• About the Institute

    About the Institute

    The Harry and Michael Sacher Institute for Legislative Research and Comparative Law was established in 1959. Its broad range of activities ever since has been supported by a generous donation from the Sacher Family. The Institute serves as a prominent research arm of the Faculty of Law, as well as a publishing house (the leading in Israel) for legal academic publications.

    In its first years, the Institute assisted the Israeli Ministry of Justice and other official agencies in the preparation of legislative materials and by writing commentaries on proposed bills. Today the Institute engages with (and supports) legal research in a variety of fields, through the following means:

    • Books: The Institute has published hundreds of books and monographs, written mainly in Hebrew, by leading Israeli scholars in all areas of law. We continue to publish books on an ongoing basis, based on a peer-review process that ensures the highest academic level. 
    • Conferences: The Institute organizes international and national conferences, in Israel and abroad, in cooperation with local and foreign research centers, and occasionally sponsors conferences organized by members of the Faculty.
    • John Sacher Annual Law Lecture: The Institute holds an annual named lecture in the memory of John Sacher, who was a friend and supporter of the Institute and the Faculty for many years.  Giving the lecture are distinguished and leading international figures in the study of law.  The inaugural lecture was held in 2017.
    • Research Support: The Institute provides funding for research projects of faculty members. Occasionally, the Institute grants post-doctoral fellowships to promising junior researchers to pursue their academic development while in residence at the law faculty, engaging with faculty members and taking part in the University’s rich academic environment.
    • Journals: Three academic journals in Hebrew are published under the auspices of the Institute: “Misphatim”, the Faculty’s flagship journal, edited by its students and Israel’s leading journal of tis kind; “Hukim”, a journal devoted to legislative proposals and commentaries; and “Israel Criminology”, the journal of the Israeli Association of Criminology.  Moreover, the Institue is charged with the Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies, which is published in conjunction with Oxford University Press.