The Institute of International Law and European Law is a successor to the Department of International Law and Politics which was one of the first departments at the foundation of the Faculty of Law in 1973. In the course of time, the Department underwent several profile transformations, including changes of name of the Department. The first change occurred between 1981 – 1999, when the Department was subsumed under the Department of Civil Law and it conducted its activities as the Department of Civil Law and International Law. The Department regained its autonomy in 1998. In 2006, referred to as the Department of International Law, it assimilated into the Institute of European Law which was established in 2004. In order to ensure that the official designation of the Institute contained both law specializations in which the Institute pursued its teaching and scholarly activities, in 2016 the unit was renamed as the Institute of International Law and European Law and this official designation has been used to the present day.
The first acting Head of Department till 1981 was prof. JUDr. Juraj Cúth, CSc. At the outset of the operation of the Department, academic scholars from the Faculty of Law at Comenius University in Bratislava assisted with teaching, namely prof. JUDr. Ján Tomko, CSc., assoc. prof. JUDr. Zoltán Valentovič, CSc. and prof. JUDr. Viera Strážnická, CSc.
The first assistant professors working at the Faculty of Law in Košice were JUDr. Pavel Korvín, prof. JUDr. Ján Klučka, CSc. and JUDr. Ján Varšo, CSc.
In the follow-up period, the Department, or alternatively, the Institute also engaged JUDr. Michal Vaľo, CSc., JUDr. Igor Raáb, JUDr. Ivo Hlaváček, JUDr. Ivana Kirešová, Mgr. Miriam Somorová, JUDr. Zuzana Högerová, JUDr. Valéria Sopková, JUDr. Daniela Lamačková, PhD., Mgr. Lucia Škovránová, Mgr. Katarína Babčáková, assoc. prof. JUDr. Kristián Csach, PhD. and JUDr. Adam Giertl.
