Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Max Planck Institute for
Comparative Public Law and International Law

Abbreviation	MPIL
Formation	1924
Purpose	Basic research
Location	Heidelberg, Germany
Co-Directors	Armin von Bogdandy and Anne Peters
Parent organization	Max Planck Society
Staff	approx. 100
Website	www.mpil.de

The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Institute for International Law, MPIL) is a legal research institute located in Heidelberg, Germany. It is operated by the Max Planck Society.

The institute was founded in 1924 and was originally named the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Foreign and International Public Law and located in Berlin. It later relocated to Heidelberg and received its current name in 1949. The institute currently employs 69 scientific staff and is led by two co-directors, Armin von Bogdandy (since 2002) and Anne Peters (since 2013). It is seated at Heidelberg University's New Campus.

The institute is one of the most important research institutions in the German-speaking world in the fields of international law, European law, comparative public law, and for the theoretical frameworks of transnational law. It has traditionally performed important advisory functions for parliaments, administrative organs and courts concerned with questions of public international law, comparative public law and European law. In particular, the institute has provided the German Federal Constitutional Court, the German Bundestag and the German Federal Government with information, expert testimony and counsel, representing the Federal Republic of Germany in several high-profile cases.