The Human Rights Centre aims to support human rights in the local and global community. We aim to support academic and human rights organisations, in the promotion of human rights. The Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University, Belfast was established in 1990 to provide a focus for research and education on human rights. The Centre continues to draw on the considerable human rights expertise and experience in the School of Law, such as the Health and Human Rights Unit, and more widely with in Queen's University Belfast.

The Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice was established at Queen's in 1994 after a general consensus had emerged amongst policy makers and academics that a centre for criminology and criminal justice was required to develop criminological and criminal justice research and teaching in Northern Ireland. In 1998 the Institute came under the rubric of the School of Law, formalising existing research and teaching relationships and broadening the Institute's membership and the range of courses at Masters level provided.

The Centre for European and Transnational Studies brings together researchers interested in the study of the European Union and European integration as well as the study of transnational law, policy and society within and beyond the European Union. CETS research will be based on thorough understanding of European and transnational integration from legal, political, sociological and economic perspectives, with a focus on the socio-economic and civic consequences of such integration.