LAW - Rule of Law Institute
Rule of Law Institute
The rule of law underlies all political, economic, and social goods. It ensures equal access and responsibility to the law, accountability, due process, and transparency. To overcome today’s global challenges – violence, infringement of human rights, environmental destruction, economic inequality, injustice, poverty, and hunger – the rule of law is essential.
Who we are
This Institute is established within Loyola as a center for the advancement of the rule of law. We develop ground-breaking research, produce new solutions, and prompt real change that will empower individual lives, assist economic development, and advance legal standing.
By identifying expertise and commitment within the Loyola community, as well other domestic and international actors, we produce knowledge and processes that can be shared and leveraged for change. The Institute also welcomes external partners who can contribute to such research and research opportunities, serve as change partners, and expand the national and global reach of the institute and its mission.
Meet our Director
How to make a better world
Under Juliet S. Sorensen’s leadership, Loyola advances the rule of law
Read Sorensen's storyCenters and Initiatives
The Institute is an interdisciplinary entity. It is composed of three centers and an academic arm that researches, analyzes, and produces new knowledge about rule of law issues, develops solutions for those problems, and implements those solutions to the betterment of society.
Rule of Law for Development Program (PROLAW)
The mission of PROLAW is to equip legal and development professionals with the knowledge and practical skills needed to inspire, lead and manage national efforts to strengthen the laws and institutions required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It is the degree-granting arm of the Institute.
The Faculty and Scholar Directory
In The News
Meet two PROLAW alums advocating for justice and human rights in Africa
Nokukhanya (Khanyo) Farisè (LLM ’16) and Brenda Anugwom (LLM ’12) live and work in Africa, focusing on human rights and the law.
Learn MoreEvents and Calls for Papers
Register
Global Migrations and the Rule of Law
Presented in collaboration with
Loyola University Chicago College of Arts and Sciences and
supported in part by the Morris I. Leibman Endowment
Rome, Italy
April 11-12, 2025
Call for Research Proposals: Rule of Law Institute
This initiative supports research that critically examines the rule of law, its foundations, and its implications across legal, political, and social contexts. Proposals are due by June 15, 2025
2025 Law and Development Conference Call for papers
Call for Papers for the 2025 Law and Development Conference co-hosted by the Law and Development Institute and the University of Hawaii School of Law; abstracts due by May 1, 2025.
The rule of law underlies all political, economic, and social goods. It ensures equal access and responsibility to the law, accountability, due process, and transparency. To overcome today’s global challenges – violence, infringement of human rights, environmental destruction, economic inequality, injustice, poverty, and hunger – the rule of law is essential.
Who we are
This Institute is established within Loyola as a center for the advancement of the rule of law. We develop ground-breaking research, produce new solutions, and prompt real change that will empower individual lives, assist economic development, and advance legal standing.
By identifying expertise and commitment within the Loyola community, as well other domestic and international actors, we produce knowledge and processes that can be shared and leveraged for change. The Institute also welcomes external partners who can contribute to such research and research opportunities, serve as change partners, and expand the national and global reach of the institute and its mission.
Centers and Initiatives
The Institute is an interdisciplinary entity. It is composed of three centers and an academic arm that researches, analyzes, and produces new knowledge about rule of law issues, develops solutions for those problems, and implements those solutions to the betterment of society.
Rule of Law for Development Program (PROLAW)
The mission of PROLAW is to equip legal and development professionals with the knowledge and practical skills needed to inspire, lead and manage national efforts to strengthen the laws and institutions required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It is the degree-granting arm of the Institute.