Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law

What Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law does

The Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law is a German non-profit limited liability company (gemeinnützige GmbH) headquartered in Heidelberg and operationally active since 2013, with origins in 2009. It provides technical legal advice, comparative legal research, and capacity-building services to state institutions — including legislatures, judiciaries, constitutional review bodies, and government ministries — across more than 38 countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

Its core products and underlying intellectual infrastructure comprise three categories: (i) peer-reviewed reference publications, including the United Nations Yearbook (UNYB), the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL), and the Max Planck Encyclopedia of European Constitutional Law (MPECCoL); (ii) the LEARN online learning platform, which extends in-person training to a wider audience of legal professionals; and (iii) bespoke advisory mandates delivered by in-house legal experts with close ties to the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL) and other Max Planck research entities. Recent mandates have spanned legislative-drafting support in Iraq, monitoring-justice reform in Kyrgyzstan, federalism workshops with South Sudan's National Constitutional Review Committee, and the launch of Sri Lanka's first Business and Human Rights Guidelines.

The foundation's business model is grant-funded: it does not sell services commercially but secures multi-year project grants primarily from the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office, supplemented by other bilateral and multilateral donors. It is led by Managing Directors Johannes Krusemark-Camin and Dr Kathrin Maria Scherr and operates with a staff of approximately 71. Pricing, customer segments, and revenue mechanics are governed by donor framework agreements and project-based contracting rather than commercial sales.

Name

Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law

Legal name

Max-Planck-Stiftung für Internationalen Frieden und Rechtsstaatlichkeit gemeinnützige GmbH

Website

https://mpfpr.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law is a Heidelberg-based non-profit foundation providing technical legal advice, comparative law research, and capacity-building services to legislatures, judiciaries, and government institutions across more than 38 countries, funded primarily by EU and German Federal Foreign Office grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Rule of Law Advisory Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAH

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYEDAGAFAG

Law & Legal Studies Scholarly Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

Keywords

• Legal capacity building
• Constitutional advisory services
• Rule of law training
• Comparative legal research
• Human rights support

Headquarters

HQ city

Heidelberg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Foundation provides technical legal advice and capacity building to partner institutions worldwide. In-house experts with various legal backgrounds specialized in comparative legal research conduct projects to strengthen good governance and the rule of law globally.

Product overview

The Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law is a non-profit organisation offering a unified portfolio of technical legal advice and capacity building services. Its core offering consists of comparative legal research and training workshops conducted by in-house experts for partner institutions worldwide. The Foundation also produces scholarly publications including the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law (UNYB), and operates platforms such as the Legal Education and Research Network (LEARN) for partner engagement. Projects span country-specific initiatives, regional cooperation programs across Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and Latin America, and thematic focus areas including human rights, constitutional development, and maritime governance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Technical Legal Advice and Capacity Building Core service through which the Foundation's in-house legal experts deliver technical advice and build capacity at partner institutions, aimed at strengthening good governance and the rule of law.
• Country-Based Legal Capacity Building Projects Multi-year, country-anchored engagements that combine legal reform support, training, and institutional development for a national partner (e.g., a ministry, court, or bar).
• Regional Cooperation Projects Projects that bring together institutions across a region to cooperate on shared rule-of-law reform themes, leveraging the Foundation's comparative legal expertise.
• Legal Education and Research Network (LEARN) Network and platform supporting legal education and research collaboration among partner institutions, anchored in the Foundation's comparative legal expertise.
• Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) Encyclopedia of public international law published by the Foundation, serving as a reference for scholars, practitioners, and partner institutions.
• Max Planck Encyclopedia of European Constitutional Law (MPECCoL) Encyclopedia of European constitutional law published by the Foundation, serving as a reference for scholars, practitioners, and partner institutions.
• United Nations Yearbook (UNYB) United Nations Yearbook providing a digest of UN legal activity, published with the Foundation's involvement for scholars, practitioners, and governments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Conducted the sixth Federalism Workshop Series for the National Constitutional Review Commission of South Sudan (June 2026), culminating a five-workshop series on federalism and constitution-building.
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026The foundation and CSF co-supported the HRCSL in developing and launching Sri Lanka's first national Business and Human Rights Guidelines under the 'Just Business: Promoting the Adoption of Business and Human Rights in Sri Lanka and the Maldives' project.
• Centre for a Smart Future (CSF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026CSF partnered with the foundation under the 'Just Business' project to support the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in launching the Business and Human Rights Guidelines in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
• Bar Association of Sri LankamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partner for provincial human rights workshops for lawyers across Sri Lanka's provinces as part of the German Federal Foreign Office funded project 'Capacity Building for Judges and Lawyers in Sri Lanka'.
• Judges' Institute of Sri LankamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partner for provincial human rights workshops for judges across Sri Lanka's provinces as part of the 'Capacity Building for Judges and Lawyers in Sri Lanka' project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
• Parliamentary Legislative Department of the Iraqi ParliamentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation partners with Iraq's Parliamentary Legislative Department (PLD) in the project 'Democratising the Legislative Process in Iraq' (2023–2025), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, to train legislative drafters and support participatory law-making.
• National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) of South SudancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation has conducted a six-workshop Federalism Workshop Series for the NCRC of South Sudan on constitution-making topics, culminating in June 2026 with the EU-funded project 'Supporting Constitution-Making, Legal Harmonisation and Judicial Reform in South Sudan'.
• Constitutional Court of the Republic of IndonesiamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation co-facilitated the First International Expert Meeting on 'The Role of the Judiciary to Promote Social Justice – The Protection of Socio-Economic Rights' (September 2019) and conducted expert meetings on socio-economic rights.
• Attorney General's Office and People's Majlis Secretariat (Maldives)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation partners with Maldives institutions under the project 'Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Maldives' funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, delivering legislative drafting workshops.
• Parliamentary Institute of CambodiamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation completed four international law workshops for the Parliamentary Diplomacy Training Programme (2017–2018) including a workshop on peaceful dispute settlement for Senate and National Assembly staff in Phnom Penh.
• National Dialogue Forum (Pakistan)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemorandum of Understanding signed 6 April 2020 between the National Dialogue Forum and the foundation for cooperation on rule of law and legal capacity building.
• Hanns Seidel Foundation, PakistanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemorandum of Understanding signed 13 March 2020 between the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the foundation for cooperation on rule of law support in Pakistan.
• Konrad Adenauer FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation partnered with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on a human rights webinar series in Kyrgyzstan in 2023.
• International Law AssociationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation cooperates with the International Law Association on research activities.
• Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation maintains a joint discussion group on Law and Development with MPIL and cooperates on the International Max Planck Research School for Successful Dispute Resolution in International Law.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS): German political foundation operating globally on rule of law, constitutional development, and legal capacity building — directly comparable mandate, similarly sized workforce, and overlapping country footprint (e.g., Kyrgyzstan).
• Hanns Seidel Foundation: German political foundation with international rule-of-law and good-governance programmes, including explicit MoU-based partnership with the subject foundation in Pakistan — directly comparable in mission, funding model, and partner network.
• International IDEA: Intergovernmental organization supporting constitutional design, electoral processes, and democratic governance globally — directly comparable mandate on constitution-making and rule of law, overlapping partner institutions.
• Venice Commission of the Council of Europe: Council of Europe body providing constitutional and legal advisory services to member and non-member states — comparable focus on constitutional review, legislative drafting, and comparative law expertise.
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation: One of Germany's major political foundations delivering rule-of-law, constitutional, and judicial reform programming across developing and transition countries — comparable in scale, donor base, and country presence.
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom: German political foundation running rule-of-law and human rights programmes in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — directly comparable non-profit capacity-building model with shared German government funding base.
• International Commission of Jurists (ICJ): International non-governmental organization of jurists working on international human rights law, judicial independence, and rule of law — comparable advocacy, training, and comparative legal research mandate.
• American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI): Operates legal reform and capacity-building programmes in 40+ countries including judicial training, legal profession development, and constitutional advisory work — comparable legal services delivery model and geographic scope.

Emerging players

• Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL): Innovation-focused justice organisation developing evidence-based interventions and digital tools for rule-of-law and access to justice — adjacent in mandate but differentiated by innovation and justice-tech focus.

Broad incumbents

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) — Rule of Law: UN agency with dedicated rule-of-law, access to justice, and constitutional support programmes across 100+ countries — broader mandate but overlapping partner institutions and project countries (e.g., Kyrgyzstan constitutional chamber support).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/max-planck-foundation-for-international-peace-and-the-rule-of-law
• Xx.com/MaxPlanckFound

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law