Research Visit by Professor Maija Aalto-Heinilä from the University of Eastern Finland

From 28 September to 10 October 2026, the Department of Theory and Philosophy of State and Law is hosting Professor Maija Aalto-Heinilä from the University of Eastern Finland.

Professor Aalto-Heinilä specialises in the theory of legal interpretation and virtue jurisprudence. She has also served as Chair of the Finnish Section of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR).

Her research visit to the University of Gdańsk takes place within the framework of the project “Courts as Protectors of the Rule of Law: Early Signs of Rule of Law Erosion and Repair Kit from Legal, Philosophical and Political Perspectives”, funded by the Research Council of Finland. Professor Tomasz Widłak of our Faculty is a collaborator in the project.

As part of her stay, on 6 October Professor Aalto-Heinilä delivered a lecture for law students entitled “Judicial virtues: philosophical reflections and empirical observations”. The lecture explored judicial virtues from both philosophical and empirical perspectives.

Members of our academic community will have another opportunity to meet Professor Aalto-Heinilä on Thursday, 8 October. She will lead a seminar entitled “Towards methodological pluralism in jurisprudence?”, focusing on methodological questions in legal scholarship. The meeting is organised within the activities of the Student Scientific Association for Theory and Philosophy of Law and is open to interested students, doctoral researchers and academic staff.

The seminar will take place on 8 October 2026 at 4:00 PM in Room 2042.

Professor Aalto-Heinilä’s recent publications include:

M. Aalto-Heinilä, “Who guards the guardian? Virtues and Constitutional Interpretation”, in I. Trujillo, A. Amya & L. Corso (eds.), Virtues and the Rule of Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026, pp. 186–210.

M. Aalto-Heinilä, “Politicians as Guardians of the Constitution: When Vice Turns into Virtue?”, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 2026, published online ahead of print, pp. 1–21.

We warmly welcome Professor Maija Aalto-Heinilä to the University of Gdańsk and invite students, doctoral researchers and members of staff to attend Thursday’s seminar.