Institute of Law and Social Sciences was established to plan, design and conduct social-scientific empirical research on law and legal institutions in April 2005. Around the turn of the century, reforms of the judicial system were planned and implemented to change the governing structure of the Japanese society. Yet such a reform cannot be made once and for all. In order for the legal system to adapt social changes, we need empirical evidence on how legal institutions work. We plan and conduct empirical research and support empirical researchers in promoting evidence-based policy making.