The Institute

IRI is an independent research unit at the Department of Law at Stockholm University. The Institute is under the auspices of the Faculty of Law and its constitution has been confirmed by the University’s Vice Chancellor. The work is led by an executive board and its daily activities are managed by a director. The current director is Peter Wahlgren, Professor of Law and Information Technology.

While IRI is primarily a research organisation, it is also actively involved in community development and participates in various expert groups concerning the regulation and development of information and communication technology. For a long time the Institute functioned as secretariat for the Foundation for Legal Information, whose purpose is to promote the digitalization of legal information.

The staff is responsible for the educational activities in Law and IT at Stockholm University and teach at other universities on a regular basis. IRI has administered an international Masters Programme in Law and Information Technology for more than ten years.

IRI is one of the world’s first research organisations focusing on the interaction between Law and Information Technology. The activities started in 1968 when a Working Party for Electronic Data Processing and Law was established at Stockholm University’s Law Faculty. In 1981 the Working Party was transformed into the Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute (IRI).