The Center for Diversity in Law is a newly founded research initiative funded by the Mercator Foundation and based at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg. Since taking up its activities in March 2025, the Centre has been dedicated to researching structural inequalities in the legal system with the aim of improving access to justice for marginalized population groups – including people of color, women and religiously or socially excluded population groups.

The Center’s work is based on three central pillars: academic research on diversity in law, independent empirical and legal doctrinal studies and the transfer of academic findings into practice. Through exchange with political decision-makers, ministries of justice, lawyers and civil society, evidence-based solutions are to be developed and structural changes initiated.

As part of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, the Center makes a significant contribution to the international discourse on diversity in law. Its research focuses in particular on the question of how a lack of representation within legal institutions influences public trust in the rule of law. The analysis goes beyond the judiciary and also includes jurisprudence, public administration and the legal profession. The aim is to promote sustainable change through interdisciplinary dialog and scientifically sound strategies.

The Center’s research team is made up of two doctoral students, Helena Kaim and Luise Freitag, postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator Prof. Dr. Iris Canor and Max Planck Fellow and research director Prof. Dr. Emanuel V. Towfigh. While one doctoral project is dedicated to empirical studies on mechanisms of exclusion, the second focuses on a legal-dogmatic analysis to identify legal solutions. Iris Canor takes on coordinating tasks, supports the development of a scientific network and carries out independent research work.

Although the challenges of diversity are of a global nature, the Center initially focuses on the German legal system. At the same time, international perspectives are included in order to gain comparative legal insights. The research takes particular account of historical and social factors that shape the German legal landscape – such as industrialization after the Second World War and the associated labour migration – and places these in the context of international developments.

A central component of the Center’s work is its close networking with the Max Planck Law Network, which, with its nine institutes and over 400 researchers, offers a sound basis for comparative and interdisciplinary exchange. Through cooperation between legal and social science disciplines, the Center aims to provide new scientific impetus and contribute to a sustainably more inclusive and fairer legal system.

With the commencement of its work, the Center for Diversity in Law is now pursuing the goal of bridging the gap between research and practice and contributing to the strengthening of a diverse and fair legal system in the long term.

Contact: diversity@mpil.de