Research at the department focuses on two basic areas, namely Roman law and “national” law, and the legal history of Slovakia and Hungary. In line with this general research focus, the department has carried out (or, in recent years, has carried out) several grant projects. In the area of Roman law, the focus has been primarily on scientific research into the legal regulation of civil torts and their impact on modern law, as well as the historical development of the institution of the sales contract in Roman law. In the field of the development of Slovak law, scientific activities have focused (and continue to focus) on, among other things, examining the development and influence of tripartism in Slovak legal history. Currently, scientific research is focused (as in the case of Roman law) on, among other things, the development of the institution of the sales contract in legal history, with reference to the impact of this development on trends in the current recodification of civil law in the Slovak Republic.
The Department has been involved in the implementation of the following research projects:
- APVV-19-0419 “100 years of the Treaty of Trianon”, 07/2020-06/2024, principal investigator E. Štenpien
- VEGA 1/0131/13: “Historical-legal development of the institute of the Contract of Purchase and the tendency of its current recodification in the Slovak Republic”, 01/2013-12/2015, principal investigator E. Štenpien
- VEGA 1/0198/17 “Loan or Usury? Compulsory enforcement of judgement – historical and law foundations and problems of application practice“, 01/2017-12/2019, principal investigator E. Štenpien.
The members of the Department endeavour to maintain long-lasting good relations and cooperation with the members of foreign faculties of law. On the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Law at the University in Miskolc (Republic of Hungary), Assoc. Prof. JUDr. Erik Štenpien, PhD. was honoured with the award of the Silver Medal for merit in the development of international cooperation. Within their research project ‘100 years of the Treaty of Trianon’, the Department organized one PhD conference and several international scientific conferences as follows:
- International scientific conference “100 years of the Treaty of Trianon – diplomacy, state and law at the turn of the century“, 14th-15th October 2021
- PhD conference “Milestones in the development of law in Europe after World War I“, 22nd April 2022
- International scientific conference: “Consequences of the Word War I at the state law level“, 29th-30th September 2022
- International scientific conference “Peace Negotiations after 1918 and their influence on Modern Law”, 3rd– 14th April 2023.
