This introduction to the special issue on Buddhism and law lays out an agenda for the socio-legal study of contemporary Buddhism. We identify lacunae in the current literature and call for further work on four themes: the relations between monastic legal practice and state law; the formations of Buddhist constitutionalism; Buddhist legal activism and Buddhist-interest litigation; and Buddhist moral critiques of law. We argue that this agenda is important for advancing Buddhist studies and for the comparative study of law and legal institutions.

中文翻译：

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为当代佛教的社会法律研究设定议程

对佛教与法律特刊的介绍为当代佛教的社会法律研究提出了议程。我们发现了当前文献中的空白，并呼吁在四个主题上进一步开展工作：寺院法律实践与国家法律之间的关系；佛教宪政的形成；佛教法律行动和佛教利益诉讼；和佛教对法律的道德批判。我们认为，这一议程对于推进佛教研究以及法律和法律制度的比较研究非常重要。