Regulations for 2028 workshops

1. Applications to organize a workshop during 2028 must be received by the 1st of March 2027. Late applications cannot be accepted. Applications will be reviewed by the IISL’s Board members. The IISL particularly welcomes proposals from individuals and groups who are new to the Institute.

2. Workshops can be held from April 2028 to July 2028 (in exceptional circumstances, a workshop may be held in September; if you would prefer to organise your workshop in September, please let us know). They are held on Thursday and Friday, with the participants arriving on Wednesday afternoon or evening. This standard set-up facilitates the organization and coordination of the workshops, and a special conference package applies (see below). Workshops could, by arrangement, begin earlier and last longer, but in such a case additional costs will be incurred which will be borne by the participants. Applications should indicate the preferred dates, but these are subject to negotiation with and final decision by the Institute.

3. Applications must include the following:

1. the application form;
2. A short, one-page (and only one page) CV for each organizer;
3. Names and full contact details of the organizers, with their professional status, affiliations, etc.; if there is more than one, the primary person for liaison with the Institute should be identified;
4. A list of the provisional participants, with their professional status and affiliations; they should have been contacted in advance and have agreed to participate (please mark with an asterisk the names of those who have agreed to take part in the workshop); if the application is successful, a final list together with full contact details will be needed. The number of participants will be between 15 and 25. If you plan to have more than 25, please contact the Institute to check the possibilities. The meeting room for the workshops can accommodate 20-25 people, not more;
5. Research lines, the IISL has a set of research lines [+Info]. Please indicate in the list of participants if any participant is an active member of any of the research lines;
6. A provisional programme for the workshop, including working titles of presentations or papers. The timetable should account for the fact that restaurants in Oñati serve a midday meal only from 13.00 and the evening meal after 21.00. Coffee breaks should be at least 15 minutes long. A common timetable is: 08.30-10.30; 11.00-13.00 and 14.30-16.00; 16.00-17.30.

4. Evaluation of proposals. Workshop proposals will be evaluated on:

1. Quality of the proposal. Applications should clearly explain the contribution of the proposed workshop to socio-legal studies or sociology of law. The conveners should be in a credible position to make this a valuable and inspiring workshop experience, as judged from their track record (considering academic age), scholarly potential and commitment. The prospects for a successful publication of papers presented at the workshop using one of the publication venues offered by the Institute (see point 6) will likewise be considered;
2. Originality. Applications should explain the originality of the proposed workshop and its expected outcomes. We particularly appreciate new lines of research or workshops creating novel connections, if they make a convincing contribution to socio-legal research. In instances where a similar topic has been the subject of a previous workshop, applications should clearly indicate how their treatment of the topic will differ some of the topics covered in the workshops held at the IISL;
3. Spread of participation. Workshop participants should come from a range of geographical locations and different cultural perspectives. Please note that workshops do not have to be held in English, and a diversity of languages is encouraged (e.g., Spanish as a shared language; bilingual workshop). There should also be a spread of participants according to stage of career, including early career researchers (doctoral or postdoctoral) as well as more advanced and senior academics. Applications should clearly indicate in the list of provisional participants who have already made a commitment to attend (to be marked with *);
4. Relevance to the Basque Country. Workshops are welcomed on any topic that will make a significant contribution to socio-legal studies or sociology of law. However, as part of our commitment to promote science-society transfer, we are also seeking possible connections to the Basque Country, and we aim to include at least one workshop from local collaborators each year. We welcome teams that integrate participants based at Basque institutions. International applicants are invited to explain how their workshop benefits local people.

The following topics are particularly relevant to the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country:

• Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods, Restorative Justice, and Culture of Peace.
• Access to Justice, especially for marginalized communities and vulnerable groups disproportionately at risk due to factors like socio-economic status, nationality, age, disability, gender, etc.
• Human Rights and Democracy.
• Environment, climate change. Particularly topics related to Environmental Justice and Territorial Conflicts.
• Legal Pluralism and Coexistence of legal orders and cultures, including expressions from the Basque Country and applicable legislation in the Basque Country.
• Technologies and Artificial Intelligence. Specially, initiatives enhancing the critical understanding and conscious use of technologies and reflections around Digital Justice and Accessibility.
• Legal education and citizenship. Particularly, initiatives to increase citizens' knowledge of the legal world, with a special focus on raising awareness of rights and responsibilities.
• Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity. Especially, Training and qualification of legal professionals to increase their openness and capacity for interdisciplinary work.
• Justice reform, legal transformation and developments related to the Public Service.

5. The substantive and intellectual organization of the workshop will be the responsibility of the workshop’s proposers; the IISL will provide organizational support, as spelled out below. The IISL is unable to provide any form of insurance, so participants are responsible for their own travel and health insurance, arrangements or costs.

6. The IISL offers its publication venues to workshop groups: its open access journal Oñati Socio-Legal Series (OSLS), indexed in Web of Science’s ESCI and in Elsevier’s Scopus, or one of its book series, namely Oñati International Series in Law in Society, published in English by Bloomsbury-Hart, or Oñati: Derecho y Sociedad, published in Spanish by Dykinson. Workshop participants will be offered a presentation about these venues of publication at some point during the workshop. As a rule, a condition of hosting a workshop is that the IISL is entitled to first refusal of publications. Should the workshop organizers have other publication plans, they are expected to clearly express their intentions in the moment of submitting their workshop application. For further information, see the Workshop Publication Guidelines or refer to Leire Kortabarria.

7. If accepted, the proposer of the workshop will be asked to confirm acceptance. The title and dates of the workshop will then be publicized on the IISL website and other publicity material. The organizer will then be contacted again, normally 4-5 months prior to the date of the workshop, to supply the list of participants with full contact details, and a revised programme. The IISL will then email participants a link to a pre-registration and final registration form. The organizer should send the final programme to the IISL 6 weeks before the workshop date. Final registration forms must be received from participants three months before the workshop date. All participants will be sent by the IISL the final programme and a list of participants, and this information will be posted on the IISL website.

8. To contribute to the service costs the Institute incurs in hosting workshops, a workshop fee will be raised, which shall be paid by all participants, including the organizers. The services included in this fee are spelled out below (conference package). The workshop fee for 2028 will be as follows (the fees are subject to revision in the year 2027):

• €185 non-members of the RCSL, professionals,
• €160 members of the RCSL, professionals,
• €80 for students, unemployed or retired people.
• Teaching staff of the Faculty of Law of the EHU participating in activities organised by the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, such as workshops, seminars or meetings, shall be exempt from paying workshop fees, except for lunches, dinners and other social events related to the activity in which they are taking part.
  Accommodation expenses, if a room reservation is requested, shall be paid by the participant.

Note: All participants, including organizers, co-presenters, and participants regardless of duration or specific details of their participation are subject to the payment of the above mentioned rates. Exceptions will only be made for specifically announced events, which may be opened to other guests at the Institute at favourable conditions and do not give access to catering or other specific workshop services.

9. Procedure for the evaluation and selection of the applications received.
Applications are assessed by the members of the IISL Governing Board. Three reviewers are assigned for each application. Based on their assessment, the final decision is taken at the Governing Board meeting.   

When assessing applications, the following aspects are taken into account:

1. Quality of the workshop: 
   Does the workshop meaningfully contribute to socio-legal studies / sociology of law?
   Do track-record and scholarly potential of the organisers let expect a good workshop?
   What are the prospects of successful publication of workshop in IISL outlets?
    
2. Originality of the proposed workshop:
   What makes this workshop original and distinctive?
   Does it aim to open new lines of research?
   Does it create novel connections between different fields, approaches, communities?
   Has a workshop on the same topic been held at the Institute? If so, is there a new perspective that the application brings to the discussion?
    
3. Spread of participation:
   To what extent do participants represent different national/regional/cultural contexts?
   Are participants from different career stages actively involved in the workshop?
    
4. Relevance to the Basque Country:
   To what extent does the proposal indicate connections to the Basque Country?
   If it is not specifically dealing with Basque topics: Is it still relevant for local people?
   If it is explicitly taking up Basque topics: Is this done in a scholarly convincing manner?

10. The conference package covers usage of workshop spaces, basic catering and collective transport services as well as organizational support.

Coffee and meals: The conference package includes two main meals in selected restaurants, one welcome dinner, and coffee for the breaks (two days). The shared meals will be organized around midday. Alternatively, participants may also go to bars/cafés in Oñati for pintxos, or other restaurants of their choice for meals if they prefer, at their own expense. Several restaurants offer a 3-course menu in the middle of the day and several bars/cafés have pintxos. Organizers who have supplementary funds can request additional or different meal arrangements, e.g., for a meal in a higher-class restaurant, and pay for it directly in the restaurant(s). Several high-quality restaurants are available near Oñati. Transportation may be needed and would have to be paid for separately.

Transport services: As part of the conference package, the Institute will organize and pay for a bus from Zumarraga train station and Bilbao airport and city to Oñati the evening before and the morning after the workshop, as follows:

• From Bilbao city to Oñati on Wednesday 19.00, and from Bilbao airport at 19.30.
• From Zumarraga train station to Oñati on Wednesday at 19.30.
• From Oñati to Bilbao airport/city and Zumarraga train station at 08.30 the morning after the workshop (Saturday).

Participants will be met by a driver who will be holding a Card with the initials IISJ/IISL and logo of the Institute.

Organizational support: The staff of the Institute supports the workshop proposers in organizational matters and specifically helps with booking accommodation for the participants at the Antia Residence, organizing meals and transport (insofar as they form part of the conference package), payment procedures, and all related communication. Papers and presentations for the workshop can be made available for access by participants on the IISL intranet. On the days of the workshop, staff will be available for questions and support to help everything go according to plan.

All participants will have to pay for their own accommodation (if needed). The Residencia Antia, belonging to the Institute, could offer accommodation for 18 people in separate rooms (depending on the number of visiting scholars at the time of the workshop) at very affordable rates. The Residencia will not serve breakfast, but several nearby cafeterias are a convenient stop on the way to the Institute. Participants not staying in the IISL Residence could be lodged in a nearby hotel, Hotel Ongi|Iraipe or Hotel Torre Zumeltzegi. The prices in the hotels are higher. Reservations for accommodation at the Antia Residence can be made through the Institute according to the date of arrival on the Registration forms. Hotel reservations will be made directly by the participants.

The seminar room in the Antigua Universidad can comfortably seat 20-25 people. Technical equipment is included, and we will help with the setup. The room will be prepared with drinking water and name tags for the participants.

11. Participants (including the organisers) must make and pay for their own international travel arrangements.

PLEASE NOTE: A workshop will be cancelled if there are fewer than 15 scholars participating in person.