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• History of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies was founded in 1947. It was conceived and is funded as a national academic institution, attached to the University of London, serving all universities through its programmes, facilities and national legal research library. Its function is to promote, facilitate and disseminate the results of advanced study and research in the discipline of law, for the benefit of persons and institutions in the UK and abroad.

The general aims and objects of the Institute were from the beginning proclaimed to be: "the prosecution and promotion of legal research and training of graduate students in its principles and methods".

The idea of a national Institute, housing what is our national law library, with a brief to promote and facilitate research in law at an advanced level, both nationally and internationally, can be traced back to a speech delivered in Lincoln's Inn, by the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Russell of Killowen, on 28 October 1895 in which he called for an initiative to establish such an institution.

The seeds that Lord Russell and others planted grew towards the idea of creating an institute of advanced legal research. The appointment in August 1932 by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Sankey, of an expert committee on Legal Education under Lord Atkins was a key moment towards making the idea a reality. This important committee was charged to consider not only the organisation of legal education but also "further provision for advanced research in legal studies".

The committee discovered considerable support in the academic world (particularly from the Society of Public Teachers in Law - SPTL) and also within the professions for the establishment of "an institution which would be a headquarters for academic research and would promote the advancement of knowledge of law in the most general terms" and in particular on a comparative basis.

Read the History of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 1947-1976 by Willi Steiner (pdf)

See the First prospectus of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies :1948 (pdf)

Previous Directors	Previous Librarians	Previous Secretaries
Professor Barry Rider Director 1995-2004 Professor Terence Daintith Director 1988-1995 Sir Jack Jacob Director 1986-1988 Professor Aubrey Diamond Director 1976-1986 Professor Sir Norman Anderson Director 1958-1976 Professor Sir David Hughes Parry Director 1947-1958	Miss Muriel Anderson Librarian 1982-1991 Mr Willi Steiner Librarian 1968-1981 Mr K. Howard Drake Librarian 1947-1967	Ms Margaret R. Wilson Institute Manager 2011-2012 Mr Will Fitzmaurice Administrative Manager 2009-2011 Mr Peter Niven Administrative Secretary 2006-2008 Mr David Phillips Administrative Secretary 1987-2006 Mr John Boxhall Secretary 1971-1986 Mr Willi Steiner Secretary 1968-1971 Mr K. Howard Drake Secretary 1947-1967

Chairmen of the Board of the Institute (featuring portraits by artist Alistair Adams)	60th Anniversary of the Foundation of IALS celebrations
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies : first prospectus 1948	Early years at 25 Russell Square
Collation of Legal Research	History of the site: New Zealand Soldiers' Club
History of IALS publications	Charles Clore House - Sir Denys Lasdun