We have a strong research culture with a number of our research activities rated as ‘internationally excellent’ in previous Research Assessment Exercises.We have developed an excellent international reputation and was one of a select number of UK law schools included in the world’s top 200, in the influential QS World Rankings.We take a broad approach to legal research including doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, critical, historical and socio-legal studies of law.We have a number of specialist areas and key themes including:Hate crime and cyberbullying as well as criminal law theory and philosophy and criminal justice more generally, war crime trials, international criminal law and genocide, piracy and crimes at seaHuman rights, justice and security, and democratic constitutionalism in EuropeDiversity, crime and justice, including issues relating to imprisonment and families, violence against minority ethnic women, migration and human traffickingInternational and European law and comparative approaches relating to maritime and ocean issues, international commerce, international intellectual property rights, security issues, environmental issues, energy and nuclear securityMedical law and legal issues concerning bioethics and biosafety'The institute for international and comparative law’ produces research of doctrinal, interdisciplinary and policy-related types. It also engages in the world of law, law enforcement and policy outside academia, including consultancy work.ImpactA number of staff within the School of Law and Social Science have international reputations, allowing them to be at the forefront of the worldwide law community. They are able to act as members of editorial boards of leading refereed journals, as external assessors for funding bodies, as keynote speakers at international conferences and as prestigious office holders in leading academic organisations.Their research outputs have a significant impact on the formulation of national and international policy, legislation and practice and have been cited and used by international organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the International Seabed Authority and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific as well as by National Governments both overseas and in the UK and by Law Reform Agencies such as the Law Commission.The work of our members has also been extensively cited and quoted with approval in national, international and European courts including the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords and the Supreme Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.UCLan is also actively engaged in communicating its expertise to the public. Members regularly contribute to quality newspapers as well as interviews for TV, radio and other major media outlets from the BBC and Bloomberg to the Saigon Times and Radio Australia.Law research has a strong record of attracting funding, including from the Economic and Social Research Council, the European Commission and Erasmus Mundus and its quality has further been recognised by the award of prestigious prizes such as that for the Best Paper at the Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars.