The Department of International Law and Dispute Resolution examines and analyses various mechanisms and techniques of international dispute settlement – including traditional litigation as well as alternative methods of dispute resolution and adjudication – but also extends its research to all kinds of decision-making processes. Its research agenda focuses on the principles and processes underlying each of these mechanisms and explores various theoretical and historical schools of thought in international law in order to assess their accuracy regarding procedural issues.

The department promising senior and junior research fellows with various disciplinary and cultural backgrounds. Currently, the research activities of this internationally-minded team are in particular focused on two long-term ambitious projects:

• The Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law, which aims to bring into focus essential topics in international dispute resolution, to cover the latest developments in the field and to reflect international law from a procedural perspective;
• The Making of International Judicial and Arbitral Decisions, which combines the perspectives of law, political science, sociology, psychology and history, and aims at opening up the black box which in many respects still encrypts the decision-making processes of courts and tribunals.

Besides the two aforementioned challenging projects, the Department of International Law and Dispute Resolution is actively engaged in international research projects, scientific and professional networks, international organizations and forums. Seminars, colloquia and in-house workshops that gather leading scholars and practitioners of international law are regularly held, as well as Lecture series organized in close collaboration with the Department of European and Comparative Procedural Law.