Regulations for 2024 workshops

NEW CALL FOR PROPOSALS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2023

1.    Applications to organise a workshop during 2024 must be received by the 28th of February 2023. Late applications cannot be accepted. Applications will be reviewed by the IISL’s Meetings Committee in May 2023. The organisers will be informed of the Committee’s decision in June 2023.

2.    Workshops can be held from April 2024 to July 2024. They are held on Thursday and Friday, with the participants arriving on Wednesday afternoon or evening. This standard set-up facilitates the organisation 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 the organisers additional costs will be incurred. 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:

(i)   the application form;
(ii)   A short, one page (and only one page) CV for each organiser;
(iii) names and full contact details of the organisers, with their professional status, affiliations, etc.; if there is more than one, the primary person for liaison with the Institute should be identified;
(iv)    a list of the provisional participants, with their profesional status and affiliations; they should have been contacted in advance and have agreed to participate; 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 the idea is 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;
(v)    a provisional programme for the workshop, including working titles of presentations or papers. The timetable for sessions should bear in mind that restaurants in Oñati serve a midday meal only from 13.00 and the evening meal after 21.00. Coffee breaks would need to be at least 15 minutes if you wish to allow time for participants to go to the nearest café. A common timetable is: 09.15-11.00; 11.15-13.00 and 14.45-16.15; 16.30-18.00.

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

a) Quality of the proposal. Applications should clearly explain the contribution of the proposed workshop to socio-legal studies or sociology of law. Track record of publications arising from involvement in previous workshops or conferences (at the IISL or elsewhere) will also be considered; 

b) Spread of participation. Workshops participants should come from a range of geographical locations, including both international and local participants. 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. Workshops do not have to be held in English, and a diversity of language is encouraged. Applications should clearly indicate which proposed participants have already made a commitment, in principle, to attend;  

c) Originality. Applications should explain the originality of the proposed workshop. In instances where a similar topic has been the subject of previous workshop, applications should indicate how their treatment of the topic will differ. The IISL particularly welcomes proposals from people who are new to the Institute;

d) 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. Topics which are relevant to the Basque Country are also strongly encouraged, and the Basque Government suggests several topics of particular interest:

• Socio-legal Problems on Housing.
• Juvenile delinquency: the status juvenile offenders; evaluation of the role and functioning of juvenile courts; suggestions for improvements.
• Impact of legal reform implemented recently in the Basque Country, in particular, the current legislation on gender violence: assessment of the impact of reform on society and suggestions form improvements. Analysis of potential further reform is particularly welcomed, for instance, the involvement of the victim in social protection awareness training, family involvement, improving the role of the police, etc.
• The measures adopted by youth courts: study of the impact of education and social interventions, such as work programmes, care of elderly people, programmes to benefit the community; relationship between interventions and the crime committed; study of measures adopted in other jurisdictions.
• Civil mediation and cross-border trafficking of people: status of families living in border regions; the role of civil mediation in cross-border issues; implementation of the European Directive 2008/52/CE of the European Parliament and European Council (21^st May 2008) concerning mediation in civil and commercial matters, and its application to the border between Spain and France.

5.     The substantive and intellectual organization of the workshop will be the responsibility of the workshop’s proposers; the IISL will provide organisational 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.    Papers and presentations for the workshop can be made available, for access by participants, on the IISL intranet. As a general rule, a condition of hosting a workshop is that the IISL is entitled to first refusal for either 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. This criterion may be negotiated in view of the circumstances. Should the workshop organisers have other publication plans, they are expected to clearly express their intentions in the moment of submitting their workshop application. Track record of publications arising from involvement in previous workshops or conferences (at the IISL or elsewhere) will also be considered. 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 publicised on the IISL website and other publicity material. The organiser 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 send a letter of invitation to participants, with a pre-registration and final registration form. The organiser should send the final programme to the IISL 6 weeks before the workshop date. Final registration forms must be received from participants one month before that 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). As of today (November 2022), the fee is as follows:

• €150 non-members of the RCSL, professionals,
• €130 members of the RCSL, professionals,
• €60 for students, unemployed or retired people.

Note: For the year 2024, the workshop fee may have to be raised to compensate for increasing service costs since the rate was set in 2020. 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.    The conference package covers basic catering and transport services as well as organisational support.

Coffees and meals: The conference package includes two main meals in selected restaurants, one welcome reception or dinner, and the coffee for the morning breaks (two days). The shared meals will be organised in the middle of the day. 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. Organisers 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/them 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 organise and pay for a bus from Bilbao airport and city to Oñati the evening before and the morning after the workshop, as follows:

• From Bilbao city Wednesday 19.00, and from Bilbao airport 19.30.
• From Zumarraga train station Wednesday 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.

Organisational support: The staff of the Institute supports the workshop proposers in organisational matters and specifically helps with booking accommodation for the participants at the Antia Residence, organising meals and transports (in as much as they form part of the conference package), payment procedures, and all related communication. On the days of the workshop, staff will be available for questions and support to help everything go according to plans.

All the participants will have to pay for their accommodation themselves (if needed). The Residencia Antia, belonging to the Institute, could offer accommodation for 18 persons occupying separate rooms (it will depend on the number of visiting scholars at the time of the workshop) at very affordable rates. Breakfast will not be served in the Residencia, but there are several cafeterias nearby to drop by on the way to the Institute. Participants not staying in the IISL Residence could be lodged in a nearby hotel, Ongi Ostatua or Hotel Zumeltzegi. The prices in the hotels are more expensive. Room booking will be done according to the date of arrival of the Registration forms. Reservations for accommodation at the Antia Residence can be made through the Institute. 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 there will be help with the set-up. The room will be prepared with drinking water and name tags for the participants.

Publication support as indicated in point 6 makes a further extra in collaborating with the Institute.

10.    Participants must make and pay for their own international travel arrangements.

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