. This Section has faculty members with legal professions (4 full-time professors, 6 special professors at the Law School), visiting professors (engaged in legal professions/administrative practice), fellows /cooperative researchers, etc.

The Units are groups of researchers who work together at specific studies. The CISLP has set up various Units according to the projects it works on. At the time of establishment of CISLP (2021), three units exist.

I. The Artificial Intelligence and Law Unit: It specializes in designing legal systems that enable us to adapt to the social changes brought about by artificial intelligence (AI). The Unit aims to make policy recommendations that meet the needs of practical business and to communicate them to the world by publishing English books. This Unit strives to achieve those goals on the basis of accomplishments of empirical research: interdisciplinary and international collaborative research such as psychological experiments, anthropological research, text mining using artificial intelligence, etc.

II. The Medical Care and Law Unit: The global expansion of coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on our lives. At the same time, academic and practical knowledge has been acquired both at home and abroad by tackling the pandemic. Taking such knowledge and information into account, this Unit aims (1) to prepare for a legal environment that enables us to adapt to the post-pandemic new normal, (2) to propose the designing of a legal system for the management and use of medical care and treatment, (3) and to support medical care in a post-pandemic world.

III. The Environment and Law Unit: This Unit explores two main topics: international adjustment for environmental regulation and freedom of international investment.

The Unit is on a mission to develop a legal theory which makes the following two conflicting activities compatible: controlling cross-border movement of pollutants and promoting free investment. This Unit also aims to propose a legal framework which enables us to regulate the political process both at home and abroad. With these targets in mind, the Unit will work on interdisciplinary and international collaborative research and conduct empirical analysis.