Stepien, Mateusz

Education:

• 2004: Master’s Degree in Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University. Thesis title: „Will and Freedom in both Philosophy and Law.”
• 2007: Ph.D. (Doctor of Law), Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University. Thesis title: „Responsive Public Administration.”
• 2014: Habilitation in Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University. Thesis title: „The Dispute Between Confucians and Legalists: Around Chinese Legal Culture.”
• 2025: Full Professorship.

Work History:

• 2009 - 2019: Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology of Law, Jagiellonian University.
• Since 2019: Professor at the Department of Sociology of Law, Jagiellonian University.
• Since 2024: Head of the Department of Sociology of Law and Vice-Dean of Faculty of Law and Administration.

Currently Conducting Following Courses at the Jagiellonian University:

• Sociology of Law
• An Introduction to Chinese and Islamic Legal Culture
• Master’s Seminar

Main Fields of Research Interest:

• Empirical legal research
• Judicial decision-making
• Anthropology of law
• Courtroom studies
• Social theory

Research Projects:

• 2021- principal investigator in the project entitled “Theory of Legislative Placebo” (financed by National Research Council, no. 2021/41/B/HS5/03826).
• 2020- principal investigator in the project entitled “The Effectiveness of Law in Solving Wicked Problems. A Case Study of Anti-smog Polices in Lesser Poland” (financed by National Research Council, no. 2019/34/E/HS5/00018).
• 2019-2024 principal investigator in the project entitled “Empathy as a Challenge. The Case of Polish Judges” (financed by National Research Council, no. 2019/33/B/HS5/01664).
• 2016-2020; principal investigator in the project entitled “Power Distance in the Courtroom. Theoretical and Empirical Study” (financed by National Research Council, no. 2015/19/B/HS5/00454).
• 2011-2015: member of research team of the project entitled “Judicial Objectivity Throughout Europe” led by Lidia Rodak from University of Silesia; responsible for research methodology (mixed functional and hermeneutic approach to study judicial opinions). A monograph entitled: Critical Comparative Study on Objectivity in Legal Discourse. Theories and Critiques has been published in 2016 year by Peter Lang Publishing House as a final result of the project.
• 2012-2015: member of research team of the project “Judicial Opinions and Court Decisions” sponsored by the Polish Academy of Science. Participation in project finished with publication of the chapter entitled: Sociological Perspective on the Study of the Judicial Opinions (Wolters Kluwer 2016).
• 2011-2013: member of research team of the project “Neutralization of Values in Law” sponsored by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (NN110239439). Participation in project finished with publication of the chapter entitled: Neutralization of Values in Law in the Face of Political Values Dynamics. A Case of Using Law as Placebo (Wolters Kluwer 2013).

Editorial board memberships:

• Law and Visual Jurisprudence – Law Book Series with Springer (Series Editors: Sarah Marusek, Anne Wagner) (member of editorial, advisory board since official launch of the series in September 2019). ISSN 2662-4532. Series’ website: https://www.springer.com/series/16413