International Association of Legal Sciences

International Association of Legal Sciences 

(Association Internationale des Sciences Juridiques), an international nongovernmental organization. The International Association of Legal Sciences was founded in 1955 under the auspices of UNESCO. Its main office is located in Paris.

According to the association’s charter, the main task of the body is to aid the development of legal sciences by organizing the comparative study of various national legal systems, arranging meetings of jurists, providing for the exchange of information, and encouraging the establishment of scholarly societies dealing with comparative law. The association has two categories of members—member organizations (national committees in more than 40 countries) and individual associates. The Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR became a member of the association in 1957.

The governing body of the association is the International Committee for Comparative Law, which has nine individual members, elected by a council; one delegate to the council is appointed from each national committee. The International Committee elects a president and two vice-presidents to two-year terms. The general secretary of the association is appointed by the International Committee to serve a five-year term. The association has three standing committees: social sciences, the collection of social data, and problems of the environment.

The official languages of the association are English and French. The association has a category B consultative status with UNESCO.