ELSA Annual Report 09|10 - European Law Students' Association ...

ELSA 

Annual Report 09|10 

ELSA International Board 2009/2010

The International Team of ELSA 2009/2010 

Frida Orring Vice President Marketing 

2 

Leonid Cherniavskyi, President 

Stephanie Denowell, Director for Advertisements 

Mirko Djukovic, Vice President Student Trainee Exchange Programme 

Morten Rydningen, Director for EMC 2 

Annamari Männikkö, Director for STEP 

Nina Prantl, Director for International Focus Programme 

Peter Christian Binau-Hansen, Treasurer 

Timo Kortesoja, Secretary General 

Sofia Kallio, Vice President Seminars & Conferences 

Ana Vouk, Director for Training 

Amanda Bertilsdotter Nilsson, Vice President Academic Activities 

„Run By and For Law Students and Young Lawyers“ 

ELSA Annual Report

About ELSA 

The European Law Students’ Association, ELSA, is an international, independent, 

non-political and non-profit-making organisation comprised and run by and for law 

students and young lawyers. Founded in 1981 by law students from Austria, Hungary, 

Poland and West Germany, ELSA is today the world’s largest independent law students’ 

association. 

Our Philosophy 

Vision A just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity. 

Purpose To contribute to legal education, to foster mutual understanding and to promote 

social responsibility of law students and young lawyers. 

Means To provide opportunities for law students and young lawyers to learn about other cultures 

and legal systems in a spirit of critical dialogue and scientific co-operation. To assist 

law students and young lawyers to be internationally minded and professionally skilled. 

To encourage law students and young lawyers to act for the good of society. 

Our Network 

ELSA is a unique and growing Network of 30 000 law students and young lawyers from 

more than 200 universities in 41 countries across Europe. ELSA currently has members and 

observers in: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, 

Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, 

Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, The 

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, 

Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and 

United Kingdom. Furthermore, ELSA co-operates with other student organisations across 

the world, for instance ILSA in North America, COLADIC in South America, ALSA in Asia, 

ALSA in Australia, ALSA in South Africa and AEJCI in Ivory Coast. 

ELSA’s Members 

ELSA’s members are internationally minded individuals who have experience in foreign 

legal systems and practices. Through our activities such as Seminars & Conferences, Academic 

Activities and the Student Trainee Exchange Programme our members acquire a 

broader cultural understanding and legal expertise. 

Our Special Status 

ELSA has through its activities and commitment within the international community 

gained a special status with several international institutions. In 2000, ELSA was granted 

Participatory Status with the Council of Europe. Furthermore, ELSA has Consultative 

Status with several United Nations bodies; in 1997 ELSA obtained Special Consultative 

Status with UN ECOSOC, in 1994 ELSA was granted Consultative Status in Category C 

in UNESCO. ELSA also obtained Observatory Status with WIPO in 2005. In addition, 

ELSA has a co-operation agreement with UNHCR and co-operates with UNCITRAL, 

ICRC and all the European Union Institutions. 

Marraine & Patrons 

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio (Marraine of ELSA) 

The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe 

Chang-fa Lo (Patron of ELSA) 

Professor of Law, National Taiwan University College of Law Director, Asian Center for 

WTO and International Health Law and Policy of NTU College of Law 

We want to thank Mr. Teja Picton Howell, member of the Executive Committee of the ELSA 

Lawyers’ Society, for his support to ELSA International in the field of external relations and 

trademark application. Our special thank you goes to Mr. Russell Denoon Duncan who has been 

supporting ELSA for many years and was our source of inspiration and advice. 

ELSA Annual Report 

Annual Report 2009-2010 

This Annual Report is produced by ELSA International 

in Brussels, Belgium. The articles 

are contributions by the members of the International 

Team, comprising the International 

Board and Directors. Furthermore, the closest 

externals with which the International Board 

2009-2010 have cooperated have made a contribution 

of their experience of working with 

ELSA. The Annual Report is published every 

year at the end of the term in office of each 

International Board. 

Editor 

Frida Orring 

ELSA International 

Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 

Fax: + 32 2 646 29 23 

E-mail: elsa@elsa.org 

Website: www.elsa.org 

ELSA International’s Corporate Partner 

CMS_LawTax_CMYK_over100.eps 

ELSA International’s Human Rights Partner 

ELSA International’s Auditing Partner 

ELSA International’s English Language Partner 

ELSA International’s Media Partner 

ELSA International’s Marketing & IT partner 

ELSA is supported by 

Since 1912 

3

Index 

Letter to ELSA 5 

Final words from the International Board 2009/2010 6 

Highlights 2009/2010 8 

Partners 

New cooperations 2009/2010 10 

CMS 12 

Mazars 13 

Council of Europe 14 

London School of English 16 

C5 Group 17 

Highlights 2009/2010 18 

Legal Education 

New member of ELSA - Ireland 20 

ELS - ELSA Lawyers Society 21 

A selection of International Events 22 

ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law - EMC 2 24 

ELSA - CBL China Law School 25 

ELSA International Focus Programme - IFP 26 

New regulations 2009/2010 28 

Final Accounts 30 

4 


Former Patron of ELSA addresses 

the association and its members 

Thousands of words have been written about Human Rights but 

I know of none which set out the essential concept better than 

ELSA’s noble vision “A just world in which there is respect for 

human dignity and cultural diversity”. In another successful year 

ELSA has, with this vision, continued to make an increasingly important 

contribution to the Europe we all want to see and to benefit 

its members. 

By dealing with topics not normally covered by law school curricula 

ELSA provides its members with extra technical skills and 

those engaged in ELSA’s activities benefit even more by gaining 

management experience 

and communication 

skills which will be invaluable 

in the development of their careers. 

All of this is excellent. But I believe it is the international aspect 

of ELSA which makes it so special. We live in an increasingly independent 

world. Most lawyers will, in one way or another, be 

affected by this. You may be asked to advise a foreign investor: your 

client may need your advice in setting up in another jurisdiction. 

The ability to form a quick relationship and work with someone 

from a different culture is a valuable attribute. The ICMs and similar 

events give a unique opportunity of developing these skills. And 

the good news is that you can do so at the famous ELSA parties 

and not only at working sessions. Many ELSA members will become 

leaders in their communities: it is important for them 

to be able to think internationally. 

So I urge everyone who can do so to be active in ELSA. 

I had the pleasure at being at the recent ICM in Malta. Here 

was another good example of ELSA at work. 299 members 

from 36 European countries, a delegation from Indonesia, 

and an ELS meeting as well. The President, the International 

Board, the OC and indeed everyone involved deserved 

congratulations. This was a week when, in addition to useful 

business, you could form international relationships and expand 

your international networks. 


„I urge everyone who can do so to be active in ELSA“ 

Letter to ELSA 

I took the liberty at a plenary of explaining how I thought lawyers 

(including business lawyers despite their reputation !) could continue 

to contribute to ELSA’s fine vision. Business lawyers are part of 

the wealth creating section of society. By setting high standards of 

efficiency and integrity they can make a significant contribution to 

a sound and prosperous society. Never forget integrity is a lawyer’s 

greatest asset, and that it is up to lawyers to set high standards for 

others to follow. 

Having been a Patron of ELSA Poland some years ago I am biased, 

but I was pleased to learn the thirtieth anniversary will be 

celebrated in Poznan! I 

have also been honoured 

to have been a Patron of 

ELSA International so I can also see the broader perspective and 

this tells me that everyone who has contributed to ELSA in the 

past and those are doing so now are to be congratulated on a most 

remarkable achievement. 

My best wishes to you all. 

Russell Denoon Duncan 

Former Senior Partner of Cameron Markby Hewitt 

Former President of British-Polish Legal Association 

Former Patron of ELSA 

5

International Board 

Final words from the International Board 2009/2010 

„Carried by a network of driven 

people” 

Charles Millhuff said that many of life‘s circumstances are created 

by three basic choices: the disciplines you choose to keep, 

the people you choose to be with; and, the laws you choose to 

obey. Whether it started off as a matter of choice or destiny, the 

International Board 2009/2010 lived ELSA for one year – the 

most memorable year of our lives. 

What was discipline 

for us? 

It was the determination 

to 

strive towards 

our goals as a 

team and as 

i n d i v i d u a l s . 

We brought 

our experience 

and our visions 

together 

as individuals, 

and we grew 

up as a team 

with a motto 

– One board, 

one desire. The 

desire was to 

achieve our goals, act professionally and always give the best of 

oneself. As we have experienced, a year of living ELSA is not a 

race towards the end, but a mosaic full of memories, great people, 

professionalism, battles and laughters. It is a joyride. 

As a team our board pointed out what was the focus in each 

of our areas of activities. We wanted more of legal writing, a 

successful edition of EMC2, legal research groups, a variety of 

events and study visits, improving ELSA delegations, following 

up on the IFP topic, making sure that we exchange as many 

students and traineeships worldwide providing quality, improving 

the communication in the Network and the ITP system, 

and making sure that the ELSA brand lives through Synergy 

and the website, making sure that finances are in order and 

exploring possibilities for grants, taking care about the newly 

established ELSA Development Foundation and developing 

our external contacts and being a leading team of professionals. 

Of course all these pieces of the puzzle called the One 

Year Operational Plan were in line with the Strategic Goals of 

our association. 

How did we choose the people to be with? Simply we didn’t. It 

was the choice of the International Council in Budva, Montenegro 

in spring 2009. Each of the individuals brought their culture, 

experience and personalities to the stage. Together we met 

our own strengths and weaknesses and as a result we learned 

to live and work as a team and not just next to each other. We 

appreciate the advice and example that the previous International 

Boards gave us, and in addition, we were supported by two 

people we owe 

a lot. Our great 

ITP trainers Karina 

Sultanova 

and Pierangelo 

Grazziani helped 

us to confront 

our personalities 

and to learn 

about ourselves 

and about our 

new family. There 

is one essential 

thing in living in 

a team – success 

of one is a success 

of the team. 

This success was 

not done by us 

alone, but we 

had the pleasure 

6 ELSA Annual Report

to welcome five precious people in our team. Evaluating 

our goals and the needs of the Network we were working 

for, we appointed Annamari Männikkö from ELSA Finland 

as a Director for STEP, Ana Vouk from ELSA Slovenia 

as a Director for Training, Nina Prantl from ELSA 

Germany as a Director for International Focus Programme, 

Stephanie Denowell also from ELSA Germany as 

a Director for Advertisements and Morten Rydningen 

from ELSA Norway as a Director for EMC 2 . They were 

our right hand without which we wouldn’t have reached 

the goals we set as a team. For that we are grateful and we 

appreciate first of all their friendship and support and, of 

course, their devotion to work with us and for one of the 

key team players; the player without whom all our efforts 

wouldn’t be worth: the ELSA Network. Together with the 

Network we strived to create the tools needed to reach 

the Strategic Goals for 2013 and to develop the association of 

41 countries to the place where it is now. 

But what are the laws that we set? Besides the rules that we 

were obliged to follow, such as our Statutes and Standing Orders 

and the Council Meeting Decision Book, there were some 

additional rules that we committed to. We acknowledged the 

importance of our task to represent the worlds’ largest law 

students’ association and strove towards professionalism, in- 



ternationality and giving a good example for the network to 

follow. Discussing every single step beforehand we learned that 

the only way to achieve our goals is to be open towards the 

Network and its needs. But one of the main rules however 

is the one that defines how to keep up team spirit and enjoy 

every single moment working in ELSA. That is the vision we 

share, the vision that is the core of all of ELSA’s activities: A 

just world in which there is a respect for human dignity and 

cultural diversity. 

ELSA’s future is defined by the people in it, by the history we 

have, and by the activities we are organising. We are proud 

that the 29th year of existence of our beautiful organisation 

was a part of our lives and we were a part of ELSA’s life. We are 

soon to celebrate the 30th year of the association where ELSA 

enthusiasts will be welcomed to many events that will celebrate 

the three decades of work of thousands of people all over 

Europe. We will be ready to learn about Health law as our new 

International Focus Programme, about legal challenges all over 

Europe and how this is connected with every day life. 

Albert Camus said “Don‘t walk in front of me; I may not follow. 

Don‘t walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside 

me and be my friend”; this is how we saw the role of the International 

Board. We hope that the term 2009/2010 will be 

remembered as a year of friendship and that you all felt that 

you were a part of the joyride. 

7

Highlights 2009/2010 

Statistics of the executive year 

2009/2010 in comparison to 

the previous year 

5 new Legal Research Groups* 

79 trainings held by our 

International Trainers Pool 

for active ELSA members 

throughout the network 

16 % increasement of STEP 

traineeship placements 

289 delegates from 35 

member countries present at 

the autumn International Council 

Meeting in Sinaia, Romania 

8 ELSA Annual Report 

. 

.

99% more applicants for 

our STEP placements 



6 % increasement of ELSA 

members (according to the 

State of the Network Enquiry) 

299 delegates from 36 

member countries present at 

the spring International Council 

Meeting in Qawra, Malta 

* Legal Research Group (LRG) is a project in which 

ELSA members investigate a specific legal topic 

across boarders. 

9


New Partners of ELSA 

Supporting our Vision and extending 

the Value for the members of the 

Association 

Leonid Cherniavskyi 

President 

ELSA International 09/10 

The ELSA Vision is supported by thirty 

thousand law students and young lawyers 

in 41 European countries and has been 

the source of strength of our network. 

The idea of “a just world in which there 

is respect for human dignity and cultural 

diversity” has also been supported by 

numerous external organisations and companies throughout the 

almost thirty years of existence of our Association. They support 

it by becoming a Partner of ELSA and with financial or in-kind 

contributions increase the value of the projects and events that 

are organised throughout Europe by students for students who all 

share the same vision. In this manner our Partners 

support the development of legal education in Europe 

and contribute to the mutual understanding and 

social responsibility of ELSA members. 

Different law firms, education providing companies and law 

schools, international intergovernmental and non-governmental 

organisations, professional associations, IT- and media-companies, 

travel agencies and publishing houses have been supporting ELSA 

and our projects throughout the years for the same reasons. 

The past year has been very successful for our Association in the 

sphere of external relations bringing ten different firms and organisations 

to the number of the Partners and supporters of ELSA. 

English Language Partner 

ELSA as an international association brings together students and 

young professionals from different European countries to work 

together on different projects aimed at improving legal education 

and mutual understanding among future lawyers of the continent. 

Through these activities they learn how to cooperate successfully 

with other nations, how to understand and deal with cultural 

differences and together work for the same goals. The official language 

of ELSA is English. It was for these reasons that this year 

the London School of English has gladly accepted our offer to become 

the English Language Partner of ELSA. This partnership has 

provided our members not only with an easier access to the highquality 

general and legal English training but also will gave them 

an opportunity to receive a professional training on intercultural 

communication skills from the qualified trainers of the London 

School of English at the upcoming International Council Meeting 

in Alanya, Turkey. 

„bringing ten different firms and organisations to the 

number of partners and supporters of ELSA“ 

Auditing Partner 

Positioning ourselves as a professional organisation we aim to comply 

with this status in all spheres of our activities including our 

financial reporting. Especially having received a grant from the European 

Commission this year we understand how important it is 

that our financial statements are in accordance with the highest requirements 

in this field. Therefore after research and few months of 

negotiations with different companies we were delighted to reach 

the auditing partnership agreement with the international accounting 

firm Mazars, an international, integrated and independent 

organisation, specialising in audit, accounting, tax and advisory 

services. They have found an obvious correlation with ELSA and 

decided to support us in different ways including an in-kind audit 

of the accounts of ELSA. From now on the International Board of 


ELSA will be able to provide an independent external professional 

audit to the International Council and our different Partners. 

LLM Partner 

The members of ELSA are internationally-oriented open-minded 

individuals interested to develop their careers in a global environment. 

They are willing to go on a law related traineeship abroad 

or to attend an international meeting with participants from more 

than thirty different countries and discuss legal issues from comparative 

point of view. It is natural that most of them are interested to 

attain a law degree in a foreign law school with many international 

students. Therefore ELSA was pleased to connect its European network 

of students with one of the leading law schools with a large 

variety of courses, prominent staff and outstanding facilities – the 

Queen Mary School of Law University of London. This partnership 

will not only give opportunity for our members to learn more 

about study and research opportunities at Queen Mary School of 

Law but also to listen to the lectures of its professors at various 

conferences, seminars and summer law schools organised by ELSA 

all around Europe. 

Legal Magazine 

One of the purposes of ELSA is to assist its members to become 

professionally skilled as well as to discover the world of different career 

opportunities, in particular to give opportunity to learn more 

about international law firms. Corporate International, a firmly 

established leading monthly title which gives a unique insight 

into international legal business world, was a perfect partner for 

us. ELSA is happy to be featured on the pages of this magazine in 

adverts and an article as well as to provide significant discounts for 

our members for the subscription for it. 

Project Partner 

As a progressive and open-minded organisation we are always searching 

for the possibilities to widen our horizons 

and assist ELSA members to discover new cultures 

and legal systems. This year we have started cooperation 

with an experienced international education 

provider CBL International which specialises in organising 

tailor-made individual university courses, 

executive conferences and summer schools for international 

students and professionals in emerging 

and advanced markets. ELSA-CBL International 

China Law School attracted a great interest from the 

network and 17 members of ELSA from 9 different 

countries will participate in the first summer law 

school arranged by our association in cooperation 

with CBL International in Beijing and Shanghai this 

August. 

ELSA Online Contractor 

This year ELSA International faced the need to find 



a contracting company to realise one of the most ambitious and 

costly projects of the Network – to create an online administration 

system which would in particular become a centralized member 

management system and simplify other activities and their coordination 

throughout the whole association. To meet this end the 

International Board has initiated the adoption of procurement regulations 

in ELSA and realised a tender according to them. “Bmotion 

Communications”, a Ukrainian company, has won the tender 

and will be working on the implementation of the online system 

of ELSA. 

Partner Law Students’ Associations 

This year ELSA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 

the Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) which resulted in an 

improved connection between our organisations. We were also 

glad to cooperate with the Dominican Republic Chapter of the 

Latin American Council of Scholars of International and Comparative 

Law (COLADIC-RD) in the organisation of the Final Oral 

Round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO law in 

Santo Domingo. Moreover, as we speak the Memorandum of Understanding 

between ELSA and the International Law Students’ 

Association (ILSA) is being negotiated and we are looking forward 

to starting the new cooperation. 

Exchange Partner Association 

The Student Trainee Exchange Programme, being one of the priorities 

in the five-year Strategic Plan of ELSA, made us search for 

expertise in the associations which are the most successful in the 

field of exchange. This led us to the partnership with AIESEC, the 

world’s largest youth-run organisation, which provides over 8,500 

traineeships to its members with an opportunity to live and work 

abroad. ELSA aims to learn from the experience of the Exchange 

Partner Association in order to increase the number of law related 

traineeships abroad we organise each year. 

11

Partners 

CMS Legal Services - Corporate Partner of ELSA 

Successful partnership with a mutual 

ambition to reach the top! 

Dick Tyler 

Executive Partner 

CMS Legal 

CMS aims to be recognised as the best European 

provider of legal and tax services. 

Given our strategy we find it beneficial to 

be a long-standing supporter of the world’s 

largest law students’ association, being represented 

at more than 220 law faculties in 

41 European countries. The clear European 

link for both organisations was something that brought us together 

and contributes to the development of our relationship. Further, the 

recruitment strategy of CMS is to find lawyers who have an international 

mindset and ELSA 

„a network of open-minded people who are 

the future of the legal profession“ 

provides law students with 

intercultural communication 

skills and knowledge, which 

enable them to work in an 

international team across borders and cultures. After the usual evaluation 

meeting in July with the International Board of ELSA, we were 

satisfied with the professionalism of the work done and the way our 

cooperation developed throughout the year. 

One of the projects in the term 2009-2010 that CMS was delighted 

to support was the annual ELSA Essay Competition on the topic of 

the International Focus Programme of the Association – Intellectual 

Property Law. The topic for the essays suggested by our IP lawyers 

was: “Copyright/Broadcasting: Cable transmission rights in the EU 

and European Countries”. The competition ran throughout the autumn 

of 2009 and it was our pleasure to evaluate the contributions 

and identify the winner – Sofio Maisuradze from ELSA Georgia. As 

our prize, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre will welcome Ms Maisuradze 

in September 2010 for up to four weeks’ work experience in 

their office in Paris. 

CMS was also glad to accept the invitation to the international events 

of ELSA. The autumn´s 56th International Council in Sinaia, Ro- 

mania was attended by a partner from CMS Cameron McKenna’s 

office in Bucharest, Mr. Horea Popescu, who spoke to almost 300 

ELSA delegates from 31 European countries presenting the challenges 

and benefits of working in an international law firm. Another 

partner from the CMS office in Kyiv, Mr. Daniel Bilak, delivered a 

presentation for the presidents of national groups of ELSA on the topic 

of “Corruption in the administrative system”, during the winter 

at the 40th International Presidents’ Meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Another example was when CMS DeBacker welcomed 45 participants 

and members of the Internatio- 

nal Board in their Brussels’ office and 

partner Tom Heremans, spoke on the 

timely issue of “Ambush marketing”. 

CMS is happy to see the great interest 

ELSA members show during the lectures and presentations and look 

forward to being able to attend ELSA events in the future. 

CMS is pleased to write articles and be featured in ELSA publications 

and marketing in order to reach the 30 000 internationally 

minded law students all over Europe, who provide a network of 

open-minded people who are the future of the legal profession. We 

strongly support ELSA’s overall vision and look forward with great 

optimism to working together in the year ahead. 

12 CMS_LawTax_CMYK_over100.eps 


Mazars - Auditing Partner of ELSA 

A new cooperation - a bright future 

Nigel Grummitt 

Partner 

Mazars UK 


On behalf of Mazars, I am delighted to confirm 

the new cooperation between Mazars 

and ELSA. As ELSA’s new auditing partner, 

we will audit ELSA’s interim and full year 

accounts, reporting our findings there, and 

provide ad hoc taxation advice. 

Having just confirmed our new relationship 

with the ELSA board, it is my pleasure to 

commit a few thoughts to paper about this 

relationship whilst travelling from London 

to Paris on the Eurostar - itself a great symbol of trans-European 

communication. As the train passes through the English countryside, 

it occurs to me that our organisations are on similar journeys, 

calling at a number of the same stations. 

A European footprint 

Whilst Mazars is an international accounting firm, operating in 56 

countries worldwide, it was born in Europe and has a European 

heartbeat and culture. As one of Europe’s largest accountancy firms, 

and with ELSA active in 41 countries across the expanded Europe, 

it is clear that Mazars and ELSA are operating in the same European 

footprint. 

A shared vision 

With every new member of ELSA that I meet, I increasingly understand 

that ELSA is determined to contribute towards a just world 

in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity. 

Indeed, this is set out as ELSA’s strategic vision. 

At Mazars, we also have a vision: to make a difference to our clients, 

our team and our communities. Mazars began practising corporate 

responsibility long before it was popular. For us, ethics come before 

profit. We are loyal to our principles, our colleagues and our profes- 

„working alongside ELSA to 

make Europe more open“ 

Partners 

sion. We are not afraid to say ‘no’, for all the right reasons. Respect 

for individuals is another core value that applies to everything we 

do – through the sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience, 

human relationships are what drive us forward. Indeed, difference 

is something to be celebrated – we firmly believe that innovation comes 

from the healthy mix of cultures and perspectives. At the same 

time, we work very hard to ensure that, as 

one generation hands over to another, our 

relationships, experience and knowledge 

survive. We learn from the past, but look to 

the future. We also ensure that our communities 

benefit from our work - in the UK alone we give 1.75% of 

our pre-tax profits to charity, while many colleagues are involved in 

community projects such as literacy programmes. And, last but not 

least, we are also determined to prove that accountants are not all 

dull people in grey suits! 

Contributing to education 

With its 30,000 members and its flourishing Student Trainee Exchange 

Programme (STEP), ELSA clearly makes a great contribution 

to the education of its members. At Mazars we take on hundreds 

of graduates across Europe, and train them to become accountants 

and advisors. We even have Mazars University. 

The way forward 

I will be making this journey from London to Europe again in a few 

weeks time in order to carry out the audit of ELSA’s accounts for the 

last year. It is a journey that I am greatly looking forward to making, 

while working alongside ELSA to make Europe more open. I look 

forward to our journey into the future together. 

13

Partners 

Council of Europe - Human Rights Partner of ELSA 

Our work, our achievements 

Barbara 

Orkwiszewska 

Directorate of 

Communication, 

Council of Europe 

The cooperation between the Council 

of Europe and ELSA International 

during the term 2009/2010 was undertaken 

in accordance with the Human 

Rights Partnership Agreement III/2010 

signed on 18 March 2010. 

Two sectors of the Council of Europe 

were actively involved in the cooperation, the Directorate 

of Communication and the Human Resources Division 

and, especially, the Traineeship Unit. 

The major project conducted by the Directorate of Communication 

with ELSA International was the Our Rights, 

Our Freedoms competition devised to mark the 60th anniversary 

of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The project, aimed at appraising the performance of this 

Council of Europe’s flagship treaty, was open to all law students 

in Europe and, in particular, members of ELSA. Participants 

were invited to submit either an essay, assessing 

the achievements and shortcomings of the Strasbourg legal 

system or a photo report showing the impact of the Convention 

on European citizens’ day-to-day lives. 

The competition was broadly promoted within the ELSA 

network and in other institutions. Some 450 law schools, 

a number of law societies, human rights institutions, law 

firms, specialised medias, journalist schools and other ins- 


titutional partners were targeted and some 600 competition 

posters were distributed through interested parties. As a 

result, the competition’s website was visited by over 4,000 

visitors from 

85 countries to 

date. 


The Our Rights, Our Freedoms Competition 

website had over 4 000 visitors from 85 countries 

Another important 

aspect of the 

cooperation was the promotion of the Council of Europe’s 

legal and human rights activities during academic events 

organised by ELSA on international, 

national and 

local levels. During the 

2009/2010 term, participants 

of the eleven ELSA 

events in nine countries 

were provided with 1,819 

Council of Europe information 

and visibility materials; 

6104 items were 

distributed in the first semester 

of 2010, equating 

to 10% of the items distributed 

by the Directorate of 

Communication over the 

same period. 

In addition, 4 Council of 

Europe officers gave lectures 

and participated in 

workshops at the International 

Council Meetings in Romania and Malta as well as at 

the conference on the Maritime Piracy – Legal Perspectives 

organised by ELSA Copenhagen. The Council of Europe’s 

Officers greatly appreciated the academic content, good organisation 

and social context of these events. 

Legal and human rights 

activities of the Council 

of Europe as well as the 

Organisation’s career opportunities 

available to 

lawyers were promoted 

through using ELSA’s communication tools. Four articles 

were featured in the ‘Synergy’ magazine: Half of a century 

commitment to the protection of human rights, NGOs 

are often the true human rights defenders, interview of the 

Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, 

by the representatives of ELSA, Building on the past, looking 

to the future, by Philippe Boillat, Director General of 

Stronger links and confirmed complementarity 

of activities between both organisations 

Partners 

Human Rights and Legal Affairs and Our Rights, Our Freedoms, 

presenting the competition. The Council’s commercial 

publications were also advertised in the Association’s 

magazine. 

The Traineeship Agreement 

established between two institutions 

in mid 2009 gives 

the Association’s members 

access to traineeship opportunities within the Council of 

Europe. During the current term, 6 regular trainees and 

10 study visitors were able to work alongside Council of 

Europe officers. At the same time, amendments simplifying 

and accelerating the selection procedure were introduced. 

The Council of Europe has a very high estimation of the 

professional level and commitment of ELSA’s trainees. 

This annual partnership 

resulted in the creation of 

stronger links and confirmed 

complementarity of 

activities between both 

organisations. 

The Council of Europe is grateful to the 2009/2010 ELSA 

board for their active co-operation and commitment. We 

hope Amanda, Frida, Leonid, Mirko and Sofia benefited 

from their experience with the Council of Europe. We take 

this opportunity of wishing them every success in their future 

careers. 

15

Partners 

London School of English - English Language Partner of ELSA 

Clear mutual benefits of working 

closely together 

Chris Newman 

Market Manager 

London School of English 

was a natural step for us to take. 

When ELSA approached the London 

School of English earlier this year with the 

offer to become its English Language Partner 

we were delighted to accept. Indeed 

the similarities in our respective philosophies 

and goals and the clear mutual benefits 

of working closely together meant this 

The School’s mission is to help people communicate more effectively 

across borders and cultures leading to personal and professional 

development and greater international understanding. This 

is nowhere better illustrated than in the work we do in helping 

young lawyers develop the essen- 

tial legal English skills and cultural 

awareness they need to work 

successfully in an international, 

multi-cultural environment. 

„to help people communicate more effectively 

across borders and cultures“ 

The London School of English has been working with the international 

legal community for over 25 years developing a wide 

range of dedicated skills based courses with entirely separate programmes 

for experienced practising lawyers, in both the commercial 

and public sectors, and for law students and graduates 

in their 20s. In the last 3 years over 600 participants from 46 

countries have benefited from the training we provide at our centre 

in London with many of them taking examinations to obtain 

internationally recognised certificates in Legal English which will 

help them forward in their careers. 

During this time we have forged links with many branches of the 

legal profession: law firms, bar associations, ministries of justice, 

prosecution authorities, high courts and courts of appeals. As 

with these other organisations our partnership with ELSA will 

help to make our courses even more widely known and accessible 

to its members. 

But running specialised English language courses is only part of 

what we do. In all professions, not least the legal one, there is 

an ever growing demand for training in the soft skills which rarely 

form part of a student’s academic training or a legal trainee’s 

workplace induction process. When we were invited last year to 

co-sponsor, with the UK’s Commercial Bar Association, the Law 

Society of England and Wales’ Junior Lawyers Division International 

Weekend, we used the opportunity to deliver a workshop 

for its delegates entitled “Cross-cultural Skills for Lawyers”. Designed 

especially for those in the first stages of their careers, fifty or 

so delegates from over a dozen countries attended the workshop. 

The session was very well received being described in EuroLawyer, 

the European Young Bar Association’s digital magazine, as interesting 

and inspiring. 

When we first met ELSA’s representatives 

in January we were 

highly impressed by their professionalism 

and the Association’s commitment to training. We 

were attracted by the shared values and the opportunity a partnership 

would give us to work with its members. It is with great 

pleasure therefore that we look ahead to attending the International 

Council Meeting in Turkey in October and to running one 

of our cross-cultural training workshops tailored to the needs of 

ELSA’s wide international membership. We look forward to seeing 

many of you there. 

Since1912 


C5 Group - IT & Marketing Partner of ELSA 

An ongoing support 

Daniel Schreyer 

Member of the 

Executive Board 

C5 Group 


The working year 2009/2010 seems to 

bring stability and a usual workload into 

the cooperation between ELSA and C5: 

Cooperating in questions of design, 

printing and shipping of materials, especially 

the magazine Synergy as well as 

in the further development of webpages on the basis of ELSA 

International´s new homepage throughout the ELSA Network. 

But I think it was a lot more than 

this. Having assisted ELSA with services 

worth approximately 20.000 

euros over the past three years on a 

sponsorship bases, C5 got more involved in this year. In our 

day to day business, we think a good supplier has to understand 

his client. With ELSA being more than a client for us, we decided 

to take us time and to bring know-how to this organisation 

where I, myself, spent more than four years in active roles. 

Having started with the transition period in Brussels, where we 

held a workshop, the next step was towards the east: International 

Marketing Meeting in Prague 2009. We gave input on Design 

topics and Content Management Systems. Even Sinaia was 

not too far for us where we concen- 

trated on IT questions and our system 

for local and national websites. 

Last but not least we participated on 

a bid invitation by ELSA International 

who asked for the implementation 

of the whole backpage online 

system till end of July 2010. Unfortunately 

our offer could not succeed, 

but of course we are still partnering 

ELSA in IT matters and especially 

the local and national websites. 

Partners 

In the last annual report I wrote about the fantastic possibilities 

ELSA offers young people. I could write the same 

this time. And of course there are still enough tasks for the 

International Board and all other boards to do. But as I know 

ELSA now for years, for 15 years exactly, I am a bit proud 

and satisfied to see how the development has been and still 

is. 

ELSA gains partnerhips for important parts of the workload. 

ELSA invests in modern 

„attractive association which surely improves 

in structure and professionalism“ 

No.47 · I-2010 

SYNERGY magazine 

Thomas Hammarberg 

Commissioner for Human Rights 

‘Our Rights, Our Freedoms’ 

Essay and photo competition 

From Intellectual Property Law to a new Focus: 

Th e Year of Change 

Magazine of The European Law Students’ Association 

ELSA and ELS 

Offi cial alumni association 

design and communication 

tools. ELSA has stable 

financial conditions. 

With these more technical aspects ELSA now gains more and 

more possibilities to do its own business: to focus on law 

students and young lawyers, to offer European, indeed even 

humanitarian, goals and issues, and a comprehensive education 

of these young legal experts. 

Today we see: ELSA International set the right ball rolling in 

2007 and little by little all ELSA members will profit from a 

bigger and more attractive association, which surely improves 

in structure and professionalism. 

C5 is happy to support ELSA 

with services that do not belong 

to ELSA’s “core business”. This in 

turn prepares the ground for new 

ELSA activities. 

We are looking forward to all these 

ELSA activities, we stand by for 

any help and we thank the Board 

of 2009/20010 for the good and 

professional cooperation. 

17


Statistics of the executive year 

2009/2010 in comparison to 

the previous year 

visits from 173 countries 

the International Board received 

26 233 emails throughout the year 

and 4 494 cities all over the 

world to our website elsa.org 

32 countries visited by the 

International Board in Brussels 

throughout the year 


over 6 000 new fans of the 

ELSA facebook page 


44 bilateral study visits** 


44 institutional study visits* 



* study visit made by a local group to an international institution 

such as the European Parliament 

** study visit between two local groups from different countries 

where they visit each other and learn about their legal 

and social culture. 

19

Network 

Expanding the association - ELSA Ireland 

The 41st member country of ELSA 

At the 2010 spring International Council Meeting in Malta the plenary voted in favour of welcoming 

ELSA Ireland as a new member country of the association. 

Katie O‘Leary 

President 

ELSA Ireland 2010 

Ever since hearing 

of the European Law 

Students’ Association 

we have been eager to 

ensure that the organization 

was established 

in Ireland. Ireland has 

long been an integral part of the European Union and is a 

committed member of the Council of Europe. Ireland, with 

its long and distinguished history has always been committed 

to European integration and co-operation. The spirit of 

co-operation, fellowship and brotherhood that is integral 

to the ELSA Network is also important to Irish law students 

and for that reason students here were very eager to 

become part of the Network. 

At the beginning of the 2009/2010 academic year we made 

contact with ELSA International and began Ireland’s road 

to observership. The support of Leo and the International 

Board was essential to 

the success of our ap- 

plication. 

Daniel Regan 

Director for Training 

ELSA Ireland 2010 

The International 

Council Meeting 

in Malta was where 

Ireland’s observership began. We were delighted to travel to 

Malta to make our presentation for observership. We were 

very excited about the prospect of entering the Network 

and were excited about seeing the Network in action. 

Our expectations and excitement were more than fulfilled 

on the beautiful island of Malta. The ICM was an extraor- 

dinary experience and was one of the greatest moments of 

our student life. Taking part in the workshops and the meetings 

we soon came to realise how important and strong the 

Network is. We were inspired by the spirit of co-operation, 

mutual respect and open dialogue that we soon came to 

realise are the hallmarks of the Network. 

The greatest moment of the ICM came at the final plenary 

when Ireland was admitted unanimously to the ELSA 

network. As Irish students our joy at becoming part of the 

Network is reflected in all Irish law students who are keenly 

interested in growing and developing the network in Ireland! 

We understand that our work to establish ELSA Ireland is 

just beginning. We currently have only one Local Group, so 

we are keen to expand the Network throughout our small 

island. We have made contact with students in several universities 

around the country, many of whom are as excited 

as we are by the 

opportunities and 

„The ICM was an extraordinary experience and 

was one of the greatest moments of our student life.“ 

experiences offered 

by ELSA. 

Encouraged by interest 

in the Network 

around our country, we held our first NCM in May, which 

was attended by students from four Irish universities, two 

ELSA trainers, Rudolf Reiet and Johanna O’Duinnin, and 

as Former President of ELSA Slovakia Katarina Vanerkova 

(who supplied us with the notorious Stroh!). We had a 

wonderful weekend, and felt that the ELSA Spirit had well 

and truly come to Ireland! 


ELSA’s alumni association - ELS 

Development of a mutually beneficial 

partnership 

The official alumni association of ELSA, the ELSA Lawyers’ Society, has been giving us inspiration and support to our 

activities throughout the term in office 2009-2010. We were glad to develop the cooperation and work together with 

fostering the mutually beneficial partnership that officially started in January 2009 when the cooperation agreement 

between ELSA and ELS was signed. 

Leonid Cherniavskyi 

President 



Traditionally ELS provided financial and 

in-kind support to ELSA and our members. 

Apart from the financial support to the 

International Board of ELSA and the 

ELS Scholarships given to active ELSA 

members in order to facilitate their participation in the International 

Council Meetings, the remarkable development in the 

field of financial support to ELSA as a network was the introduction 

of the ELS Granting System. Following the general 

concept of the system stipulated in the ELSA-ELS 

Agreement we have elaborated through negotiations with 

the Executive Board of ELS the model of functioning for 

the Granting System and the launching, which was made 

possible in the beginning of 2010. The outcome of the initiative 

could be seen already by the end of our term in 

office. Two Local Groups received grants from the ELSA 

Lawyers’ Society for the organisation of their international 

events; ELSA Bucharest for their law school “Banking and 

Finance Law” and ELSA Zagreb for their law school “Human 

Rights and Globalisation”. 

Many members of ELS are also active as trainers in our 

International Trainer’s Pool. Throughout the year we were glad 

to have the support of ELS members who gave trainings to the 

members of our association at all levels. We would like to give a 

special thank you to Mr. Pierangelo Graziani, member of the ELS 

Executive Board and ITP trainer, who gave a spectacular teambuilding 

training to the International Board in the middle of our 

term in office. This training was a unique opportunity for us to 

learn even more about each other and deepen the understanding 

of our motives and opinions under the highly skilled guidance of 

Alumni 

Mr. Graziani. As a result we got a great load of motivation for the 

rest of our term. Naturally, many trainings and workshops were 

given by our ELS members as ITP trainers during ELSA’s internal 

meetings throughout the year, which to us felt like a good proof 

of the interrelation between our associations. 

Besides trainings, ELS members have also been an endless source 

of support when it comes to searching for sponsorships, organising 

legal education events or STEP traineeships. 

We are always happy to invite former ELSA members to our 

international events and it has been a great pleasure for ELSA 

members to socialise with the members of ELS throughout the 

year during the International Council Meetings of the association. 

As a representative from the board, which board members today 

are members of ELS, we look forward to seeing the further developments 

of the cooperation between ELSA and ELS! 

21


A selection of International events organized throughout 

the network 2009/2010 

Something of interest for every member 

Throughout the ELSA network our members are offered the opportunity to participate in international events where 

they get to meet members from other countries, increase their knowledge in a specific legal topic or their knowledge of 

the organisation and other soft skills. All in all, as a member of ELSA you have all the means to develop as a person 

and into a profession, every year, all year around. 

Topic Type Location Date 

United S&C and AA Meeting Internal Cagliari, Italy 5th - 10th Aug 2009 

International Presidents‘ Meeting Internal Amsterdam, The Netherlands 12th - 16th Aug 2009 

International STEP & MKT Meeting Internal Prague, Czech Republic 26th - 30th Aug 2009 

Joint Internal & Financial 

Management Meeting 

Internal A Coruna, Spain 9th - 13th Sept 2009 

ELSA Baltic Sea Exchange Conference Finland & Sweden 30th Sept - 2nd Oct 2009 

Seminar on WTO Law Seminar Georgia 18th - 19th Oct 2009 

International Council Meeting Internal Sinaia, Romania 25th Oct - 1st Nov 2009 

Islamic Finance Seminar Germany 5th Nov 2009 

Human trafficking and human tissue 

trade: „Not everything is on sale!“ 

Conference Opole, Poland 17th - 18th Nov 2009 

National moot court on Labor Law Moot Court Finland 20th Nov 2009 

X National Tax Conference Conference Wroclaw, Poland 21th - 22th Nov 2009 

National Training Days Internal Bulgaria 21th - 22th Nov 2009 

IPR and Human Rights Conference Helsinki, Finland 24th - 29th Nov 2009 

Moot court on Civil law Moot Court Dresden, Germany 27th Nov 2009 

„Human Rights‘ Days“ Conference Gdansk, Poland 15th - 17th Dec 2009 

National Conference on Cybercrime Conference Toruń, Poland 15th - 16th Dec 2009 

ELSA and UNICEF: Project Lithuania & Poland Dec 2009 

Traditional Christmas action 

Essay Competition on IP Law Essay ELSA International until Dec 2009 

Essay Competition on Space law Essay Cologne, Germany until Dec 2009 

Moot court on Criminal law Moot Court Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany Jan 2010 

An Error in Medical Judgement Conference Kraków, Poland 15th Jan 2010 

International Presidents‘ Meeting Internal Kyiv, Ukraine 3th - 7th Feb 2010 

Moot court in Criminal law Moot Court Tübingen, Germany 16th - 18th Feb 2010 


Topic Type Place Date 

Holocaust and War Crime Prosecution Conference Brno, Czech Republic 1st - 4th Mar 2010 

EMC 2 Regional Round Moot Court Leuven, Belgium 3rd - 7th Mar 2010 



EMC 2 Regional Round Moot Court Helsinki, Finland 10th - 14th Mar 2010 

International Humanitarian Law Seminar Tallinn, Estonia 10th - 14th Mar 010 

Corporate Governance of Corporations Conference Pilsen, Czech Republic 11th - 12th Mar 2010 

Environmental Law Law School Tbilisi, Georgia 12th Mar - 16th Apr 2010 

Sports Law Seminar Georgia 13th - 14th Mar 2010 

Psychology and Law Seminar Georgia 20th - 21st Mar 2010 

International Council Meeting Internal Qawra, Malta 21st - 28th Mar 2010 

Law and Medicine Conference Gdansk, Poland 24th - 25th Mar 2010 

Moot Court on Commercial Law Moot Court Czech Republic Apr 2010 

Research Group Competition on 

Google Book Search 

Project Czech Republic Apr 2010 

Days of Criminalistic Conference Wroclaw, Poland 12th - 13th Apr 2010 

Protection of Cultural Heritage Conference Kraków, Poland 20th Apr 2010 

Moot court in Criminal law Moot Court Frankfurt (Oder), Germany 20th Apr 2010 

Illegal Immigration - Different points 

of view of a common phenomenon 

Seminar Reggio di Calabria, Italy 20th - 22nd Apr 2010 

Canonical Procedure Conference Olsztyn, Poland 21st - 22nd Apr 2010 

Changes in the new family code Seminar Bulgaria 24th Apr 2010 

Lobbying in Legislative Procedure Conference Warsaw, Poland 24th Apr 2010 

Intellectual Property Days Seminar Toruń, Poland 27th - 28th Apr 2010 

Final IFP Conference on IP Law Conference Munich, Germany 27th Apr - 2nd May 2010 

Allen&Overy Regional Competition Essay CZ, HU, PL, SK until Apr 2010 

Public Speech Competition Bulgaria 1st May 2010 

Criminal Procedure Workshop MRU, Lithuania 4th - 5th May 2010 

National Moot Court on Civil Law Moot Court Czech Republic 14th May 2010 

Islam in Germany, Europe and the World Seminar Jena, Germany 7th - 9th May 2010 

Europe – Where are we heading? Conference Muenster, Germany 13th - 16th May 2010 

Final Oral Round of EMC2 Moot Court Santo Domingo, DR 24th - 30th May2010 

Essay competition on European law Essay Leipzig, Germany until Jun 2010 

International Seminar on Internet Law Seminar Dresden, Germany 24th - 27th Jun 2010 

How to become Homo Europeus? Law School Slovakia 18th - 25th Jul 2010 

Climate change, energy and trade law Law School Lithuania 18th - 25th Jul 2010 

Law Is Better Than War! Law School Bucharest, Romania 18th - 29th Jul 2010 

Banking and Finance Law Law School Bucharest, Romania 18th - 29th Jul 2010 

Mergers & Acquisitions Law School Istanbul, Turkey 26th Jul - 1st Aug 2010 

Human Rights and Globalization Law School Zagreb, Croatia 26th Jul - 2nd Aug 2010 

„How much is your life worth? Conference Olsztyn, Poland 24th - 26th Feb 2010 

Legal, social and criminological aspects of kidnapping for ransom“ 

23


ELSA Moot Court Competition - EMC 2 

A Report from Sunny Santo Domingo 

about Bright Young Lawyers 

This year, the Final Oral Round of the EMC 2 was held in Santo Domingo. It was successfully organized by 

COLADIC – in close cooperation with ELSA International. 

Laura Nielsen 

Academic Supervisor 

of EMC 2 

Denmark 

Again this year, the standard of the teams 

impressed all the judges, and after some 

nerve wrecking semi finals, the team from 

University of Ottawa was ready to challenge 

the two-person team from West Bengal 

National University that had displayed 

they were in good shape. Although the 

Canadian team was brilliant, the two Indi- 

an ladies were unbeatable – indeed so brilliant that they also won 

several of the best oralist prizes. 

This report sounds like it could equally be a report of the World 

Cup Games in soccer in South Africa – and for those of us that 

are involved in the EMC 2 , it is actually equally exciting! As an 

Academic Supervisor for the competition, my main job is of 

course to ensure a sufficiently high academic level of the legal 

scholarship – but the “competition aspect” of the EMC 2 is what 

makes all of us come back as judges year after year. 

In my opinion, all ELSA Members should pride themselves in 

that the “ELSA Moot Court” (which many people call the EMC 2 ) 

has developed from “nothing” to being the single most prestigious 

moot court competition in the WTO area in the entire 

world. For the outsider, it may not seem like a big deal – but the 

EMC 2 is a really large asset for ELSA. Everybody in the WTOcommunity 

now knows what ELSA is due to 

the existence of the EMC 2 . In fact, the Deputy 

Director General of the WTO, Alejandro 

Jara, just recently assisted ELSA in securing 

the WTO premises for next year’s Grand Final 

in “Room W” – and he usually also judges the 

Grand Finale. 

The quality of EMC 2 reflects directly on 

ELSA. One aspect that ensures high quality is 

the high standard of judges. All EMC 2 panels 

consist of 3 panelist – and semis and Grand Finale often more. 

This year, former WTO Appellate Body Member, Professor Taniguchi, 

chaired the Grand Final, and current Appellate Body 

Member, Professor Ramirez, judged beside him in the five member 

panel hearing. Last year, former Appellate Body Member, 

Professor Matsushita chaired the Grand Final – and the story 

was not less impressive in previous years. Apart from Appellate 

Body Members, Counsellors from the WTO Secretariat also 

judge, alongside top academics and practitioners from all over 

the world – and as mentioned before: The Deputy Director General 

himself. The EMC 2 is actually such a large success that 

highly esteemed WTO experts put their experience as an EMC 2 

judge in prominent places on their CVs! 

Another thing ELSA members should pride themselves of is the 

professional reputation of ELSA. Participants and professors always 

praise the ELSA staff to the sky for their invaluable organizational 

skills and hospitality. I always say that those young law 

students/lawyers I work with in ELSA will make it “all the way”. 

By organizing such a huge competition that is not only academically 

challenging, but also exposes the ELSA staff to cultural 

differences (across the globe) these young people develop skills in 

one year, many full-time diplomats of a much older age would 

be envious of. 

Next year, the competition goes back to Geneva 

and the WTO headquarters – thanks to 

our good friends in the WTO Secretariat. The 

2010/2011 year‘s case will be a “Dolly Case”; 

i.e. a case about cloned animals, which means 

the students will have to argue a so-called 

“SPS case” concerning particularly scientific 

evidence. Soon, new teams will enter the 

competition and start writing their submissions 

on cloned animals. I hope to see many of 

you next year in Geneva. 


A new summer law school for members of ELSA 

Discovering China 

Valentina Pavel 

Member of ELSA 

Romania 


This summer a new opportunity had arisen 

for ELSA members: taking part in a 

three-week summer school in Shanghai 

and Beijing organized as a joint programme 

by ELSA and CBL International. 

As a participant of this summer school I 

am glad to share part of my experience with you. During the 

summer school the main topics were: legal system of the People’s 

Republic of China, Chinese tax law, intellectual property rights 

in China, ASEAN dispute settlement and Chinese labor law. These 

topics were especially worth analyzing and comparing to the 

European system mainly because of China’s rapid development 

and substantial growth. It is very interesting to see the differences 

when it comes to implementing laws that are basically the same 

as the European ones but practiced in a totally different hierarchical 

and political system. 

The visits to important companies and institutions were a strong 

attraction for participants since we could 

interact with representatives from: Price- 

WaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Siemens, 

Thomson Reuters, Lehman, Lee & Xu, 

Google, Schindhelm, Tecis and institutions 

like European Chamber of Commerce, 

US embassy and the German 

Center at the Zhang Jiang high-tech 

park in Shanghai. 

The best thing about this summer school 

was that I could meet people from all 

over the world (US, Iran, Malaysia, Singapore, 

France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, 

Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Poland, 

Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Finland) 

and discuss cultural differences, 


political and legal issues, all in a very interesting and challenging 

setting as the one we had to adapt to in China. 

Of course the sightseeing programme is also worth mentioning 

since the organizers arranged VIP entrance for us to several pavilions 

at the World Expo Shanghai 2010 like US, Mexico, Switzerland, 

Austria, Germany, India, a Big Bus tour in Shanghai, a visit 

to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs in Beijing. 

The language barrier was the most important challenge we had to 

face, but thanks to the CBL planned Chinese language course we 

actually gained some basic knowledge in order to manage while 

at the restaurant, in a cab, bargaining in a shop, asking for directions, 

meeting someone and introducing ourselves. 

China is definitely a place worth seeing not just because of its 

unique landscape and architecture, but also for understanding a 

new culture, religion and way of life. I strongly recommend an 

experience like the one I had for a broaden horizon of knowledge 

and for experiencing new life concepts. 

Also I have to say that China is definitely 

the place to be in the next 10 years. 

The reason behind this statement is the 

government’s daring development plan 

called Shanghai 2020. This plan aims 

to transform Shanghai in the world’s 

first financial and logistic hub by the 

year 2020. And with the current development 

rate they are experiencing 

there is no doubt that they will actually 

succeed. Having the implications 

of such an initiative in mind you just 

might want to consider Shanghai as a 

strong candidate for your ambitious future 

career plans. 

25

International Focus Programme 

ELSA’s International Focus Programme 

From Intellectual Property Law to 

Health Law 

Sofia Kallio describes the IFP and Lena Mischau reports on the Final IFP Conference. 

The International Focus Programme 

The term 2009/2010 was the final year of 

implementation of Intellectual Property as 

the topic of the International Focus Pro- 

Sofia Kallio 

VP S&C 


09/10 

gramme (IFP). For the past three years the ELSA Network has 

been focusing on the law related to, for example, copyright, 

patents and trademarks. 

As a highlight for the programme, the final year of implementation 

was devoted to compiling the Final IFP Publication and 

organising the Final IFP Conference, which took place in Munich, 

Germany. In addition, 

the second editi- 

on of the International 

Essay Competition on 

IFP was finalised. The 

winning contribution 

on the theme of cable 

transmission rights was 

written by Sofio Maisuradze 

from ELSA Georgia. 

As a large international IFP event, there was a conference 

on IFP and Human Rights organised in Helsinki, Finland in 

November 2009. The event brought together two major players 

in ELSA, the IFP and the commitment to Human Rights. 

During the years there have been a number of local, national 

and international events and projects where law students have 

had the possibility to broaden their knowledge on Intellectual 

Property beyond the traditional curricula of universities. There 

are several examples of young lawyers who have found their 

Lena Mischau 

Head of OC 

Final IFP Conference 

2010 

niche due to attending an ELSA event that 

inspired them to learn more and to become 

experts in the field. In addition, the ELSA 

Delegations have participated in numerous 

meetings of the World Intellectual Property 

Organisation (WIPO). Thereby, the ELSA Network has had 

the possibility to influence the development of and discussion 

on Intellectual Property Law. These events and projects have 

challenged their participants to look at Intellectual Property 

from various points of view – the private sector, technology, 

protection of Human Rights and legislative work, to mention 

a few. 

During the term 

2009/2010 also the 

groundwork for the 

new topic was made. 

After the discussions 

for the next “hot legal 

topic”, three legal 

research groups were 

created to study the 

possibilities of Health Law, Internet Law and Energy and Climate 

Law, and during the International Council Meeting in 

Malta the Council decided to focus on Health Law for the 

period 2010–2013. 

„There are several examples of young lawyers who 

have found their niche due to attending an ELSA 

event that inspired them to learn more and to become 

experts in the field.“ 

The Final IFP Conference 

This spring, the moment we had been waiting for more than 

half a year finally came true: the Final IFP Conference on 

Intellectual Property Law 2010, which was the climax and 


conclusion of the last years` International Focus Programme 

(IFP) on Intellectual Property Law. 

Therefore, it was a great pleasure for ELSA Munich and especially 

for the Organising Committee to welcome more than 90 

students and young lawyers from exactly 20 European countries 

to actively participate in this very special event. With 

the kind help of our supporters such as our patrons Prof. Dr. 

Hans-Jürgen Papier, eighth President of the Federal Constitutional 

Court of Germany, and Mrs. Dr. Beate Merk, the 

Bavarian State Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, 

as well as our academic advisor Prof. Dr. Michael Lehmann 

and our sponsors, we were happy to provide our participants 

with an academic programme at the highest stage and a week 

full of ELSA spirit as well. 

Marking the end of the current IFP “Intellectual Property 

Law”, it was our main goal to sum up the last years` results 

and to reappraise the outcome of the numerous seminars, 

conferences and diverse events having taken place since 2007 

throughout the whole ELSA network. On the other hand, 

we wanted our participants not just to stick to the “classical” 

topics concerning IP but instead to go beyond the previous 

themes and to concentrate on some exciting new issues rising 

up in this context. 

Therefore, the academic part of the conference was structured 

into three different main topics: “IP & Communications 

Law”, “IP & Economy”, and “IP & Ecology”. Within this 

frame, more than twelve lectures, four workshops and one panel 

discussion held by some of the most renowned experts in 


International Focus Programme 

the field of IP were carried out mainly in the premises of the 

European Patent Office, but also at the Ludwig-Maximilians- 

University and the European Commission. 

Additionally, the participants had the chance to get to know 

the role IP can play in practice during the visit of three internationally 

working law firms in Munich, all of them specialised 

in IP. 

However, it was not only a pleasure for us to show our guests 

the latest aspects and developments concerning IP, but also 

to show them the most beautiful sights of Munich and make 

them acquainted with the city and its people. 

At the ELSA party on Thursday evening in one of the finest 

clubs of Munich the participants were able to get to know each 

other and the city’s modern face, whereas on Friday during 

our typical Bavarian evening at “Hofbräuhaus”, they got the 

chance to discover our traditional music, dances and dishes. 

Yet, without doubt the great Gala Ball in 

a gorgeous pavilion next to a small lake 

was the highlight of the non-academic 

part as the conference as well as the IFP 

“Intellectual Property Law” as a whole 

came to its official end there. Together 

with the participants and other guests 

e.g. professors and former ELSA members 

we summed up one last time the 

numerous events having been carried 

out within the framework of the IFP 

throughout Europe, and thus rounded 

off the week, the Final IFP Conference, 

and the IFP “Intellectual Property Law” 

altogether. 

In conclusion, the Final IFP Conference 

on Intellectual Property Law 

2010 was worth of marking the end of 

the last IFP “Intellectual Property Law” 

and to start the new one “Health Law” which I hope to be as 

productive and successful as the old one was. 

Last but not least, I would like to thank once more our many 

supporters without whose kind help we would have never been 

able to realise this conference in the scale we fortunately were. 

Thank you to all of our participants, as well, for taking part 

in the conference so enthusiastically and for making this week 

the magnificent experience it turned out to be for everyone of 

us. My dear friends, keep up the ELSA spirit and I am looking 

forward to meeting you again during one of the events in the 

framework of the new IFP topic to come soon! 

27

Network 

New regulations and working groups 

An executive year of ELSA 

ELSA as an association for law students’ and young lawyers is special in many ways. However, in order for ELSA 

to be established as unique, we need something that gives us internal structure and proceedings of how we make 

decisions, how we execute them and most importantly which are the common rules and boundaries that keep us 

uniform throughout our 41 member countries. 

Timo Kortesoja 

Secretary General 


As ELSA is the world’s largest law students’ 

association, we need a framework 

that keeps us on the right track, so that 

we will not forget the general principal 

of ELSA. As law students we are, or at 

least we should be, interested in regulations 

and how they work as guidelines 

and binding rules for the work that is being done. 

The general principal for the term 2009/2010 regarding the regulations 

was clear; to introduce new regulations and amendments 

when they serve 

the benefit of the whole 

network in the long run. 

Jim Rohn once said: “If 

you wish to find, you must 

search. Rarely does a good idea interrupt you.” The International 

Board 2009/2010 was lucky to be interrupted by good ideas 

that would help the whole network e.g. in planning, following 

the progress of our Strategic Goals and having clear internal 

proceedings for procurement. The International Board presented 

its ideas to the network during the ICMs, IPMs and area 

meetings. 

In ICM Sinaia, the Council approved a Strategic Planningsection 

that was introduced by the International Board. The 

meaning for these regulations was to develop a tool to follow 

the realisation of the Strategic Goals as well as to clarify that 

the whole network is committed to the Strategic Goals. Besides 

this introduction, the International Board also introduced 

several amendments to the Decision Book. Also the National 

Groups were active in proposing their amendments to the Decision 

Book and as a result the new Human Resources Strategy 

was amended. It concerned the network activities timeline and 

hosting of the officers’ trainings events. 

In IPM Kyiv, the presidents formed a working group for procurement 

regulations. The idea of regulations on this area was 

initiated by the International Board based on the online system 

project. The proposal of the IPM on procurement was then approved 

by the Council in ICM Qawra, Malta. Besides a working 

group for procurement regulations, we also had working groups 

for expansion and external relations whom made their proposal 

regarding their search in the area of expansion in the ICM Qawra. 

The Council approved the proposal to amend the Statutes 

of ELSA and the Decision Book with an expansion definition 

that would make a full stop for the discussion that has been 

going on the past couple of 

„to introduce new regulations and amendments 

when they serve the benefit of the whole network „ 

years. During ICM Qawra, 

the working group for external 

relations was created 

and it started working on 

a proposal regarding external relations and fundraising for the 

autumn ICM in Alanya. 

Besides these working groups we had several other working 

groups for different handbooks and initial projects e.g. a working 

group for network support system and working groups 

for different handbooks throughout the functional areas. As the 

International Board 2009/2010 for the whole year strived for 

active involvement of the network, we are happy to conclude 

that the network truly was actively involved in the work and 

together we managed to strengthen the network and increase 

the mutual understanding through the exchange of ideas and 

views on different topics. 

For this remarkable work of the whole network, the International 

Board 2009/2010 is very proud and we wish to thank all 

the people involved in these working groups! It has been our 

pleasure to co-ordinate the work, to see the results and together 

implement them in our beloved network of law students. 


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29

Final Accounts 

Balance Sheet 

31st July 2010 

Assets 31/07/10 31/07/09 

EUR EUR 

Fixed Assets 

Assets 1.359,01 1.894,71 

Assets under construction 30.000,00 0,00 

Total Fixed Assets 31.359,01 1.894,71 

Current Assets 

Debtors Control Account 

Receivables to EDF 0,00 2.554,50 

Receivables from Members 27.646,20 28.894,15 

Accounts Receivable 34.469,72 34.873,84 

62.115,92 66.322,49 

Deposits and Cash 42.227,41 35.650,90 

Prepayments 1.240,91 1.347,14 

Total Current Assets 105.584,24 103.320,53 

Total Assets 136.943,25 105.215,24 

Liabilities 31/07/10 31/07/09 

EUR EUR 

Capital 

Opening Balances 01.08.09 23.028,71 22.823,84 

Prior period adjustment -8.333,33 

Profit/Loss 337,02 204,87 

15.032,40 23.028,71 

EDF Reserves 14.405,01 14.405,01 

Transfer to EDF balance sheet -14.405,01 

Provision for EDF 6.500,00 

Total EDF 6.500,00 14.405,01 

Provision for bad debts 4.524,63 4.000,00 

Use of provision -3.516,60 -975,37 

Provision 30.000,00 1.500,00 

Total provision for bad debts 31.008,03 4.524,63 

Provision for ELSA Online 6.000,00 0,00 

Total ELSA House 1.000,00 1.000,00 

Total Capital & Reserves 59.540,43 42.958,35 

Liabilities 

Accounts payable 21.560,81 9.308,88 

Deferred Revenue 55.842,01 52.948,01 

Total Liabilities 77.402,82 62.256,89 

Total Capital & Liabilities 136.943,25 105.215,24 

30 ELSA Annual Report 

30

Detailed income and expenditures 

1st August 2009 - 31st July 2010 


Final Accounts 

Income EUR Expenditures EUR 

Externals 81.236,96 The ELSA House (office) 32.787,87 

Membership Fee 18.000,01 Office running costs 2.504,90 

Membership Contributions 7.500,00 Communication 3.413,44 

Observership Administration Fee 350,00 Online portal administration 2.441,26 

ELSA Online Fee 14.999,97 Publications 30.919,40 

Grants 14.105,00 Moot Court Competition 3.937,41 

Moot Court Competition 21.02434 Contribution EDF (Foundation) 1.200,00 

Bank Interest 304,25 Statutory and Internal Meetings 5.675,82 

ELSA Lawyers' Society (ELS) 5.541,78 Travel 12.416,04 

Miscellaneous Income 2.378,59 Board allowance and directors 18.625,58 

Provision for bad debts 3.516,60 Write off bad debts 3.516,60 

Representation 432,00 

Auditing 2.005,65 

Annual Report 2008/2009 463,60 

Projects 1.019,02 

Marketing Budget 1.071,32 

Costs related to previous years 1.681,08 

Miscellaneous 2.009,49 

Provision for bad debts 30.000,00 

Provision for online development 6.000,00 

Provision towards EDF (Foundation) 6.500,00 

Income total 168.957,50 Expenditures total 168.620,48 

Profit total 337,02 

31


239, Boulevard Général Jacques 

B-1050 Brussels, Belgium 

Phone: +32-2-646-2626 

Fax: +32-2-646-2923 

E-mail: elsa@elsa.org 

Website: www.elsa.org

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