25th Anniversary Of ELSA - European Law Students' Association ...
25th Anniversary Of ELSA - European Law Students' Association ...
25th Anniversary Of ELSA - European Law Students' Association ...
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Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006<br />
<strong>25th</strong><br />
<strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
<strong>Of</strong> <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Interview With A<br />
WTO Counsellor<br />
In JUSTICE For Justice<br />
Learning By Doing<br />
A Day In The Life <strong>Of</strong>…<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Sticker Inside!
Synergy<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International in Brussels, Belgium produces Synergy.<br />
The articles are contributions from students, young and experienced<br />
lawyers as well as academics. The articles are<br />
edited at the discretion of the Editors.<br />
Please do not hesitate to visit Synergy Online<br />
www.elsa.org/publications/synergy.asp.<br />
Contributions<br />
Synergy is published twice a year for <strong>ELSA</strong>’s members in<br />
35 countries in Europe. Would you like to contribute with<br />
articles or pictures for the Magazine? Please contact <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
International for further information and guidelines.<br />
Advertising<br />
Would you like to advertise your courses, services, company<br />
or products, please do not hesitate to contact <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
International in Brussels. Rates are available upon request.<br />
Editor<br />
Nils Fjelkegård<br />
Co-Editor<br />
Nancy Son<br />
Assistant Editor<br />
Ida Lindholm<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
239, Boulevard Général Jacques<br />
B-1050 Brussels<br />
Belgium<br />
Phone: +32 2 646 26 26<br />
Fax: + 32 2 646 29 23<br />
E-mail: elsa@elsa.org<br />
Website: www.elsa.org<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International’s Corporate Partners<br />
About <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong>, <strong>ELSA</strong>, is an international,<br />
independent, non-political and non-profit-making organisation<br />
comprised and run by and for law students and young<br />
lawyers. Founded in 1981 by law students from Austria, Hungary,<br />
Poland and West Germany, <strong>ELSA</strong> is today the world’s largest independent<br />
law students’ association.<br />
Our Philosophy<br />
Vision<br />
A just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.<br />
Purpose<br />
To contribute to legal education, to foster mutual understanding and to promote social<br />
responsibility of law students and young lawyers.<br />
Means<br />
To provide opportunities for law students and young lawyers to learn about other cultures<br />
and legal systems in a spirit of critical dialogue and scientific co-operation.<br />
To assist law students and young lawyers to be internationally minded and professionally<br />
skilled.<br />
To encourage law students and young lawyers to act for the good of society.<br />
Our Network<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> is a unique and growing Network of almost 30 000 law students and young<br />
lawyers from more than 220 universities in 35 countries across Europe. <strong>ELSA</strong> currently<br />
has members and observers in: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,<br />
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,<br />
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic<br />
of Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovak<br />
Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.<br />
Furthermore, <strong>ELSA</strong> co-operates with other student organisations across the world, for<br />
instance ILSA in North America, COLADIC in South America, ALSA in Japan, ALSA in<br />
Australia, ALSA in South Africa and AEJCI in Ivory Coast.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>’s Members<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>’s members are internationally minded individuals who have experiences with<br />
foreign legal systems and practices. Through our activities such as Seminars & Conferences,<br />
Academic Activities and the Student Trainee Exchange Programme our members<br />
acquire a broader cultural understanding and legal expertise. <strong>ELSA</strong> prepares law<br />
students for living and working in an international environment.<br />
Our Special Status<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> has through its activities and commitment within the international community<br />
gained a special status with several international institutions. In 2000, <strong>ELSA</strong> was granted<br />
Consultative Status with the Council of Europe. Furthermore, <strong>ELSA</strong> has Consultative<br />
Status with several United Nations bodies; in 1997 <strong>ELSA</strong> obtained Special Consultative<br />
Status with UN ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council), UNCITRAL<br />
(UN Commission on International Trade <strong>Law</strong>), in 1994 <strong>ELSA</strong> was granted Consultative<br />
Status in Category C in UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> also has Participatory Status with the Council of Europe and recently<br />
obtained Observatory Status with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). In<br />
addition, <strong>ELSA</strong> has a co-operation agreement with UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for<br />
Refugees) and co-operates with ICRC (The International Committee of the Red Cross)<br />
and all the <strong>European</strong> Institutions.<br />
s y n e r g y 3
Editor’s Letter<br />
Nils Fjelkegård<br />
Vice President Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Dear readers,<br />
A new <strong>ELSA</strong> year is already well on its way and a new editor has entered<br />
that special house on Boulevard Général Jacques in Brussels in order<br />
to bring you yet another edition of our wonderful Members’ Magazine<br />
– Synergy.<br />
This year that editor happens to be me and I assure you I will do my best<br />
to bring you a publication that meets the expectations that one would and<br />
should have for a members’ magazine of the worlds’ largest independent<br />
law students’ association. For this edition I have also had the pleasure to<br />
co-operate with my very talented co-editor for Synergy – Nancy Son.<br />
And as we are all members of that <strong>Association</strong>, I want you to feel that this<br />
is your magazine. It should consist of articles written by and for you. It<br />
should be a forum where we share our experiences, ideas and thoughts<br />
through the format of interesting and well-written articles or interviews.<br />
Synergy is a melting pot of cultural diversity, legal education and international<br />
exchange that in 48 pages pretty much summarises what this<br />
<strong>Association</strong> is all about.<br />
The end of 2006 joins together three very important milestones in <strong>ELSA</strong>;<br />
the <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> of our <strong>Association</strong>, the 50th International Council<br />
Meeting and last but not least, the 40th edition of Synergy. I take great<br />
pride in being part of the creation of this anniversary edition of Synergy<br />
and to honour this old and faithful companion to our <strong>Association</strong>, the<br />
International Board has decided to increase the amount of copies printed<br />
and distributed to the Network, so that even more of our members can<br />
enjoy its content.<br />
With contributions from North to South in our Network, interviews with key<br />
players in the legal community and articles on a wide range of interesting<br />
topics, I hope that you will find something that appeals to you and that you<br />
might find that extra ounce of inspiration needed to book tickets for that<br />
special event or to actually organise something yourself.<br />
As a special treat for this 40th edition we have also included an <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
sticker in the magazine. Put it on your folder, Laptop, refrigerator, coffee<br />
cup or wherever and spread the message of that old lady <strong>ELSA</strong> that we<br />
all love so much. Please also note that the events calendar in the middle<br />
spread pages is meant for taking out and putting up on a wall, to communicate<br />
the events that truly represent <strong>ELSA</strong> – the international ones.<br />
So, enjoy your reading dear members! I am looking forward to seeing your<br />
own articles on my editing table for the next edition!
Contents<br />
INTERNATIONAL TEAM 6<br />
The International Board 6<br />
Directors <strong>ELSA</strong> International 7<br />
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES 8<br />
Introducing A New Editor For SPEL – Mr. Malte Beyer 8<br />
EMC 2 – From The Perspective <strong>Of</strong> A WTO Counsellor 9<br />
Guess Who’s Also Celebrating <strong>Anniversary</strong>? 10<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Lisbon’s MCNDC – The Rise <strong>Of</strong> A Tradition 11<br />
SEMINARS & CONFERENCES 12<br />
Lobbying And Big Politics In Brussels – <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo’s Study Visit To Brussels 12<br />
Madame President On Air 13<br />
What Does The Director For Institutional Relations Do? – A Short Introduction To The World <strong>Of</strong> Institutions 15<br />
<strong>Law</strong> Beyond Borders – A Seminar Truly Beyond Borders 15<br />
The Mt. Kopaonik School <strong>Of</strong> Natural <strong>Law</strong> - <strong>Law</strong> And Universal Values 17<br />
<strong>Law</strong> As An Expression And Guarantee <strong>Of</strong> A Culture <strong>Of</strong> Peace 17<br />
“Children Are The Most Precious Things We Own – We Can Sell Their Bodies Over And Over Again” 18<br />
<strong>Law</strong>yer’s Trumps 18<br />
Conference - Through Dialogue <strong>Of</strong> Youth To Stability In The Region <strong>Of</strong> Southeast Europe 19<br />
STUDENT TRAINEE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME 20<br />
20 Minutes For STEP – The Best Investment 20<br />
STEP – From The Perspective <strong>Of</strong> A Proud Employer 21<br />
Traineeship In Bratislava - Impressions <strong>Of</strong> The First STEP Participant From Ukraine 22<br />
Development <strong>Of</strong> STEP In Serbia 22<br />
BOARD MANAGEMENT, EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND EXPANSION 26<br />
GOOD DEAL – Why Fundraising Could Be A Success Story For <strong>ELSA</strong> 26<br />
To Expand Or Not To Expand… - Let’s Go Back To The Basics! 27<br />
How Good Is Your Legal English? 28<br />
INTERNAL MANAGEMENT 30<br />
Learning By Doing 30<br />
An Experience Visit – Two Sides <strong>Of</strong> The Story<br />
Why Bother To Share Experience? The Best Way To Do It<br />
31<br />
Introduction To <strong>Law</strong> Faculty With <strong>ELSA</strong> Poland - The 10th Freshers’ Camp 32<br />
Project Planning As A Tool For Recruitment And Training; Teambuilding In <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo 33<br />
Baltic Trainings 2006 - Developing The Idea <strong>Of</strong> Human Rights 34<br />
When Deer And Human Resources Meet 35<br />
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 36<br />
Financial Aspects <strong>Of</strong> An <strong>ELSA</strong> Event - A Summer School In Numbers 36<br />
Auditing <strong>ELSA</strong> – Preferably Not A Sweaty Experience 37<br />
MARKETING 38<br />
Why Advertise? 38<br />
Swedish Meat Balls – An ALSA India Experience 39<br />
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… 40<br />
INTERVIEWS 42<br />
25 YEARS OF <strong>ELSA</strong> 44<br />
s y n e r g y 5
The International Board<br />
Halvor Lekven – Vice President Academic Activities<br />
The “brown-eyed” Viking on our board. Strong and most of the time calm, however,<br />
always fighting for his beliefs. With his love for Taekwon-do he often shows his<br />
mental power but of course the true undisputed love of his life is Academic Activities.<br />
With his iron will he will be a great asset for the International Team 2006/2007<br />
and he will for sure have a lot of success this year.<br />
Loreta Pivoriunaite – Vice President Seminars & Conferences<br />
With an eye of a tiger and a soul of anger and joy, Loreta will jump higher than no<br />
other Vice Presidents Seminars & Conferences before. With the same energy and<br />
enthusiasm that she has on the basket ball court, Loreta will reach for her goals and<br />
make sure that the Network realises and shares her strong belief that the true value<br />
of <strong>ELSA</strong> is the international aspect.<br />
Andrea Claudia Raffl – Vice President Student Trainee Exchange<br />
Programme<br />
Andrea coming from Austria, is as emotional as the mountains in Austria are steep.<br />
The two big loves of her life is STEP and Austrian cuisine. Because of Andrea’s<br />
dedication to STEP, we are sure that she will do a great job on the international level<br />
this year. However, just as much as she loves STEP, she hates dirt. This makes her<br />
the neat-freak of the house. So if she is not in the office working, she is sure to be<br />
in the kitchen cleaning.<br />
Christopher Carlson – President<br />
He says call him “Chris”. Our President is a very simple and patient man from<br />
Sweden. He always asks for opinions about issues and always waits for the proper<br />
input. His self-confidence and diplomatic skills are only some features that are<br />
noticeable in his person. He once confessed that his only real love is the one to<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>, but we know for sure he loves a good meal just as much. However, most of<br />
all, this is a person who you can trust in any situation.<br />
Esra Ersoy – Secretary General<br />
Our hot and spicy Turkish belly dancer with a burning passion for consolidation and<br />
red roses. She would probably rather leave out the “secretary” part of her position,<br />
The International Board 2006/2007. From left to right: Nils, Tina, Esra, Andrea,<br />
Christopher, Loreta and Halvor.<br />
but you can always count on her to give at least 100% when performing any task<br />
at hand. Being the most southern of all members of the International Board, her<br />
temperature is always sure to be a bit higher than the rest of ours. This of course<br />
reflects on many everyday things but above all on her always very warm heart.<br />
Tina Eszlari – Treasurer<br />
Coming from Halle and thus after a gap of 9 years we once again have a German in<br />
the team. No doubt that <strong>ELSA</strong> accounts will be in rock-solid hands this year. With<br />
precision, strong sense of responsibility and diligence, Tina will look twice at each<br />
penny. And watch out - she will know how to use her fencing skills if someone in<br />
the team gets in a lavish mood.<br />
Nils Fjelkegård – Vice President Marketing<br />
Our “big” marketeer from Sweden; the land of people who are tall, blonde and<br />
calm. His typical Nordic direct approach relying on facts promises to bring professionalism<br />
to the marketeer profile of <strong>ELSA</strong>. Being well grounded in IT and having<br />
concrete suggestions to all matters are only the features lying above the water<br />
level. His height unsures us sure he has a lot more inside; such as his warm “giant”<br />
heart.
INTERNATIONAL TEAM<br />
What is the International Team?<br />
The International Board of <strong>ELSA</strong> is the supreme executive body of the <strong>Association</strong>. It<br />
consists of seven positions elected by the Council at the Spring International Council<br />
Meeting. For a one-year period, starting on the 1st of August, the International Board<br />
works and lives together, full time, in the <strong>ELSA</strong> House in Brussels on a voluntary<br />
basis.<br />
The main responsibility of the International Board is coordinating and administrating<br />
the National and Local Groups, by collecting and redistributing the information provided<br />
and by ensuring the maximum number of active participants in all events.<br />
Furthermore, the International Board coordinates the collaboration with externals<br />
meaning international organisations, firms, governments, other students associations<br />
etc.<br />
The International Board works together with a number of appointed Directors who are<br />
responsible for specific areas of activity. The Directors are students, who work from<br />
their homes, thus completing the International Team of <strong>ELSA</strong>.<br />
Directors <strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Giedre Tijusaite – Director for <strong>ELSA</strong> Moot Court<br />
Competition on WTO <strong>Law</strong> (EMC2 )<br />
Our Baltic princess is a nature and wildlife lover who<br />
after having perfectly organised the upcoming EMC²<br />
on WTO <strong>Law</strong> might end up in Africa taking care of wild<br />
animals or our environment as a whole. She is a strong<br />
leader, sometimes going a bit over the edge, but that<br />
is exactly what we need in environmental law and, in<br />
the short term, in <strong>ELSA</strong>.<br />
Christina Paul – Director for Corporate Relations<br />
Having been President of <strong>ELSA</strong> Germany the previous<br />
year working full-time on the National Board, Christina<br />
is now taking care of the involvement of <strong>ELSA</strong> International’s<br />
current and future potential co-operation<br />
partners. The experience she has gathered through her<br />
previous work in <strong>ELSA</strong> has already proven invaluable<br />
for the work on international level and she will play a<br />
key role in the <strong>ELSA</strong> International Fundraising Team this<br />
year.<br />
Maria Moguilnaia – Director for the <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
and Public Relations<br />
Already going for her second year as a Director for<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International, “Masha” is definitely one of the<br />
most experienced persons in the Network at the moment<br />
and thus an invaluable resource to all of us. If you<br />
combine that with her sometimes almost frightening<br />
Russian working morale and true love for <strong>ELSA</strong>, she will<br />
definitely continue to contribute to both the <strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
celebrations and Public Relations in our Network.<br />
Kamila Magdalena Chareza – Director for<br />
Advertisements<br />
Joining us from Poland is a tough girl with divine selling<br />
skills and a sixth sense for identifying opportunities<br />
within the area of advertisements. She will most<br />
definitely make sure that there isn’t a single advertising<br />
opportunity that goes missed out on while ensuring that<br />
our advertisers get top quality treatment at the same<br />
time.<br />
Vytautas Zabulis – Director for Training<br />
Having retrieved almost legendary status in the Network<br />
after being Head of OC for the very successful ICM in<br />
Vilnius, our Lithuanian ex-President “Zabas” has now<br />
decided to broaden his views even more and join the<br />
International Team to work with the things that are the<br />
closest to his heart – Training and Human Resources.<br />
We have full faith that the Lithuanian recipe will prove<br />
successful on an international level as well.<br />
Aylin Farid – Director for Institutional Relations<br />
A former Vice President Seminars & Conferences from<br />
Stockholm, Sweden, that truly got enlightened after taking<br />
part in an <strong>ELSA</strong> delegation to UNCITRAL in New<br />
York and decided to dedicate her <strong>ELSA</strong> work fully to<br />
Institutional Relations and Delegations on the international<br />
level. With her organisational and networking<br />
skills she is sure to guarantee a high quality in this field<br />
for the upcoming year.<br />
s y n e r g y 7
One of Academic Activities’ slogans is to “Bridge the gap<br />
between theory and practice”. At first hand this can be interpreted<br />
as bridging legal theory and practice. But if one<br />
takes a closer look at the events Academic Activities can<br />
offer, the slogan can be given a different meaning.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>’s Philosophy states that the purpose of <strong>ELSA</strong> is to<br />
contribute to legal education, to foster mutual understanding<br />
and to promote social responsibility of law students<br />
and young lawyers.<br />
The Key Area of Academic Activities gives students opportunities<br />
to put our Philosophy into practice in various<br />
ways.<br />
By organising Essay Competitions and Moot Court Competitions<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> contributes to legal education. Students<br />
are given the chance to use their legal knowledge in activities<br />
outside the University Curriculum. Especially Moot<br />
Court Competitions are bridging theory and practice as one<br />
should not use the theory blindly on the given case.<br />
So how can events in Academic Activities foster mutual understanding?<br />
The Studies Abroad Programme is a reception<br />
programme organised by Local Groups across the network.<br />
In these events they welcome foreign exchange-students<br />
and include them in their other <strong>ELSA</strong> events. By doing so<br />
both the Local Group and the foreign exchange-students<br />
learn about other cultures and countries and thereby foster<br />
mutual understanding.<br />
By participating in <strong>Law</strong>yers at Work Events together with<br />
Institutions and Organisations such as the UN or the Red<br />
Cross, students are given insight in how lawyers can promote<br />
social responsibility. Another Academic Activities<br />
event that also promotes social responsibility is the <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Moot Court Competition on WTO <strong>Law</strong> (EMC 2 ). The case in<br />
the EMC 2 often deals with international trade issues based<br />
upon social and economic differences in the world today<br />
and the participants are given the opportunity to understand<br />
these problems in a different way than they would be<br />
given during a lecture at their University.<br />
Take part in the events of Academic Activities and bridge<br />
the gap!<br />
8<br />
Halvor Lekven<br />
Vice President<br />
Academic Activities<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
BRIDGING THE GAP<br />
BETWEEN THEORY AND<br />
PRACTICE!<br />
Halvor Lekven<br />
Vice President Academic Activities<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Introducing A New Editor For<br />
SPEL – Mr. Malte Beyer<br />
Selected Papers on <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> (SPEL) is a web publication<br />
which provides a compilation of legal papers in the field<br />
of Private and Public <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong>. <strong>ELSA</strong> SPEL is published<br />
twice a year on the Website of <strong>ELSA</strong> International, www.elsa.<br />
org. The papers are written by law students in the scope of<br />
their studies as well as by academics. The high quality of the<br />
publication is ensured through the participation of the Editorial<br />
Advisory Board which is made up of prominent <strong>European</strong><br />
academics. All articles are revised and edited by an Editor.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
thus has the pleasure<br />
to present the<br />
new Editor for SPEL.<br />
Mr. Malte Beyer has<br />
studied at Trier from<br />
1996 through 2001,<br />
spending a semester<br />
at Aix-en-Provence<br />
University which he<br />
came to know through<br />
an <strong>ELSA</strong> study visit<br />
organised by the<br />
Trier faculty group. He<br />
obtained his Erstes<br />
Staatsexamen in German<br />
and <strong>European</strong><br />
<strong>Law</strong> in 2002.<br />
The first half of 2002 he spent at the Chair of Professor Dr. Gerhard<br />
Robbers at Trier University, chair for German and <strong>European</strong> Public and<br />
Constitutional <strong>Law</strong> and Church-State Relations. There he taught fundamental<br />
rights and administrative law.<br />
He left the chair for the College of Europe in Bruges where he studied<br />
institutional community law, human rights law and the politics and<br />
economics of <strong>European</strong> integration. He obtained a Masters degree in<br />
2003 with a thesis on the Convention on the Future of Europe.<br />
Returning to Trier he enlarged on the subject and wrote a PhD thesis<br />
on the <strong>European</strong> Convention in the perspective of <strong>European</strong> constitution-making.<br />
The thesis will be published at the end of 2006.<br />
Since May 2005 he worked as a legal trainee (Referendar) at Trier<br />
regional court (civil and penal sections) and since November 2004 as<br />
a part time legal assistant at the Academy of <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong>, Trier. Currently<br />
he is passing his Zweites Staatsexamen in order to fully qualify<br />
as a lawyer. Upcoming stages will be with Crowell & Moring LLP, Brussels,<br />
and the <strong>European</strong> Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International would like to thank Mr. Beyer for assuming the<br />
responsibility of being Editor for SPEL and is looking forward to the<br />
future co-operation.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES<br />
Joao Antunes<br />
Vice President Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Switzerland<br />
EMC 2 – From The Perspective <strong>Of</strong> A WTO Counsellor<br />
Dr. Gabrielle Marceau, Counsellor at the <strong>Of</strong>fice of the Director-<br />
General of the WTO in Geneva and Professor on WTO <strong>Law</strong> at the<br />
University of Geneva, has been involved with the <strong>ELSA</strong> Moot<br />
Court Competition on WTO <strong>Law</strong> (EMC 2 ) since the early beginnings<br />
of what is now the flagship event of <strong>ELSA</strong>. For this edition<br />
of Synergy, Professor Gabrielle Marceau kindly agreed to receive<br />
me at her <strong>Of</strong>fice and answer a few questions.<br />
Why should students participate in the <strong>ELSA</strong> Moot Court Competition<br />
on WTO <strong>Law</strong>?<br />
This would mainly be for two reasons: (i) either because they are interested<br />
in the WTO or (ii) because they like Moot Courts and the art of<br />
pleading.<br />
Some of the people participating in this Moot Court are not familiar with<br />
the WTO because they are usually not lectured on the subject at their<br />
home universities. The EMC2 is thus a good way for them to become<br />
more knowledgeable on the WTO. It is also a way of feeling more at ease<br />
when pleading.<br />
The EMC2 is indeed very well thought.<br />
Another good reason to participate in the EMC2 is that it helps the participant<br />
to become familiar with the different tools required to the settlement<br />
of disputes, i.e. the WTO regulations and the case law of the Appellate<br />
Body of the WTO.<br />
How does the EMC2 in your opinion contribute to transparency<br />
in International Trade?<br />
Students are the future. If they are well informed on the WTO and Trade<br />
<strong>Law</strong> it will help their understanding as leaders of tomorrow. They will thus<br />
easily understand how certain trade related decisions have deep impacts<br />
in the daily life of people.<br />
The EMC2 is as already mentioned extremely helpful for the comprehension<br />
of International Trade rules.<br />
Participants benefit a lot from it. And not only students; Teachers as well!<br />
Indeed it exposes them to a practical approach of the subject they teach,<br />
which is a lot more subtle than pure theory.<br />
What has been your personal experience as a panellist in the<br />
EMC2 ?<br />
It was a really good experience. It enabled me to enrich my lectures.<br />
The EMC2 demands devotion and courage from all the students.<br />
There is moreover an interaction between new and old <strong>European</strong>s. I was<br />
made more sensitive to it thanks to the EMC2 . The EMC2 is not something<br />
made by and for the old Europe – it extends remarkably.<br />
The message that this event - made by and for students - passes through<br />
is that all this is the fruit of hard work. And this is what real life is about.<br />
This Moot Court is a unique student event, not only because of its international<br />
dimension, but also because of its large amount of participants.<br />
The quality of its organisation and its seriousness makes it the best moot<br />
court on earth.<br />
Dr. Gabrielle Marceau<br />
Dr. Marceau has been involved with the EMC2 since the first<br />
edition in 2002/2003.<br />
She has been on the Semi Finals Panel of the Final Oral<br />
Round in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2005 she was also on<br />
the Panel of the Grand Final. Next to being on the panels of<br />
the Final Oral Round, Dr. Marceau was also involved in the<br />
EMC2 Advisory and Case Review Boards in 2003/2004 and<br />
2004/2005.<br />
In 2006 the award for the Best Complainant Written Submission<br />
in the Final Oral Round was named the Gabrielle<br />
Marceau Award.<br />
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Guess Who’s<br />
Also<br />
Celebrating<br />
<strong>Anniversary</strong>?<br />
EMC2 ; what bells does that abbreviation<br />
ring for you? Silence? Welcome to the<br />
club. If you ask me it’s about time to<br />
have a little chat about the following paradox:<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> outside its network is known<br />
because of those three letters and inside<br />
the network the meaning of those same<br />
three letters is as blur as ones morning<br />
reflection in the mirror after a long Friday<br />
night.<br />
The <strong>ELSA</strong> Moot Court Competition on<br />
WTO <strong>Law</strong> is in action worldwide for the<br />
5th time. Back then it was a brilliant idea,<br />
now it’s a project funding itself, attracting<br />
students from all over the world, involving<br />
top experts in the area and giving <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
credit as a highly competent student organisation.<br />
In 5 years of consistent work<br />
we managed to reach the level where<br />
EMC2 is serving as a fancy business card<br />
for <strong>ELSA</strong>. Externals tend to give “thumbs<br />
up” whenever we flash that card.<br />
Secured Regional Rounds in Latin America,<br />
Europe, Asia, Australia and involvement<br />
of Northern American and African<br />
students through the International Written<br />
Round - that’s global. Pleading a hot international<br />
trade issue in front of the panel<br />
consisting of Alejandro Jara, Deputy Director<br />
General of the WTO, Prof. Thomas<br />
Cottier, Mr. Werner Zdouc, Director of the<br />
WTO Appellate Body Secretariat, Prof.<br />
Jacques Bourgeois, Prof. David Gantz, Mr. Bernard O’Connor and<br />
Dr. Laura Nielsen - that’s a challenge. Partnership with World Trade<br />
Institute and sponsorship from O’Connor and Company – <strong>European</strong><br />
<strong>Law</strong>yers, Sidley Austin LLP and WorldTrade<strong>Law</strong>.net - that’s<br />
financial security. Uniform marketing materials, official website,<br />
links project, PR strategy - that’s a selling trademark. Advisory<br />
Board, Case drafters, Case review board, Academic Supervisors<br />
- that’s academic quality.<br />
One thing though should be realised by the entire network... all<br />
10<br />
Giedre Tijusaite<br />
Director for the <strong>ELSA</strong> Moot Court<br />
Competition on WTO <strong>Law</strong><br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
this work and the results reached so far are not meant to be a business<br />
card only for <strong>ELSA</strong> International to flash. It’s the project of the<br />
Network. To begin with every national and local AA officer should<br />
be competent to present and promote the EMC2 and to do it not<br />
in the manner of being an outsider, but as being an active part of<br />
the project. If a law student from Ethiopia is benefiting from the<br />
competition, perhaps it’s about time for <strong>ELSA</strong> members to stop<br />
ignoring the opportunity which is given to them on a plate.<br />
The business card is ready; make the best out of it!<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
Joao Valério<br />
Former Secretary General<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Lisbon<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Lisbon’s MCNDC – The Rise <strong>Of</strong> A Tradition<br />
For the second consecutive year <strong>ELSA</strong> Lisbon organised the National<br />
Moot Court on Portuguese Constitutional <strong>Law</strong> (MCNDC in<br />
Portuguese).<br />
Since Moot Courts play a very important role in <strong>ELSA</strong>’s attributions, our<br />
Local Group considered that this project would be a way to promote EL-<br />
SA’s purposes and increase Portuguese law students’ interest for Moot<br />
Courts. Moot Courts have taken wide root on the international level, providing<br />
the participants the opportunity to acquire a practical and dynamic<br />
perspective on the legal system.<br />
Taking this into account, <strong>ELSA</strong> Lisbon worked hard to create an actual<br />
forum of scientific debate on subjects of Portuguese constitutional law. A<br />
Scientific Commission was constituted, gathering eminent Professors in<br />
the field of constitutional law and a vast number of entities were contacted<br />
out of which most of them decided to sponsor our activity.<br />
Many teams from Portuguese law schools came to Lisbon to attend the<br />
competition and to prove their academic and rhetorical skills. The final<br />
opposed the team with the best performance playing the role of Government<br />
and the one with the best performance playing the role of Deputies.<br />
The winning team was awarded with significant prize money, ascribed by<br />
a Portuguese law society of repute on account of the tremendous amount<br />
of work and legal acumen demonstrated throughout the event by its members.<br />
The MCNDC has proved, in these two years of existence, that its purposes<br />
are worthwhile and that it is possible, even for a Local Group, to make<br />
ambitious projects happen. It is necessary to assume a dynamic attitude<br />
and to have a highly motivated and abiding team, prepared to struggle<br />
for objectives that all in all can contribute to enhance the learning of law<br />
through the synergy between law students and the legal world.<br />
Many aspects can be improved though, and it is <strong>ELSA</strong> Lisbon’s commitment<br />
to continue striving for excellence in MCNDC as well as in all<br />
activities which can further <strong>ELSA</strong>’s philosophy.
“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know<br />
what to do with it.” (Ralph W. Emerson)<br />
Everything starts from the idea, vision, when you want to<br />
meet the right people in the right place and time. In <strong>ELSA</strong> all<br />
of us met at a certain point in a due time, and hopefully this<br />
process is still continuing and for ever continuous. <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
is one of the professional students’ organisations were<br />
people are meeting, exchanging ideas and contributing to<br />
the outcome of legal education for mutual understanding.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> gives you a path of possibilities to express yourself,<br />
share and exchange ideas and realise them in practice.<br />
The Key Area of Seminars & Conferences is one of the<br />
places where people meet each other. Afterwards, everything<br />
starts - one day I met someone, somewhere…therefore<br />
this year I have had the pleasure to be a part of the<br />
International Team and meet people who are all different,<br />
but all equal. Probably this is the only one thing that makes<br />
our <strong>Association</strong> unique and truly internationally minded.<br />
Accordingly, the <strong>ELSA</strong> history started with the organising<br />
of international events as a base to meet other people<br />
without any boundaries at that time. Today we are standing<br />
in front of the <strong>ELSA</strong> vision as never before and face<br />
new possibilities in the knowledge society. We are globally<br />
minded students from local communities where values are<br />
associated with understanding and communication within<br />
our Network.<br />
In summary, I would like to say, that understanding and<br />
communication with each other is an always important<br />
matter between parties, so I wish to have a fruitful co-operation<br />
with and for you.<br />
Last but not least, it is never to late to say THANKS to all officers,<br />
in this case to the former Vice Presidents and Directors<br />
for S&C for being groundbreaking at the international,<br />
national and local levels.<br />
Yours,<br />
12<br />
Loreta Pivoriunaite<br />
Vice President Seminars &<br />
Conferences<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Elisabet Kj rstad Boe<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Norway<br />
Lobbying And Big Politics In<br />
Brussels – <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo’s Study<br />
Visit To Brussels<br />
Between the 19th and 22nd of January 16 members of <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo<br />
went on a study visit to “the heart of Europe” where the major decisions<br />
shaping the politics in our part of the world take place – Brussels.<br />
The aim of the study visit was to give the participants an overview<br />
of EU- and EEA-law and an insight in what role legal associates play in<br />
this melting pot of big politics, diplomacy, lobbying and international<br />
legislation.<br />
The first point on the agenda was a visit to <strong>ELSA</strong> Norway’s new Corporate<br />
Partner DLA Nordic. The department in Brussels, DLA Piper,<br />
employs lawyers, social scientists, economists and analysts who work<br />
together to inform the clients about what is happening in the vast EUbureaucracy.<br />
The visit gave us an insight in, for a Norwegian, quite an<br />
unusual way of working as a lawyer.<br />
The next point on the agenda was a lecture at EFTA’s Surveillance<br />
Authority, ESA, given by the national expert Espen Bakken. The lecture<br />
was based upon the cases against Norway on time limited concession<br />
on the acquisition of waterfalls and the Norwegian differentiated<br />
employer-taxes.<br />
No study visit is complete without a social programme, and one<br />
evening the entire group was invited to the <strong>ELSA</strong> House where the<br />
International Board is both living and working. During our visit the<br />
International Secretary General was Heidi Katrine S ebo Platou from<br />
Norway. Together with the rest of her board she greeted us and told<br />
us about how the International Board works full-time for <strong>ELSA</strong> for one<br />
year.<br />
The highlight of the Study Visit was the visit to the Norwegian delegation<br />
to the EU, strategically situated across the street from the <strong>European</strong><br />
Commission. The Embassy Secretary Inge Hausken Thygesen<br />
gave us a thorough lecture on how the EU was established and how<br />
it is organised. We were also given a lot of interesting information on<br />
how the everyday work for diplomats in Brussels is.<br />
After the visit to the Norwegian delegation we were given a guided tour<br />
of the <strong>European</strong> Parliament where we learned about the administrative<br />
problems connected to the task division between Brussels and<br />
Strasbourg.<br />
The last point on the agenda was the visit to the Brussels-office of the<br />
Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise – NHO.<br />
The Study Visit to Brussels, which is planned to be an annual event for<br />
both <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo and <strong>ELSA</strong> Bergen, ended with a visit to Torje Sunde,<br />
a former <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo member, who was working as a trainee at ESA. In<br />
honour of the participants he had invited “all” young trainees, lawyers<br />
and others who are working and living in Brussels to his apartment.<br />
This was a nice gesture towards us and a good way for us to get to<br />
know people who have chosen a somewhat untraditional road after<br />
ended studies.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
SEMINARS & CONFERENCES<br />
Anton Petrov<br />
Vice President Academic Activities<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> St.Petersburg<br />
Madame President On Air<br />
On the 3rd of October, 2006 <strong>ELSA</strong> Saint-Petersburg, with the assistance<br />
of the Chair of International law of the <strong>Law</strong> School of<br />
Saint-Petersburg State University held the II Internet-videoconference<br />
with the President of the International Court of Justice,<br />
Judge Rosalyn Higgins. This is the second videoconference of<br />
this type. The first one was organised in March, 2006 by <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
International with the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal<br />
Court, Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo. Inspired with the obvious<br />
success of this event, <strong>ELSA</strong> St. Petersburg was tending this time<br />
to second or even if possible to overcome it.<br />
The II Internet-videoconference was held on occasion of two significant<br />
dates that are celebrated this year: the 60th <strong>Anniversary</strong> of the ICJ and the<br />
<strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> of the <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> and its topic<br />
was quite wide - “Strengthening the role of the International law”.<br />
Interestingly, the ICJ itself doesn’t have the necessary techniques and<br />
Madame President had to resort to the help of the ICTY technical department.<br />
After a greeting speech of the Vice Dean for International Affairs, head of<br />
the Chair of International <strong>Law</strong>, Vitaly S. Ivanenko, Madame Rosalyn Higgins<br />
depicted the main trends and tendencies within the current practice<br />
of the International Court and the challenges that it faces nowadays. After<br />
this the conference was switched to the “questions-and-answers” mode<br />
and all the students interested in the sphere of public international law<br />
had an opportunity to refer their questions to one of the most remarkable<br />
lawyers in the world. During the discussion the following issues were<br />
pressed and covered: the legal status and present ac-<br />
tivity of the Court, contemporary problems of international<br />
public law, such as amending the Statute of the<br />
Court, the Charter of the UN, international custom, etc.<br />
and also the career aspects of young specialists in the<br />
sphere of international public law.<br />
Rosalyn Higgins is a Judge of the Court since July 1995<br />
and its President since February 2006. Meanwhile, she<br />
is also a professor of a great amount of some of the<br />
most prominent <strong>Law</strong> Schools all over the world, holds a<br />
number of degrees and is an author of numerous writings within the fields<br />
of international law, international legal theory, United Nations law, the use<br />
of force, State and diplomatic immunities, human rights and international<br />
petroleum law.<br />
Furthermore her practical activity is not limited to the service as a Judge<br />
of ICJ; she has also appeared before the Court as a counsel in such cases<br />
as: Territorial Dispute (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Chad); case concerning<br />
East Timor (Portugal v. Australia); Questions of interpretation and application<br />
of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident<br />
at Lockerbie (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom) and the case<br />
Ksenia Shestakova<br />
Vice President Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> St.Petersburg<br />
concerning the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project (Hungary/Slovakia). She<br />
was also the President of the Tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement<br />
of Investment Disputes (Amco v. Indonesia) based in Washington<br />
DC and a Member of the Human Rights Committee under the International<br />
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1984-1995), as well as a Special<br />
Rapporteur for new cases (1989-1991).<br />
A need of employees specializing in international law and other various<br />
fields of international life becomes stronger in the era of Internet and<br />
globalization from day to day. It goes without saying that international<br />
conferences, institutional study visits and moot court competitions can<br />
largely contribute in the process of professional growth of all students<br />
that are eager to devote their lives to the establishing of international cooperation.<br />
For this reason, the Internet-videoconference with the Chief Prosecutor of<br />
the ICC was held as a multi-channelled one with an active participation<br />
of the Local Groups of St. Petersburg (Russia), Cambridge (UK), Leuven<br />
(Belgium), Barcelona (Spain) and Pecs (Hungary).<br />
This time to take part in the videoconference at hand, courageous Finnish<br />
students came to St. Petersburg by train, which was provided within<br />
the framework of a bilateral study visit between <strong>ELSA</strong> St. Petersburg and<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Helsinki.<br />
Apart form this cornerstone, the programme for the Finnish students in<br />
St. Pete contained a visit to the Russian-Finnish Chamber of Commerce,<br />
the General Consulate of Finland to Saint-Petersburg, the Department for<br />
International Affairs of the Government of Saint-Petersburg, the office of<br />
“Baker&McKenzie” international law firm and of course places of cultural<br />
“It goes without saying that international conferences, institutional<br />
study visits and moot court competitions can largely contribute<br />
in the process of professional growth of all students that<br />
are eager to devote their lives to the establishing of international<br />
co-operation.”<br />
pilgrimage in Saint-Petersburg, such as the Hermitage, Amber Room in<br />
Pushkin and so on and so forth. The return visit of <strong>ELSA</strong> Saint-Petersburg<br />
students in Helsinki will take place in 16-22 November, 2006.<br />
We would like to thank all the participants and organisations, especially<br />
the Head of the Chair of International <strong>Law</strong> of the <strong>Law</strong> School of St. Petersburg<br />
State University, Vitaly S. Ivanenko for his insightful skills of communication<br />
and titanic patience, PhD student of the Chair of International<br />
<strong>Law</strong>, Sergey A. Golubok (the Auditor of <strong>ELSA</strong> International), and the technical<br />
department of the ICTY for their support and operate assistance.<br />
s y n e r g y 13
Aylin Farid<br />
Director for Institutional Relations<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
What Does The Director For Institutional Relations Do? – A Short<br />
Introduction To The World <strong>Of</strong> Institutions<br />
The Director for Institutional Relations’ primary<br />
responsibility is assisting the International<br />
Board inits tasks according to <strong>ELSA</strong>’s<br />
special status with international organisations.<br />
The Director shall work on the Institutional Relations,<br />
mainly through institutional visits to<br />
<strong>European</strong> institutions and promotion of visits<br />
by the Network to the institutions.<br />
Furthermore, the Director shall take care of the<br />
academic preparation of <strong>ELSA</strong>’s International<br />
Delegations and investigate the possibilities<br />
of obtaining financial support to them. The<br />
relevant information shall be put together to<br />
an <strong>ELSA</strong> International Delegations’ Handbook.<br />
The Director shall also collect relevant information<br />
by conducting a research regarding the<br />
possibilities for <strong>ELSA</strong> to take advantage of its<br />
special status and by being in constant contact<br />
with all of the institutions that <strong>ELSA</strong> has<br />
co-operation with.<br />
Lubica Palenikova<br />
Vice President Seminars & Conferences<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Vienna<br />
<strong>Law</strong> Beyond Borders –<br />
A Seminar Truly Beyond Borders<br />
Taking a sightseeing tour through Rotterdam – the city with the largest<br />
port in Europe, enjoying a mild breeze on the beach in Scheveningen,<br />
admiring three different courts and dozens of embassies in Den Haag and<br />
experiencing the sin city of Amsterdam – the cultural programme of “<strong>Law</strong><br />
Beyond Borders” by <strong>ELSA</strong> Rotterdam certainly fulfilled the expectations<br />
of its 58 participants.<br />
The topic “25 years of legal diversity” was discussed by <strong>ELSA</strong> members<br />
coming from 10 different countries in interesting, interactive lectures and<br />
exciting workshops. The statue of Erasmus van Rotterdam was watching<br />
us carefully while debating with professors, lawyers, representatives of an<br />
NGO and other experts.<br />
“Drugs policy in the EU” aroused a highly controversial debate dominated<br />
by arguments in favour of legalizing and tolerating drugs by means of<br />
“an intelligent regulatory and control mechanism”. It only remains to be<br />
seen whether the Netherlands will persuade other countries to follow its<br />
example.<br />
Famous brands such as Coca-Cola and KitKat were referred to during a<br />
very informative lecture on “Intellectual Property Rights”. The workshop<br />
involved a “legal battle” over the trademark of a well-known calculator.<br />
The participants formed two groups (representing the applicant and the<br />
defendant) and pleaded their arguments before a panel of judges.<br />
“Humanitarian <strong>Law</strong>” led to an interesting lecture on human rights of Guan-<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>’s Institutional Relations<br />
- Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social<br />
Council)<br />
- Consultative Status with UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade <strong>Law</strong>)<br />
- Consultative Status with UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)<br />
- Participatory Status with the Council of Europe<br />
- Co-operation agreement with UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)<br />
- Observer Status with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)<br />
Do you want to join an international <strong>ELSA</strong> Delegation to one of the above mentioned<br />
institutions? Keep an eye out on our Info-list and our website; new possibilities are<br />
advertised continuously! If you just bring the motivation and true interest in the specific<br />
legal topic, we can assure you an experience of a life time!<br />
tanamo Bay prisoners and the role of religion. The barbecue night was a<br />
great pleasure to our bellies and accompanied by national drinks.<br />
The merger of two famous brewing companies was simulated in the<br />
workshop on “Competition <strong>Law</strong>” and questioned by students forming the<br />
Commission of the EU. The prohibition of the abuse of a dominant position<br />
was soon forgotten by the taste of real beer during a farewell party in a<br />
local pub with 200 different kinds of beer and during a dancing night.<br />
This event of multinational dimension, embedded in an informative academic<br />
programme and an exciting social programme really proved to go<br />
“beyond borders”.<br />
s y n e r g y 15
Aleksandar Nikolic<br />
Vice President Seminars & Conferences<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia and Montenegro<br />
The Mt. Kopaonik School<br />
<strong>Of</strong> Natural <strong>Law</strong> - <strong>Law</strong><br />
And Universal Values<br />
The Kopaonik School of Natural <strong>Law</strong> is a traditional<br />
event of <strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia and Montenegro which has<br />
been organised for 18 years in co-operation with the<br />
Serbian <strong>Law</strong> <strong>Association</strong>. This <strong>Law</strong> School is placed<br />
on the lovely Serbian and <strong>European</strong> mountain of<br />
Kopaonik. The School of Natural <strong>Law</strong> unites on the<br />
same place thousands of jurists, university professors,<br />
judges, lawyers and law students from different countries, gathering<br />
around the six pillars of Natural law: Ius, Libertas, Proprietas, Vita,<br />
Humanitas and Justitia.<br />
The theme for the School is always the same - “Natural law” - but with<br />
a different topic each year. This year’s topic was: “<strong>Law</strong> and Universal<br />
values”. A wide spectrum of juristic themes based on the fundamental<br />
values of human kind was discussed during the seminar. As the heirs<br />
of the Antique and Medieval philosophy of ius naturalis, lecturers and<br />
participants in the school have developed an authentic approach to these<br />
Hexagon problems, but, rest assured, new methods do not make the old<br />
spirit fade away.<br />
Kopaonik is not only the School; it is also a famous national park and a<br />
Loreta Pivoriunaite<br />
Vice President Seminars & Conferences<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
<strong>Law</strong> As An Expression And<br />
Guarantee <strong>Of</strong> A Culture <strong>Of</strong> Peace<br />
Have you ever heard about grammar of emotions or peace education?<br />
How does it connect with <strong>ELSA</strong> and even law in general?<br />
On the 21st of September 2006 the Treasurer of <strong>ELSA</strong> International, Tina<br />
Eszlari, and the Director for Seminars & Conferences, Loreta Pivoriunaite,<br />
attended the Award Ceremony for the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education<br />
at the Headquarters in Paris.<br />
The representatives participated as observers in the round table “Culture<br />
of peace today” together with some of the most prominent people in the<br />
education sector. Professor of <strong>Law</strong> (College de France, Paris) Mrs. M.<br />
Delmas-Marty presented the topic “<strong>Law</strong> as an expression and a guarantee<br />
of a culture of peace” on the background of forgiveness and reconciliation.<br />
During the discussion, panelists pointed out that peace is a presence<br />
of justice. The base of peace education is Cosmo law, religion, studies<br />
of history and respect for international law. Due to that the areas of law<br />
become more and more specified and dynamic; a place also emerges<br />
for peace and forgiveness, next to the more established areas of human<br />
rights and justice.<br />
At the end of the ceremony, the Director-General of the UNESCO – Mr.<br />
Koichiro Matsuura, announced that the Prize for Peace Education now has<br />
existed for 25 years and then awarded the Former Vice President of the International<br />
Court of Justice, Mr. Christopher Weeramantry from Sri Lanka,<br />
tourist and ski center of Serbia and Southern Europe. You can enjoy both<br />
the snow and the sun; either by going skiing or trying out some extreme<br />
winter sports during the winter or by going free climbing, paragliding,<br />
swimming or fishing during the summer. Kopaonik also offers you a very<br />
interesting night life with clubs, cafés, restaurants and discotheques<br />
where you can enjoy famous Serbian drinks, cuisine and music.<br />
By visiting Kopaonik and attending its School of Natural law, you will<br />
be able to take with you at least a part of the moment consisting of new<br />
knowledge, friendships and natural impressions. This year we had guests<br />
from the UK, Germany, Republic of Macedonia and Hungary. We hope that<br />
we will see you in the next school.<br />
as this year’s laureate.<br />
In conclusion, law as an expression and a guarantee of a culture of peace<br />
nowadays has become an important value.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> and UNESCO.<br />
In 1994 <strong>ELSA</strong> was granted Consultative Status in Category C and<br />
therefore became officially recognised as a co-operation partner of<br />
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.<br />
s y n e r g y 17
“Children Are The Most Precious Things We Own – We Can Sell<br />
Their Bodies Over And Over Again”<br />
Does it not sound terrible? Did you know that 2 000 000 children<br />
get sexually abused each year around the world?! That means<br />
6000 children each day, 250 children every hour! Unfortunately,<br />
this is the truth, a truth that so many people do not want to get<br />
familiar with.<br />
There is no secret that tourists are using children sexually in developing<br />
countries, in Eastern Europe and even in Western countries. Like any other<br />
trade, the sexual trade of children is dependant on an offer and demand.<br />
The developed <strong>European</strong> countries contribute to creating a market where<br />
the sexual exploitation of children is a main product. Millions of tourists<br />
and businessmen are using children sexually during their foreign trips.<br />
The children are involved in prostitution, pornography and trafficking. The<br />
problem has a worldwide spread and significance.<br />
Between 10th and 11th of March 2006, the third Seminar on Commercial<br />
Sexual Exploitation of Children was held at the University of Stockholm,<br />
Sweden. The main theme of the seminar was child trafficking on the<br />
Internet and the seminar was a result of a co-operation between <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Sweden and ECPAT Sweden. ECPAT Sweden is a part of ECPAT International,<br />
which is a global network of organisations and individuals working<br />
together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The<br />
ECPAT acronym stands for ‘End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and<br />
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes’. The main purpose of ECPAT’s<br />
work is to raise awareness about child sex tourism and child pornography,<br />
to protect children from prostitution and to promote new legislation.<br />
Through its campaigns at national, regional and international level, ECPAT<br />
has made the world realise that child pornography cannot be reduced to a<br />
question of freedom of speech. ECPAT takes the stand that every pornographic<br />
image of a child is an evidence of the sexual exploitation of that<br />
child and hence an evidence of a crime.<br />
18<br />
Aylin Farid<br />
Vice President Seminars &<br />
Conferences and Head of OC<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Sweden 05/06<br />
Elena Vegelyte<br />
Vice President Seminars & Conferences<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania<br />
<strong>Law</strong>yer’s Trumps<br />
The variety of themes and forms of S&C events sometimes seems amazing,<br />
especially taking into consideration the fact that we all are targeting<br />
one vision. The freedom of acting allows S&C officers to be beneficial<br />
to their lawyers’ society by solving local or specific problems that each<br />
country has.<br />
By organising “<strong>Law</strong>yer‘s trumps“, we tried to concentrate on one of the<br />
biggest problems of Lithuanian law society - the educational system.<br />
Lithuanian students graduate from universities with the basic knowledge<br />
of law; but what about for example skills of speaking in public or debating?<br />
What about skills of proper behaviour in public or in business meetings?<br />
Employers demand so much from graduates, often neglecting the<br />
idea that those skills might not even have been brought up by the universities.<br />
So what did <strong>ELSA</strong> Vilnius do? Nothing special - just gathered the<br />
best professionals in oral speaking, etiquette, negotiation, promoted the<br />
Julia Tegnerbratt<br />
Director of Seminars & Conferences<br />
and Member of OC<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Stockholm 05/06<br />
The participation of young people is a vital element of the seminar. The<br />
main thought is that the young generation will develop this work further,<br />
but the problem is that the regular education system doesn’t offer any<br />
education on this question to law students.<br />
This year’s conference was focused on problems of sexual abuse of children,<br />
child pornography and pedophilia on the Internet. More than one<br />
hundred students from the Nordic countries and Greece participated. The<br />
seminar started with a brief introduction to give all the participants the<br />
same starting-point, whereas former participants had the possibility to<br />
complete their knowledge from the last conference. After that, focus was<br />
directed on the Internet. Among other things, it was discussed how children<br />
can be sexually abused on the Internet and what you can do to prevent<br />
and fight against it. The most prominent speakers, such as the Minister<br />
of Justice, Thomas Bodström, the author Maj-Gull Axelsson, head of the<br />
child pornography group at the State Criminal Department, Anette Ahlenius,<br />
the senior physician for child and adolescent psychiatry Carl-Göran<br />
Svedin and many more shared their experience in the area. The seminar<br />
was summarised with traditional workshops where all the participants had<br />
the possibility to share impressions and discuss new material from lectures.<br />
Through the workshops, the participants were also introduced to the<br />
mandatory practice that follows each seminar. The main thought with the<br />
conference was that all the participants should also spread their acquired<br />
knowledge further. After the workshops and the practice, the participants<br />
received their education certificates.<br />
The Seminar on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children will return<br />
next year and we hope to see you there!<br />
For more information, please visit web pages:<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Sweden: www.elsasweden.org<br />
ECPAT Sweden: www.ecpat.se<br />
event and made a cycle of lectures, which showed to be one of the most<br />
successful events during the year in S&C on local level. The lectures<br />
took place every day – from Tuesday to Thursday and each lecture lasted<br />
approximately two hours. In the beginning the speakers introduced the<br />
themes and shared their knowledge and afterwards they were given questions<br />
by the audience. All the participants who attended all three lectures<br />
received certificates - a detail which proved to be quite important when<br />
attracting students to the event. So by concentrating on extracurricular<br />
education and playing with students’ psychology, S&C in Vilnius managed<br />
to organise quite an impressive event.<br />
So after deep research of the problems that you would like to combat, the<br />
second thing you should think of is – “How to sell the event? “. Sometimes<br />
it might be a really unusual idea, a form or marketing novelties - it<br />
might be anything and everything that could make you proud in the end.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
<strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia and Montenegro has organised the Conference “Through<br />
dialogue of youth to stability in the region of Southeast Europe”, held on<br />
April 20th to 23rd 2006 in Norcev Hotel on Fruska Gora Mountain. The<br />
conference was carried out as a part of a project that started in January<br />
2006 by <strong>ELSA</strong> and Balkan Idea in association with the partner organisation<br />
BIRD from Pristina.<br />
The <strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia and Montenegro Conference attracted considerable interest<br />
mainly in <strong>ELSA</strong>’s international network and for participation in the<br />
conference came over 100<br />
applications. The structure of<br />
the participants showed that<br />
a very strong group of young<br />
people gathered there, and all<br />
of them were prepared to take<br />
important steps in the area<br />
Aleksandar Nikolic<br />
Vice President Seminars & Conferences<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia and Montenegro<br />
Conference - Through Dialogue <strong>Of</strong> Youth To Stability In The Region<br />
<strong>Of</strong> Southeast Europe<br />
of co-operation between Serbs and Albanians as well as other national<br />
groups in the Balkan Region.<br />
The conference was attended by participants from Switzerland, Austria,<br />
Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Kosovo and Serbia. In order<br />
to achieve stability in the Southeast Europe region and foremost in Kosovo<br />
and Serbia, education of young people should be one of the basic objectives<br />
in that process.<br />
That is why <strong>ELSA</strong> and Balkan Idea, through co-operation with partner organisations,<br />
will commence their further work on youth policies and improving<br />
co-operation among young people in the region of Southeastern<br />
Europe in the nearest future. “Positive Peace” can be achieved in the long<br />
term only by the forming of attitudes through education, such as offering<br />
lecture plans with civil education and human rights for primary schools.<br />
That kind of education for the young people is the long term process<br />
which must be observed as a responsibility of all who want a peaceful<br />
society in which all citizens<br />
enjoy equal rights and mutual<br />
understanding. Making of this<br />
culture is a challenge not only<br />
in Kosovo and Serbia but in<br />
the whole Balkan region as<br />
well. Some adjustments have<br />
already been done and various international and domestic organisations<br />
have started initiatives and initiated programmes for positive co-existence<br />
in order to connect ethnic communities.<br />
““POSITIVE PEACE” can be achieved in the long term only<br />
by the forming of attitudes through education, such as offering<br />
lecture plans with civil education and human rights for<br />
primary schools.”<br />
We, as organisers of several projects in the area of youth co-operation<br />
between Kosovo and Serbia, are very proud to give contribution, and we<br />
hope that the other youth organisations will follow in our footsteps.
Especially nowadays we<br />
are living in a world where<br />
borders disappear more and<br />
more. In such a time every<br />
one of us has to be more flexible than before. We have to<br />
be more open minded than we were before and we have to<br />
work more for our goals than we did before. Time is changing<br />
fast and the world is changing more rapidly than we<br />
maybe expected. More than 20 years ago, the “Student<br />
Trainee Exchange Programme” was born as one of the first<br />
Key Areas in <strong>ELSA</strong>. It grew to unexpected dimensions and<br />
so the Network saw a need for developing it, to be able to<br />
manage the manual matching of thousands of Curriculum<br />
Vitae’s and hundreds of Traineeship Forms.<br />
For a <strong>European</strong> law student, STEP is most of the time the<br />
first step into the legal world. For a future legal professional<br />
the experience in a different legal system is a great<br />
advantage, but there is so much more that we all can gain<br />
from this, to live in a different culture and within another<br />
society.<br />
For an employer, STEP is a great opportunity to get in contact<br />
with young, highly motivated and qualified law students,<br />
but also a mean to build bridges to other markets<br />
- a common way of development in the legal community<br />
nowadays.<br />
The ways of bringing students and employers together already<br />
changed a lot of times and will keep on changing in<br />
the future. But the reason why we have STEP - our Vision,<br />
has remained for all these years and will remain the same<br />
well into the future of our <strong>Association</strong>! We, the students,<br />
employers and <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Of</strong>ficers gain so much from STEP. Take<br />
your chance now and be a part of it!<br />
20<br />
Andrea Claudia Raffl<br />
Vice President Student Trainee<br />
Exchange Programme<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
A STEP INTO<br />
THE FUTURE!<br />
Akos Cserhati<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Hungary<br />
20 Minutes For STEP –<br />
The Best Investment<br />
After spending four thrilling years working in <strong>ELSA</strong> I have thought:<br />
I’m not facing surprises any more. The Key Areas in <strong>ELSA</strong> Hungary<br />
worked well; we concentrated on international seminars, prepared for<br />
meetings, organised moot courts, trained the members and went to<br />
sponsors’ meetings. Discussions in the boardroom relating to STEP<br />
went only like: “All fine? – Yes, all fine.” Tribute to Eszter Czumpf,<br />
our National STEPer who was always so modest. Working silently she<br />
and her team have built up one of the biggest databases of members’<br />
STEP CVs in the whole <strong>ELSA</strong> Network and managed the application<br />
procedure of hundreds of interested Hungarian law students.<br />
Eszter was the one who pushed me to fill out my STEP Application<br />
Form – took me about 20 minutes. From here on, the procedure was<br />
literally going by itself. A common Sunday evening sitting at a glass<br />
of wine I scanned through <strong>ELSA</strong> Online: a job offer from the State<br />
Government of Tyrol, Austria – double-click application – and in a<br />
couple of weeks: notification of acceptance! I got the opportunity to<br />
get to know STEP for real!<br />
When I try to describe the STEP job I can only speak in superlatives:<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> arranged my accommodation in downtown Innsbruck and even<br />
cared for a four week fitness pass. The city is surrounded by the peaks<br />
of the Alps. The inner town is a historical monument complex, which<br />
makes you feel that you could bump into Empress Elisabeth at any<br />
corner. My office was in a palace from the 17th century: baroque<br />
splendour outside, high-tech inside. I was trained by the other 7 lawyers<br />
of the environmental and economic department and worked on<br />
cases from neighbour-clashes to million-Euro investments, participated<br />
at governmental on-site inspections, hearings and negotiations.<br />
In the evenings and weekends I could travel around in the picturesque<br />
countryside, visit some of the numerous imperial castles or dive into<br />
Tyrolian night-life.<br />
Five weeks passed and I left Tyrol with great memories, having made<br />
friendships, learned a lot and boosted my bank account with a good<br />
thousand Euros. Remembering Eszter’s words: the 20 minutes spent<br />
on the Application Form really did pay up in every sense.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
STUDENT TRAINEE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME<br />
Patrick Wilkins<br />
Publisher and chairman<br />
The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong>yer Ltd, London<br />
STEP – From The Perspective <strong>Of</strong> A Proud Employer<br />
Members of the legal profession, regardless of their age and origin, deserve<br />
a special place in society. At first sight this may look a contentious<br />
remark, given that doctors, politicians, engineers, bankers, business<br />
tycoons, teachers – even our necessary rubbish collectors – might<br />
equally claim that their status is invaluable to the efficient running of our<br />
countries.<br />
For me, though, while all of the above are important providers, none plays<br />
a greater role than the lawyer. Without the rule of law none of our democracies<br />
would exist. We have seen too often in the past that once this pillar<br />
disappears, democracy does too, and the result is often anarchy, communism,<br />
fascism, or worse, warfare and the annihilation of societies.<br />
Today we are privileged in that such collapses of the rule of law exist only<br />
on the peripheries of our modern freedoms and wealth and social cohesion.<br />
Our grandparents and ancestors could never have dreamed of such<br />
material stability.<br />
Politicians will always claim that the advances we have made in the <strong>European</strong><br />
Union in the past fifty or more years are down to them. Appreciate<br />
the processes behind the legislation we enjoy in the rule of law and there<br />
is no mistaking that it is lawyers who emerge as the true champions of<br />
democracy. Unlike politicians, unpopular causes for them are the same<br />
as popular causes. The neutrality and disinterest integral to the legally<br />
trained mind counters the fervency of politicians as the foundations of fair<br />
and just democracy are slowly built.<br />
As a publisher of legal journals and textbooks I am proud of being part<br />
of that tradition. The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong>yer journal, since its inception in the<br />
first year of this new century, has never been frightened of ploughing the<br />
unpopular furrow in the legal sector of society. From diversity through to<br />
human rights, through to the establishment of efficient global firms that<br />
are both profitable, and ethical we have always supported what we believe<br />
to positive and criticised what we believe to be negative.<br />
In this vein, we have tried to encourage the new generation of lawyers<br />
coming out of law schools to join the army of Europe’s 800,000 legally<br />
knowledgeable people who serve, or will serve, as our advisers and instruments<br />
of our justice systems.<br />
The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> (<strong>ELSA</strong>) is the main organisation<br />
of law students and young lawyers. Its members need working opportunities<br />
that will help them later with their task of creating the law, representing<br />
the poorest and misfortunate in our society, or more conventionally<br />
oiling the wheels of the businesses upon which we all depend for our<br />
livelihood. In our world of producing comparative law books and analysis<br />
we can help in that first step.<br />
We were informed of the many members of <strong>ELSA</strong> awaited work experience,<br />
and the talented group of elected officers who run the organisation<br />
from Brussels recommended internships to us. Though it was a first experience<br />
for us too, we were not disappointed. All the candidates displayed<br />
the characteristics of the diverse, individualistic thinkers of which the<br />
legal profession comprises. Language abilities, education, social skills<br />
were second to none.<br />
We had a hard time choosing the two we would intern at our Avenue<br />
Louise Brussels office, but eventually, because of their skills perfectly<br />
adapted to our international EU law project we chose Beatrice Gaki from<br />
Greece and Nicole Lee from the UK.<br />
Beatrice and Nicole are now working hard on their internships, with diligence<br />
and creativity. They are shining examples of the young people<br />
under the umbrella of <strong>ELSA</strong>: more importantly they are bricks in that so<br />
important pillar of Europe’s future.<br />
www.europeanlawyer.co.uk<br />
Synergy_A6 Ad_Oct'06.qxd 20/10/06 5:04 pm Page 1<br />
Synergy<br />
Men’s shirts £27 each (to £85) 40<br />
Ladies’ shirts £24 each (to £69) 35<br />
Men’s ties £19 each (to £59) 28<br />
Men’s suits £200 each (£500) 325<br />
Ladies’ suits £145 * each (£340) 210<br />
* includes jacket and choice of skirt or trousers<br />
Buy as many as you like at these prices on presentation of this voucher in our shops<br />
or shop online at www.tmlewin.co.uk and enter discount code <strong>ELSA</strong> at Basket.<br />
Cannot be redeemed against previous purchases.<br />
Mail Order: 01702 421611 Enquiries: 020 7877 3550<br />
Valid until 31st December 2006<br />
s y n e r g y 21<br />
�
Development <strong>Of</strong> STEP In Serbia<br />
After a long period of a nonfunctioning Student Trainee Exchange Programme,<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia finally managed to enable it. During the autumn<br />
International Council Meeting in Malta the STEP workshop worked really<br />
hard to solve all problems that the Network was facing in the area.<br />
After that great experience we came back home with a clear vision and an<br />
eagerness to develop STEP in our country. Our main problem was how to<br />
get people involved in STEP, so we started to work hard on giving STEP<br />
presentations, organising STEP teams in every Local Group, making a<br />
national STEP mailing list, making brochures and handing them out to<br />
students in order to attract them to the Programme. We also talked to the<br />
professors who were willing to help and found contacts in the best firms<br />
dealing with law in our country. In the beginning we faced many of the<br />
same problems that all STEPers have, such as the amount of money the<br />
trainee is going to get, what kind of job a foreign student can do when he<br />
or she doesn’t speak Serbian, where to place the trainees and many others<br />
problems alike.<br />
However, in the end we did it! Due to the great support of the Commercial<br />
Court in Novi Sad and Executive Council of Province of Vojvodina, we<br />
managed to provide two new jobs, which is great when considering that<br />
for a long time we didn’t have any traineeships at all. So that is the story<br />
how our first, “baby traineeship”, was entered in <strong>ELSA</strong> ONLINE and how<br />
Olgierd Kawalko, a student from Poland, became our first trainee. Dur-<br />
22<br />
Alina Byelopolska<br />
Secretary General<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine<br />
Traineeship In Bratislava -<br />
Impressions <strong>Of</strong> The First STEP Participant From Ukraine<br />
This year was very outstanding for <strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine in many respects.<br />
Namely, we have got a new National Board, we have finally started to<br />
work actively and efficiently and our students have participated in several<br />
important international events held by <strong>ELSA</strong>. All these facts indicate that<br />
a new period in the history of <strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine has finally started. But there<br />
is one more very important thing which has happened to <strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine<br />
this year: our members have finally received access to <strong>ELSA</strong> ONLINE and<br />
gained the possibility to participate in the Student Trainee Exchange Programme.<br />
And I am very proud of the fact, that it was I who became the<br />
first student from Ukraine, who after this long pause took part in STEP and<br />
went to a foreign law firm for practice!<br />
To be more precise, my CV was submitted to <strong>ELSA</strong> Bratislava and I was<br />
chosen for a traineeship in “Valko, Majer & partners”, one of the best<br />
law offices in Bratislava. Most of the practicing lawyers and professors<br />
I talked to in Ukraine were very sceptical about this traineeship and were<br />
predicting that it wouldn’t give me any relevant practical experience since<br />
as usual the main duty of a student in a law firm during a traineeship is<br />
copying documents and other more technical work. However, I decided<br />
to take part in the traineeship offered by the STEPers from Bratislava and<br />
prove the opposite. Fortunately, my sceptical expectations were not jus-<br />
Tijana Levakov<br />
Vice President Student Trainee<br />
Exchange Programme<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia and Montenegro<br />
tified since during my traineeship in “Valko, Majer & partners” I only<br />
got substantial and interesting assignments connected exclusively with<br />
legal practice. In particular, I was involved in the drafting of legal documents<br />
and legal research, where one of my main duties was to prepare a<br />
memorandum on Russian and Ukrainian legislation since this law firm has<br />
clients in Eastern Europe, but also legal research more generally focused<br />
on international law on topics connected with commercial, civil law, investments<br />
and intellectual property law. One more thing that surprised<br />
me very much was the attention paid to me by the staff of the law firm. I<br />
was given full support and thanks to that fact and to the friendly and quiet<br />
atmosphere in the office, I felt almost like at home. Besides that it should<br />
be noted that I had a lot of free time in order to learn the Slovak culture and<br />
to become familiar with Bratislava and the Slovak language.<br />
So, I came back home with a lot of emotions, positive impressions and<br />
inspiration to work! And now if someone asks me about STEP I always<br />
answer that it is one of the most marvellous things that <strong>ELSA</strong> could give<br />
to you! I am very grateful to the STEP-team of <strong>ELSA</strong> Bratislava and also<br />
to the Vice President STEP in <strong>ELSA</strong> Donetsk, Alexander Kononenko, who<br />
gave me this unique opportunity!<br />
Ivana Buric<br />
Vice President Student Trainee<br />
Exchange Programme<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Novi Sad<br />
ing his stay our local <strong>ELSA</strong> members and the reception team made this<br />
reception possible. The fact is that there is a lot to be done when you are<br />
a member of the hosting Local Group and that is why it’s very important to<br />
get active <strong>ELSA</strong> members involved in the reception.<br />
After this first successful step in our “<strong>ELSA</strong> career” we can only say that<br />
this was a great experience to us all and repeat the words of Katia Girotto,<br />
the former International Vice President STEP: ”People, IT IS NOT IMPOS-<br />
SIBLE!”. With this article, we would like to thank her and everyone from<br />
the STEP workshop in Malta who, with their great ideas, words and efforts,<br />
inspired us to start working on STEP in the first place.<br />
At the end I would like to mention that <strong>ELSA</strong> Serbia now is expecting one<br />
trainee more this semester, and hopefully many more in the future. A few<br />
tips that we can give to every Local Group is that the most important thing<br />
about STEP is willingness and persistence to succeed! Every employer<br />
can hire one trainee; they just need to be persuaded. So offer them as<br />
many things as you can, and especially state the fact that they will help<br />
the process of <strong>European</strong> integration, further development of democracy<br />
and the acceptance of any cultural differences between people.<br />
The experiences, contacts and knowledge we gain from STEP will always<br />
motivate us in our future work. To sum up, we can say that if you show will<br />
and eagerness, the STEP process will never end.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
Leaving <strong>ELSA</strong>?<br />
Join the alumni network:<br />
ELS!<br />
Get news on ELS and <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Go to events throughout<br />
Europe<br />
Meet old friends – and new<br />
Support and stay in touch<br />
with <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Join The <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Law</strong>yers Society!<br />
The <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Law</strong>yers Society is the international association for all (former)<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> members who have finished or are finishing their <strong>ELSA</strong> time. One<br />
day this will happen to you too… Hundreds of former <strong>ELSA</strong> members in<br />
over 25 countries made the step before you and many more are following.<br />
Regardless if you are interested for social or professional reasons, ELS offers<br />
a lot for little money or even for free:<br />
• Joining ELS is both socially and professionally a natural, useful<br />
and fun step to take for (ex-)<strong>ELSA</strong> members: stay (or be) in<br />
touch with lawyers throughout Europe that share the same<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> background!<br />
• Advance information and the possibility to participate in social<br />
and academic ELS and <strong>ELSA</strong> events across Europe.<br />
• ELS Newsletter and <strong>ELSA</strong>’s Synergy magazine sent to your<br />
address twice a year. (During free period only ELS Newsletter by<br />
email).<br />
• Listing of your personal and professional details and photo (as<br />
desired) in our ELS Directory which is sent to all members and to<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> groups once a year and available online (During free<br />
period online only).<br />
• subscription to national and professional legal interest email<br />
lists you select.<br />
• access to national alumni networks - existing in some countries,<br />
being set up in others.<br />
• you can also become more active if you like, and initiate some<br />
ELS activity in your country or region.<br />
As we would like to attract all ‘retired’ <strong>ELSA</strong> members at all levels and in<br />
all <strong>ELSA</strong> countries, we are offering numerous benefits for only € 25 per<br />
year! If you’d first like to find out what ELS is like, you can even decide to<br />
try out membership for free for up to two years: until the end of the<br />
next calendar year! (no voting rights or hard-copy publications included)<br />
So join ELS if you are convinced by our arguments. If you’re not - or if<br />
you want to save money for a while - try out the free membership!<br />
Apply now on www.elslawyer.org !<br />
We look forward to welcoming you!<br />
The ELS Executive Committee<br />
els<br />
The <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Law</strong>yers Society<br />
Joining ELS:<br />
now only online! www.elslawyer.org<br />
s y n e r g y 23
EVENTS CALENDAR 2006/2007<br />
MARCH<br />
JANUARY<br />
DECEMBER<br />
Baltic Trainings<br />
Date: 16–22 April 2007<br />
Place: Vilnius, Lithuania<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 16 March 2007<br />
Contact Information: Adomas Sederevicius<br />
E-mail: adomasadomas@yahoo.com<br />
Phone: +37068527220<br />
Website: www.elsa.lt<br />
Private corporations’ responsibility against<br />
sexual exploitation of children<br />
Date: 8–11 March 2007<br />
Place: University of Stockholm, Sweden<br />
Working Language: English and Swedish<br />
Registration deadline: 15 February 2007<br />
Contact Information: Julia Tegnebratt<br />
E-mail: vpsc@elsasweden.org<br />
Phone: +467762502433<br />
Website: www.elsasweden.org<br />
Marketing meets <strong>Law</strong><br />
Date: 25–28 January 2007<br />
Place: Bayreuth, Germany<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 7 January 2007<br />
Contact Information: Jan Moritz Lang<br />
E-mail: jan.lang@gmx.de<br />
Phone: +4915115256982<br />
Website: www.elsa-bayreuth.de<br />
<strong>Law</strong> is better than War!<br />
Human Rights in Times of Terrorism<br />
Date: 4-13 December 2006<br />
Place: Bucharest, Romania<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 14 November 2006<br />
Contact Information: Corina Tanase, Arabela Trifoi<br />
E-mail: corinna_libtw@yahoo.com,<br />
arabelee-litbtw@yahoo.fr<br />
Phone: +40723182518; +40722983477
Website: www.elsalawschool.unibuc.ro<br />
Say or not to say? The freedom of expression<br />
in the field of journalism from Polish,<br />
German and <strong>European</strong> points of view<br />
Date: 20–22 April 2007<br />
Place: Słubice/Frankfurt (Oder), Poland/Germany<br />
Working Language: German, Polish<br />
Registration deadline: 16 April 2007<br />
Contact Information: Agnieszka Bielak<br />
E-mail: agnieszka_bielak@yahoo.de<br />
Phone: +48 506 561 078<br />
Website: http://elsa-slubice.euv-frankfurt-o.de<br />
Insurance law forum:<br />
Legal practice of insurance law in Ukraine and<br />
in the EU. Comparative aspects<br />
Date: 13–15 March 2007<br />
Place: Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Ukraine<br />
Working Language: English, Ukrainian, Russian<br />
Registration deadline: 1 February 2007<br />
Contact Information: Ulyana Solonyuk<br />
E-mail: ulyanasolonyuk@gmail.com<br />
Phone: +380979994124<br />
Website: www.elsa.org.ua<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
International Presidents Meeting<br />
Date: 31 January-4 February 2007<br />
Place: Toulon, France<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 25 December 2006<br />
Contact Information: Guillaume Tatoueix<br />
E-mail: guillaume.tatoueix@wanadoo.fr<br />
Phone: +33675204035<br />
Final International Focus Programme<br />
Conference - 25 years of<br />
Legal Development<br />
Date: 5-9 December 2006<br />
Place: Oslo, Norway<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 13 November 2006<br />
Contact Information: Linn Helset<br />
E-mail: ifp@elsa.no<br />
Phone:+4747233770<br />
Website: www.finalifp.no<br />
46th Session of the UNCITRAL WG II on<br />
International Arbitration and Conciliation<br />
MAY<br />
The Final Oral Round of the <strong>ELSA</strong> Moot<br />
Court Competition on WTO <strong>Law</strong><br />
Date: 1-6 May 2007<br />
Place: Geneva, Switzerland<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 15 November 2006<br />
Contact Information: <strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
E-mail: emc2@elsamootcourt.org<br />
Phone: +3226462626<br />
Website: www.elsamootcourt.org<br />
Spring International Council Meeting<br />
Date: 25 March-1 April 2007<br />
Place: Prague, Czech Republic<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 12 February 2007<br />
Contact Information: Filip Vrubel<br />
E-mail: vrubel@elsa.cz<br />
Phone: +420608436065<br />
Website: www.icm-online.org<br />
Date: 5-9 February 2007<br />
Place: New York, USA<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 15 November 2006<br />
Contact Information: <strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
E-mail: elsa@elsa.org<br />
Phone: +3226462626<br />
Website: www.elsa.org<br />
25 years of International Criminal Court<br />
and the role of Criminal law in the EU<br />
Date: 9 December 2006<br />
Place: Treviso, Italy<br />
Working Language: Italian, translation into English<br />
Registration deadline: 9 December 2006<br />
Contact Information: Chiara Gecele<br />
E-mail: vpaa@elsatreviso.it<br />
Phone: +393498655505<br />
Website: www.elsatreviso.it<br />
Humanitarian <strong>Law</strong> in Armed Conflicts<br />
Date: 7-12 May 2007<br />
Place: Berlin, Germany<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Contact Information: Johannes Muller<br />
E-mail: vize@elsa-berlin.be<br />
Phone: +4917662022175<br />
Website: www.elsa-berlin.de<br />
The rights of the patients<br />
Date: 29–30 March 2007<br />
Place: Donetsk, Ukraine<br />
Working Language: English, Ukrainian<br />
Registration deadline: 25 February 2007<br />
Contact Information: Krystyna Bakhtina<br />
E-mail: Christik2006@gmail.com<br />
Phone: +380505181777<br />
Website: www.elsa.org.ua<br />
International STEP Meeting<br />
Date: 22–25 February 2007<br />
Place: Novi Sad, Serbia<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 15 December 2006<br />
Contact Information: Tijana Levakov<br />
E-mail: elsa.office@gmail.com<br />
Phone: +381216350377<br />
Website: www.elsa.org.yu<br />
The Mt. Kopaonik School of Natural <strong>Law</strong><br />
Date: 12–17 December 2006<br />
Place: Kopaonik Mountain, Serbia and Montenegro<br />
Working Language: Serbian and English<br />
Registration deadline: 5 November 2006<br />
Contact Information: Aleksandar Nikolic<br />
E-mail: sasabenic@yahoo.com<br />
Phone: +381638982552<br />
Website: www.elsa.org.yu<br />
APRIL<br />
<strong>Law</strong> Beyond Boarders: Real estate law<br />
Date: 2–8 April 2007<br />
Place: Rotterdam, The Netherlands<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 25 February 2007<br />
Contact Information: Dagmar Daal<br />
E-mail: vpsc@elsarotterdam.nl<br />
Phone: +3110408 15 75<br />
Website: www.elsarotterdam.nl<br />
51st Session on the Status of Women<br />
Date: 26 February-9 March 2007<br />
Place: New York, USA<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 11 November 2006<br />
Contact Information: <strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
E-mail: elsa@elsa.org<br />
Phone: +3226462626<br />
Website: www.elsa.org<br />
Intellectual Property Rights Days 2006:<br />
Pharmaceutical Industry<br />
Join the chain...<br />
Date: 15-16 December 2006<br />
Place: Warsaw, Poland<br />
Working Language: English<br />
Registration deadline: 10 December 2006<br />
Contact Information: Pawel Tatarczak<br />
E-mail: paweltatarczak@o2.pl<br />
Phone: +48693349256<br />
Website: www.iprdays.elsa.org.pl
A student with a<br />
law degree in his<br />
or her CV, has<br />
several, as well<br />
as great opportunities<br />
for a successful<br />
career. The legal education provides qualifications<br />
for taking an active part in the decision making procedure<br />
of our community. The legal education is a tool for accomplishing<br />
change and the ways for this are many. With thorough<br />
theoretical teaching the legal education will guide the<br />
law student through the legal system and its implications,<br />
preparing for real life as a practitioner. After a couple of<br />
years of intense studying, the law student is supposed to<br />
be ready to embrace real life and to seize the power that<br />
comes along with the profession. But is the law student<br />
really ready to practice his or her learnings? Is the law student<br />
ready for this responsibility?<br />
The legal university education itself is in comparison with<br />
many other university educations, quite traditional in its<br />
form. In several <strong>European</strong> countries the legal university education<br />
has not changed much in the latest couple of years.<br />
For example, when other university educational areas are<br />
embracing new and alternative methods of teaching, traditional<br />
methods of teaching law are still used. The reason<br />
for this is, in my opinion, that teaching of theory in a strictly<br />
theoretical way is put on an altar when it comes to teaching<br />
law. The method for reaching out with the message,<br />
the learning of law, should be done by traditional classroom<br />
“I am the Professor, you are the students” teaching.<br />
The practical parts are often limited to interactive assignments,<br />
within the classroom. This is not wrong but it is not<br />
enough. Where is the practice outside the classroom? Why<br />
does the practice have to start after the educational programme?<br />
Isn’t the discussion and effort of bridging theory<br />
and practice the real challenge of teaching law?<br />
As an active member of <strong>ELSA</strong>, first on local and national<br />
level and now in conclusion on international level, I can<br />
honestly say that I am so proud of what the <strong>Association</strong> has<br />
become and what the <strong>Association</strong> has done when it comes<br />
to bridging theory and practice on legal education; something<br />
that the Faculties of <strong>Law</strong> around Europe often do not<br />
succeed with. For 25 years <strong>ELSA</strong> has been the melting pot<br />
for law students in Europe, coming together, discussing<br />
and exchanging ideas and experiences, all in real situations,<br />
in real life, outside the classrooms. We will keep on<br />
doing this for another 25 years. This I can promise you.<br />
26<br />
Christopher Carlson<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> -<br />
Learning By Doing<br />
Christina Paul<br />
Director for Corporate Relations<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
GOOD DEAL – Why Fundraising<br />
Could Be A Success Story<br />
For <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Not that fundraising would be overlooked within our <strong>Association</strong><br />
– regarding though that the possibility of arranging events<br />
and projects as well as most significantly the overall running<br />
of the association is dependent on sufficient funding, one is<br />
tempted to think twice if we always put things in the right relation<br />
here.<br />
Yes, during international meetings we do have trainings on fundraising.<br />
However, the time annually spent in project and risk management<br />
trainings on local, national and international level is likely to by far<br />
exceed the one dedicated to fundraising. In turn, fundraising trainings<br />
are traditionally delivered to the Presidents who are assigned the<br />
“breadwinning“ business within the area of External Relations. Yet,<br />
funding is vital for all areas and particularly linked to the Key Areas<br />
which is why all officers filling board positions should be able to relate<br />
to it. The true observation is that fundraising as such is a highly<br />
time-consuming and complex activity which requires manpower to be<br />
invested, as for example in the form of a fundraising team – manpower<br />
that our <strong>Association</strong> clearly possesses.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>’s manpower is not restricted to human resources though. What<br />
a sponsor is traditionally looking for is access to a group. This is<br />
exactly what <strong>ELSA</strong> can offer to targeted sponsors on all three levels respectively.<br />
A first step as part of a professional sponsorship approach<br />
is therefore to know our value and most relevant asset – a network<br />
offering the chance to meet tomorrow’s legal community through various<br />
co-operation possibilities.<br />
“Plans are nothing, planning is everything”(<br />
Dwight D. Eisenhower)<br />
And yes, we do have sessions in which we exchange and share experiences<br />
and ideas on fundraising. Yet again, we tend to talk much<br />
more about the actual results than about the process itself. When dealing<br />
with the various steps of a sponsorship approach – from defining<br />
assets and benefits over thinking packages, the right connection to<br />
actual negotiations – it is essential to research the sponsor’s perspective.<br />
The most efficient training sessions on fundraising will therefore<br />
include a professional being able to present and advice on the kind of<br />
approach to proceed with towards a potential sponsor enhancing him<br />
to want to be part of a co-operation with <strong>ELSA</strong> – the best prerequisite<br />
for a long term relationship.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
BOARD MANAGEMENT, EXTERNAL<br />
RELATIONS AND EXPANSION<br />
Mina Lindgren<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Sweden<br />
To Expand Or Not To Expand… - Let’s Go Back To The Basics!<br />
I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago that preoccupied my<br />
mind longer than most of the e-mails I get. It was a woman who<br />
wrote that she had heard about <strong>ELSA</strong> and thought that it seemed<br />
like a great organisation - so far I was not really surprised... The<br />
purpose of the e-mail though, of course not only to give compliments,<br />
was to ask about possibilities to start a new Local Group,<br />
and it turned out that the woman was enrolled in a Swedish educational<br />
program called Business <strong>Law</strong>.<br />
Now you probably wonder what the problem is: “If the education is called<br />
Business <strong>Law</strong>, of course the students enrolled in it are automatically law<br />
students and should therefore be able to start a Local Group!”. Ignoring<br />
the title of the education though - what makes the Business <strong>Law</strong> education<br />
different from the standard <strong>Law</strong> degree is the fact that the students attain<br />
a totally different degree at the end since neither Procedural nor Criminal<br />
<strong>Law</strong> is a part of the education. This difference means, consequently, in<br />
practice, that the Business <strong>Law</strong> students never will be able to enter the<br />
Swedish court system to for example become judges or prosecutors. Is<br />
this difference enough to exclude the Business <strong>Law</strong> students from the<br />
Network of <strong>ELSA</strong>? How exclusive is <strong>ELSA</strong> supposed to be? How do we<br />
decide who can and who can not play?<br />
I do not think that there is another way of solving the issue than actually<br />
to go back to the basics - the core values, what <strong>ELSA</strong> actually is<br />
all about. The main objective of <strong>ELSA</strong> is the international integration.<br />
But the root to that, for me, is spelled communication. To be able to<br />
communicate though, there must be something to transfer - information<br />
based on knowledge. So how do we achieve this knowledge? We study!<br />
We discuss! We ask for opinions! And from whom do we achieve this<br />
knowledge? People who know! It might not be that Business <strong>Law</strong> students<br />
in Sweden know that much about Procedural and Criminal <strong>Law</strong>. But I am<br />
certain that they know other things. The focus must be on knowledge that<br />
could be a contribution to the Network.
Matthew Firth<br />
ILEC Regional Manager<br />
TransLegal<br />
How Good Is Your Legal English?<br />
<strong>Law</strong> is language – and language is the only tool lawyers have at their disposal.<br />
The way lawyers use, interpret and apply language will determine<br />
their professional success. One cannot succeed in the international legal<br />
community without being able to operate effectively in English.<br />
So, how good is your English? More importantly, how good is your English<br />
in legal contexts? Would you be able to deal with foreign clients,<br />
negotiate over the phone or prepare pleadings in English?<br />
Many non-native speakers of English practicing or studying law will have<br />
taken a course in English for Legal Purposes. Did your teacher cover the<br />
above skills, or did you simply learn about Anglo-American legal systems?<br />
My students do not need to be able to describe the British Constitution;<br />
they need to be able to describe their own laws and jurisdictions<br />
in English. They need to perform the tasks of a lawyer in English, and they<br />
need to know that their English language skills will not let them down.<br />
The Cambridge International Legal English Certificate (ILEC) is the only<br />
internationally recognised exam of legal English. An ILEC-based course<br />
focuses on the language skills lawyers need to succeed.<br />
When law firms hire new recruits they look at four things: school & grades,<br />
personality, work experience and language. Don’t let your language cost<br />
you a job.<br />
How do I Prepare?<br />
International Legal English, published by Cambridge University Press,<br />
is the definitive course for those who need to work in the international<br />
legal community. It is also the only course book written specifically to<br />
prepare students for the ILEC. <strong>ELSA</strong> members receive a 25% discount<br />
on the cover price of the book, as well as 50% off the student prices of<br />
TransLegal online courses (www.translegal.com).<br />
To find out more about the ILEC exam and International Legal English, see<br />
http://www.legalenglishtest.org/.<br />
Matthew Firth teaches ELP at the University Augsburg, Germany. He is<br />
secretary of the <strong>European</strong> Legal English Teachers <strong>Association</strong>, co-author<br />
of the International Legal English online research tasks and ILEC Regional<br />
Manager for Austria and Germany.
ecognised by leading international lawyers’<br />
associations, law firms and companies<br />
www.LegalEnglishTest.org<br />
First Exams 6 May 2006<br />
Put Cambridge<br />
on your CV<br />
Legal employers now demand proof of English<br />
skills before hiring<br />
The International Legal English Certificate (ILEC)<br />
the world’s first internationally recognised test of<br />
legal English<br />
Cambridge ILEC – produced and administered by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations – in co-operation with TransLegal<br />
© UCLES 2005 EMC | 3412 | 5Y10<br />
The language of international law<br />
‘ This easily-comprehensible book will be of<br />
significant assistance to law students and<br />
young lawyers in their preparation for future<br />
employment in the international legal<br />
environment.’<br />
Josefin Björklund President,<br />
The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong><br />
(<strong>ELSA</strong> International)<br />
‘ A legal English coursebook that gives lawyers<br />
the language of commercial law they need to be<br />
able to work internationally. Not obscure English<br />
law concepts but the kind of everyday business<br />
law terminology lawyers in international practice<br />
really use.’<br />
Bengt Gustafson President,<br />
<strong>European</strong> Company <strong>Law</strong>yers <strong>Association</strong><br />
Real case studies – Real law – Real language.
30<br />
Esra Ersoy<br />
Secretary General<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Dear All,<br />
It is with great<br />
pleasure that I address<br />
you all in this<br />
issue of Synergy which gives me the opportunity to say a<br />
few words about our <strong>Association</strong> and its 25 years of success<br />
and challenges.<br />
The adventure of <strong>ELSA</strong> started with five students from Austria,<br />
Poland, Hungary and West Germany on a train in 1981.<br />
The borders could not be able to resist the <strong>ELSA</strong> train…<br />
Now, being covered approximately by 30.000 members<br />
within 35 countries, <strong>ELSA</strong> has the honour to be the worlds’<br />
largest independent law students’ association.<br />
Whilst promising the future success stories, <strong>ELSA</strong> has<br />
grown up under the light of its vision.<br />
Even in everyday issues, <strong>ELSA</strong> underlined the respect to<br />
cultural diversity and the importance of mutual understanding<br />
by means of gathering its members spread all<br />
over Europe.<br />
The past 25 years give a huge responsibility to the whole<br />
Network as each individual is a link in the chain. Like any<br />
association, <strong>ELSA</strong>’s success also relies on a solid foundation.<br />
To strengthen the structure and to feed new needs,<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> has already turned her face to the future, something<br />
that comes naturally with its purpose of contributing to scientific<br />
co-operation in a spirit of critical dialogue.<br />
By the experience of working with a huge network aiming<br />
for the same purpose, <strong>ELSA</strong> promises to make remarkable<br />
changes to make its vision come true<br />
‘in a just world which there is respect for human dignity<br />
and cultural diversity’.<br />
Vytautas Zabulis<br />
Director for Training<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Learning By Doing<br />
Trainings, trainings, trainings. And once again: trainings, trainings,<br />
trainings. Where do they start and end? And when do they start? And<br />
how? And why? Many questions that need an answers. Right?<br />
But I am not sure whether you yourself don’t have one to all of them.<br />
I believe that you do, you just need a push in the right direction. Sir<br />
John Harvey-Jones once wrote – “It’s extremely difficult to teach<br />
grown-up people anything. It is, however, relatively easy to create<br />
conditions under which people will teach themselves”.<br />
So I am not going to write about what trainings are in general (training<br />
= any attempt to change current or future behaviour by learning),<br />
what you should do to organise a professional training session (write<br />
me an email and I’ll tell you everything you need), what the ITP is<br />
(International Trainers’ Pool) and what to do with it (get a trainer), EDF<br />
(<strong>ELSA</strong> Development Fund – to get money from), what makes a good<br />
trainer and a bad training session (“learning that produces no change<br />
is about as useful as a parachute that doesn’t open“ by K. Murphy), or<br />
anything else like that because all of you of course already know it.<br />
Confucius:<br />
“I hear and I forget.<br />
I see and I remember.<br />
I do and I understand.”<br />
What I can’t understand however is why you don’t do them then? Why<br />
don’t you train yourself and your Local Group or National Group members<br />
(people have to be motivated!)? Why don’t you use the EDF for<br />
getting ITP Trainers? If you don’t do this, it is not hard to understand<br />
why in some areas there is a lack of knowledge. Do you like it this<br />
way? Remember T.R.A.I.N. - Training Resolves All Internal Needs!<br />
And now all together: trainings, trainings, trainings. I did it and I understood.<br />
I understood and I want to share it with everyone. So as<br />
a result not am I justclever and enlightened – everyone around me<br />
becomes. So we can all more successfully contribute to and focus on<br />
what we are really here for - the <strong>ELSA</strong> vision - A just world in which<br />
there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity. And you do<br />
want the synergy effect of 1+1>2 to appear in the <strong>ELSA</strong> Network,<br />
don’t you?<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
INTERNAL MANAGEMENT<br />
Giedre Jokubauskaite<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania<br />
An Experience Visit – Two Sides <strong>Of</strong> The Story<br />
Why bother to share experience?<br />
It happened so, that when we went to Ukraine, we were the ones who<br />
obviously had more experience and knowledge to share. It is very much<br />
understandable, as <strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania is 15 years old now, whereas <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Ukraine started its activities only few years ago. So during our stay in<br />
Ukraine and knowing that, we tried to provide our colleagues with as much<br />
information as we could. We discussed how the key areas should actually<br />
function, how to strengthen the supporting areas and how to stabilise the<br />
whole organisation. The meetings that we had there were all very interesting,<br />
and – as we thought - useful for the Ukrainians. Naturally our first<br />
impression after we got back from Ukraine was that we helped them a lot<br />
and had a great time at the same time.<br />
It is hopefully true, but now, after the whole project is over, I can definitely<br />
tell, that it was way more that we got despite the fun. One of the<br />
best things that happened when we shared our experience was that we<br />
understood what strengths we have ourselves. It is great, because when<br />
you think of the further actions of the organisational development, it is<br />
essential to feel confidence in yourself and know what features of the organisation<br />
you can rely on. Further on, analyzing the basic steps that need<br />
to be taken in developing <strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine helped us to evaluate which basic<br />
steps we are maybe missing ourselves. This kind of detailed analysis of<br />
the other National Group showed us the threats that we would have never<br />
thought about. The whole process of working together, I can definitely tell<br />
you that now, was the best training that we could ever get for ourselves.<br />
All in all, I wish to stress, that even if you think that you know everything,<br />
there is always something that you can improve. Knowing that, it<br />
is useful to remember that<br />
you never learn more than<br />
when you teach others and<br />
the truth is that thinking of<br />
an action plan for a less<br />
developed group can actually<br />
help your own group<br />
to create the most brilliant<br />
plan ever.<br />
My best wishes for you to<br />
try it yourselves!<br />
Yuriy Mukhin<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine<br />
The best way to do it<br />
More than 8000 km in 16 days, 9 trains, 4 buses and 2 cars, no planes,<br />
5 Universities and 5 Local Groups, 70 <strong>ELSA</strong> members generally involved,<br />
6 cities and even 1 sea… The Dakar Rally? No. The Bilateral Experience<br />
Visit between the National Boards of <strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine and <strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania!<br />
We cannot believe it has really happened and we truly regret that it is<br />
already finished.<br />
The main idea of this event was to share the experience, which will help<br />
us to build and develop <strong>ELSA</strong> in our countries. It is not that easy to do it<br />
on national level. First of all, we had to define what experience in which<br />
field we really needed to ensure that the Experience Visit would be fruitful.<br />
In order to do that, we have spent the majority of time in Ukraine<br />
and Lithuania on discussions with and about all Local Groups: in Lviv,<br />
Kyiv, Donetsk and Vilnius. Only after that, we could more or less get the<br />
required clear overview of the current situation and start to search for<br />
possible solutions.<br />
Being mainly the receiving side of the experience exchange, we have<br />
got the most important feeling from the Lithuanians – not for example<br />
when we should send application forms before the <strong>ELSA</strong> Ukraine Summer<br />
School or what should be the content of a fundraising letter, but the<br />
general understanding of what we are doing, where we are at the moment<br />
and what we need to do in the future. I am strongly convinced that namely<br />
this feeling is what keeps people in work (regardless of the level of the<br />
group) and I sincerely hope that this feeling will help us to make both<br />
organisations much stronger. And all the means and details on our way<br />
are something that can and certainly will be done when such a feeling is<br />
present.<br />
Imagine all mentioned<br />
above together with the inseparable<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> spirit and<br />
the marvelous cultural and<br />
social experience for the<br />
delegations. We have got<br />
a lot of new friends outside<br />
the country and at the<br />
same time strengthened<br />
our teams on the inside. It<br />
is the best way to do it!<br />
Switch on your imagination<br />
and find the best way<br />
to improve your <strong>ELSA</strong>!!!<br />
s y n e r g y 31
Introduction To <strong>Law</strong> Faculty With <strong>ELSA</strong> Poland – The 10th Freshers’ Camp<br />
The Freshers’ Camp is an annual project, one of the most prestigious,<br />
held by <strong>ELSA</strong> Poland. It’s directed to new students of the <strong>Law</strong> and Administration<br />
Faculties, who are at the very beginning of their legal education<br />
and career. The Camp is supposed to be a unique entrance to the magical<br />
world of law, and of course student life…<br />
This year it was <strong>ELSA</strong> Gdansk that was honoured with the task of organising<br />
the Freshers’ Camp. This 10th Freshers’ Camp had a specific character<br />
because of the double jubilee – 10 years of the Freshers’ Camp in Poland<br />
joined with the <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> of <strong>ELSA</strong> International and <strong>ELSA</strong> Poland.<br />
That is the reason why <strong>ELSA</strong> Gdansk felt obliged not only to maintain the<br />
high level of the project, which had been assured by previous organisers<br />
of the Camp, but also to focus on creating an unforgettable atmosphere.<br />
Did we manage?<br />
Now, that the Camp is over, I can truly say, without being even slightly<br />
modest, that WE DID IT! The 10th Freshers’ Camp was held in Jastarnia,<br />
on 17th-24th September 2006. Jastarnia is a picturesque town in the<br />
North of Poland. It’s situated in Hel Peninsula, the best area for fans of<br />
windsurfing, which creates its unique character. On one side it borders on<br />
the calm, shallow waters of Pucka Bay, while a few hundreds metres away,<br />
on the opposite side of the narrow land, it borders on the rough offing of<br />
The Baltic Sea.<br />
The nearby beach was not only the place of relaxation for the 200 participants<br />
(OC took care that it wasn’t that often…), but also the main arena<br />
of The <strong>Law</strong> Olympics and <strong>Law</strong>yer’s Survival, during which our Freshers<br />
had to build creative teams to reach the podium. I can’t announce the<br />
winners without a certain amount of pride, because in both tasks the 1st<br />
prize went to Gdansk, Szczecin and Bialystok (three Polish <strong>ELSA</strong> Local<br />
Groups)! But in <strong>Law</strong>yer’s Survival they had to share the podium ex equo<br />
with Warsaw and Torun (another two). In another game called “Kidnapping”<br />
the winners were Katowice and Opole. But the social programme<br />
didn’t end with that. It contained as well evening parties such as “Movie<br />
Party” and “Creepy Party” which transferred all of us to the mysterious<br />
world of cute and tempting devils.<br />
But Freshers’ Camp is not only a week-lasting party! It’s also a period, just<br />
before a start of the academic year, when fresh students may get useful<br />
information about the faculty they had just chosen and about its specifics<br />
in each University. It is also a time when they get the first detailed information<br />
about the lawyer’s occupation and worth mentioning here is that<br />
they receive it straight from lawyers and the most prominent representatives<br />
of the academic cadre themselves. Two of them, connected with<br />
The Freshers’ Camp from the very beginning of its existence, Professor<br />
Wladyslaw Rozwadowski and Professor Maciej Zielinski, were honoured<br />
with the status of Patrons of The Freshers’ Camp. The third patron was<br />
Professor Jaroslaw Warylewski, Dean of <strong>Law</strong> and Administration Faculty<br />
at University of Gdansk. He was honoured with the status of Patron of the<br />
10th Freshers’ Camp.<br />
According to our jubilee, it was mainly <strong>ELSA</strong> Gdansk as the Organising<br />
Committee that was giving presents and preparing surprises. But we got<br />
a present as well…from Esra Ersoy, Secretary General of <strong>ELSA</strong> International,<br />
whose presence honoured the 10th Freshers’ Camp. Worth mentioning<br />
is that Esra was the first international guest ever in the history of<br />
the Camp. Let’s hope that she was not the last!<br />
The 10th Freshers’ Camp is over but the emotions connected with it will<br />
linger on for a long time. Now it is a part of <strong>ELSA</strong> history… We hope that<br />
32<br />
Katarzyna Karpiuk<br />
Vice President Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Gdansk<br />
our Freshers will keep as good memories as the Organising Committee<br />
and that they benefited in the way we would wish. Now it is time for them<br />
to join <strong>ELSA</strong> and bring some “fresh blood” to our Network!<br />
Mission successfully completed!<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
Elisabet Kj rstad Boe<br />
President<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Norway<br />
Project Planning As A Tool For Recruitment And Training;<br />
Teambuilding In <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo<br />
2006 is not only the year of <strong>ELSA</strong> International’s <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong>, it also<br />
represents a reintroduction of the International Focus Programme (IFP).<br />
More than 100 <strong>ELSA</strong> members and young lawyers from about 35 countries<br />
are expected to attend the Final IFP Conference in Oslo in December.<br />
Challenges<br />
Before the conference, <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo is facing quite a few challenges when it<br />
comes to project management and planning. All board- and OC members<br />
have little <strong>ELSA</strong> background, and no specific experience as when it comes<br />
to pulling off a project of such a scale. However, the OC of the Final IFP<br />
Conference and the board of <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo have proven to deal with this task<br />
in the best way possible. Their methods of working do not only provide<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International with a high-quality event, but also create a ground for<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo as when it comes to recruitment and teambuilding.<br />
How?<br />
At the time <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo decided to run for host of The Final IFP Conference,<br />
the Local Group had a clear vision of recruiting new active members. The<br />
OC started off working with this immediately after the election at the ICM<br />
London. The first step was to appoint 4 or 5 members of the OC with<br />
responsibility of specific areas regarding the conference and also recruit-<br />
Thomas R. Brunborg<br />
Vice President Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo<br />
ing their respective crew. The second step was to provide the OC and<br />
volunteers with the necessary training. Now, months after the preparatory<br />
meetings, the OC has grown into a two-figured number of dedicated people,<br />
and <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo has never before experienced such a level of activity.<br />
Why use project planning for Human Resources purposes?<br />
Firstly, a concrete task is possibly more likely to bring out enthusiasm,<br />
dedication and a want for more <strong>ELSA</strong> knowledge, as opposed to passive<br />
learning and sometimes through one’s own initiative only.<br />
Secondly, the likeliness of recruiting and keeping members active in<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> is increased by providing projects in which they can develop their<br />
skills and sense of responsibility.<br />
Thirdly, having to co-operate to reach a common goal is priceless for<br />
teambuilding purposes. And when this goal is the realisation of the biggest<br />
event ever to be arranged in the history of <strong>ELSA</strong> Norway, the outcome<br />
is even better!<br />
Conclusion; in <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo we believe in learning by doing!<br />
s y n e r g y 33
Baltic Trainings 2006 - Developing The Idea <strong>Of</strong> Human Rights<br />
What is Baltic Trainings?<br />
Baltic Trainings is a traditional <strong>ELSA</strong> project that is run by the different<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Baltic region countries each year since 2002. It was decided to<br />
have a special training course for this region as neighbour countries have<br />
always had a wish to co-operate for common projects, to share experience<br />
and to establish close connections. Each year this training course<br />
focuses on different topics and issues but the goal always remains the<br />
same - to encourage the members of <strong>ELSA</strong> Baltic region for further international<br />
co-operation and communication and to contribute to legal<br />
education through that.<br />
Baltic Trainings 2006: Human Rights - Chain Reaction<br />
Baltic Trainings 2006, organised in co-operation with the<br />
Agency of International Youth Co-operation and <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
International Trainers’ Pool (ITP), focused on Human<br />
Rights. Efficiently integrating HR in all fields of <strong>ELSA</strong>,<br />
thus furthering the association’s social dimension based<br />
on its Philosophy Statement ’A just world in which there<br />
is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity’, Baltic<br />
Trainings 2006 has provided an academic platform for<br />
discussion within the Network in order to create human<br />
rights awareness and the active involvement in the general<br />
promotion and development of human rights law.<br />
Participants<br />
There were more than 30 <strong>ELSA</strong> members from so called<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Baltic region in this training course which took<br />
place late April of 2006. <strong>ELSA</strong> Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania,<br />
Sweden, Finland and Poland were represented. Baltic<br />
Trainings 2006 was lead by four trainers: project leaders<br />
Dina Lurje and Giedre Jokubauskaite (now- the president<br />
of <strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania), HRE (Human Rights Education) professional<br />
Pieter-Jan Uyttersprot (Belgium) and former<br />
Director for Human Rights of <strong>ELSA</strong> International Patrick<br />
Zupansic (The Netherlands).<br />
During these training courses participants took an innovative<br />
look into HR issues through HR education, aimed to<br />
promote HR education and Compass training methodology within <strong>ELSA</strong>.<br />
Moreover, “HR - Chain Reaction” was aimed to motivate participants to<br />
bring out HR issues in their future events and facilitate further international<br />
projects based on this topic. And we could say it has succeeded,<br />
because more than ten realistic project ideas in the training course were<br />
formulated, so now we only need enthusiasm and motivation to establish<br />
them.<br />
The target group of this training course was law students and young lawyers.<br />
This basically means that the course was addressed to all possible<br />
human rights issues as the participants were competent enough to touch<br />
any of them in a law-related way. Discussions sometimes lead to quite<br />
specific subjects such as media, health and corporate responsibility etc.<br />
Therefore, talking about the human rights education - law is a very specific<br />
and important subject to study or practice even though participants were<br />
very familiar with the definition of “rights”. This training course reminded<br />
them of the other meaning of rights by touching such issues as education,<br />
democracy and citizenship to remind of their social responsibilities and<br />
34<br />
Indre Viltrakyte<br />
Director for Public Relations<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania<br />
other means of law.<br />
Public discussion<br />
With a wish to consolidate the role of youth analysing and tackling human<br />
rights problems, <strong>ELSA</strong> Lithuania in co-operation with Vilnius City Municipality<br />
and Human Rights Monitoring Institute in Lithuania also organized<br />
the discussion “Human rights today and tomorrow. Is youth a part of it?”<br />
which also was one of the <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> events (“25 years of<br />
Human Rights”) 2006.<br />
Young lawyers and law students from six Baltic States who were interested<br />
in human rights and the protection of them in their own countries,<br />
together with politicians, journalists, non-governmental organizations and<br />
national minorities’ representatives took part in the discussion. The aim<br />
of the discussion – to clearly prescribe the problems of human rights<br />
protection and mainly to answer to the question: “How could youth help in<br />
solving human rights problems?” Big attention was given to the comparative<br />
human rights aspect. The discussion panel presented the experiences<br />
from their respective countries in this ground, imparted their estimations<br />
about the efficiency of the means that were being used at the moment<br />
and proposed some new ideas on how the input of young people would<br />
be significant.<br />
Human rights and liberty are inherent ones. This sentence is without<br />
doubt one of the most important ones in the Constitution of the Republic<br />
of Lithuania. The breaches of human rights sorely rebound on each person<br />
and all of society. Therefore this concept in the country leaning for the<br />
status of the legal state becomes the part of the public discourse and the<br />
democracy criterion of the state.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
Mircea Moraru<br />
Vice President Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International 05/06<br />
When Deer And Human<br />
Resources Meet<br />
After having returned from Brussels I never really thought I would be in<br />
less than two months actively participating in an <strong>ELSA</strong> event.<br />
This is the reason why it was quite a pleasant surprise when Ines Prodan,<br />
the current Vice President Marketing of <strong>ELSA</strong> Romania, got in contact<br />
with me and asked me to hold a training for the participants to the<br />
common Human Resources and Marketing meeting, which took place<br />
29-31 September in the very nice city of Iasi.<br />
Having solved the transportation problem, I arrived there quite late at<br />
night, which did not prevent anyone from getting a good taste of the<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Spirit. I got to know the participants, which came from five out<br />
of eight Local Groups of our national Network, and although they were<br />
clearly from a different generation than I was, things looked good.<br />
The training was about Marketing and Human Resources, namely how<br />
can these two areas work together in order to get the right (number of)<br />
freshers, while keeping the older ones motivated and active. It also meant<br />
creating a timeline regarding our recruitment periods, as well as trying<br />
to define and implement a consistent strategy in all Local Groups. I was<br />
personally very happy with the fact that after this part of the meeting, the<br />
participants worked together on actual means of implementing the strategy<br />
we were talking about during the training.<br />
The social part of the three days included some quality hours spent in<br />
the actual cultural capital of Romania, sports events (table tennis and a<br />
football game), while the evenings ended with some of us tasting the delicious<br />
wine our country is so proud of, while watching the stars and some<br />
deer that were running around the place we were accommodated in.<br />
Final words go as usual to the organisers of this meeting that did a wonderful<br />
thing in making us feel really welcome and to the participants (most<br />
of them had to travel for more than six hours to get there). Even if I was<br />
sceptical in the beginning, I must say this meeting exceeded my expectations,<br />
and I will be more than happy to be part of anything similar again.
36<br />
Tina Eszlari<br />
Treasurer<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Financial<br />
Management<br />
on all levels<br />
and the<br />
role of the<br />
Treasurer<br />
Since the beginning of<br />
2005, I have been acting<br />
as treasurer in different<br />
levels of the <strong>European</strong><br />
<strong>Law</strong> Students’<br />
<strong>Association</strong>. I started being active in a local organising<br />
committee for a seminar and some months later I became<br />
the Treasurer of <strong>ELSA</strong> Germany for the term 2005/2006.<br />
Now I am living in Brussels together with the other board<br />
members of the International Board 2006/2007 and I am in<br />
charge of the financial management of <strong>ELSA</strong> International.<br />
But what does actually financial management mean in a<br />
non-profit making association as <strong>ELSA</strong>? Writing or paying<br />
invoices? Creating a budget and bookkeeping? My answer<br />
to all those questions is simply yes but much more than<br />
that.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> is an internationally minded non-profit making association.<br />
The respective board members on all levels have<br />
to deal with several important responsibilities towards externals<br />
and the network day by day. I am not excluded of<br />
that. When looking back and comparing my experience on<br />
local and national level with the work as Treasurer of <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
International, I notice some differences but not only.<br />
The principles of financial management, meaning Truth,<br />
Transparency, Completeness and Continuity, have always<br />
been my fundament of work on all levels of <strong>ELSA</strong>. As treasurer<br />
you are responsible amongst others for the financial<br />
administration, grants, budgeting and bookkeeping and<br />
thus on the one hand supporting the key areas (Seminars<br />
& Conferences, Academic Activities and STEP) in order<br />
to ensure successful events like moot courts, seminars,<br />
academic activities etc. as well as general projects like the<br />
members’ magazine. On international level I am therefore<br />
jointly responsible for the EMC² and Synergy. On the other<br />
hand, I constantly communicate with national treasurers in<br />
our 35 member countries. The exchange of information,<br />
experience and support take center stage thereby.<br />
As treasurer I will focus on two issues in my term which<br />
seem to be for me the most important at the moment. My<br />
main attention is and will be the research of new financial<br />
means for the respective countries and <strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
and the creation of new, as well as the consolidation of<br />
existing supporting tools (FM manual, FM helpdesk, New<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> ONLINE system) for the local and national treasurers.<br />
Andras Szilagyi<br />
Treasurer and Head of the<br />
Organising Committee<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Hungary<br />
Financial Aspects <strong>Of</strong> An <strong>ELSA</strong> Event<br />
- A Summer School In Numbers<br />
We organised a two week long summer school in Pécs, Hungary during<br />
the summer (‘International and <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> in the courts – the environmental<br />
aspects’). Apart from the fact that it was really interesting to organise<br />
- everything from providing transfer from the airport to hanging all<br />
the sponsor banners on the right place, it was also fascinating to get the<br />
budget balanced and to know that the financial background of the event<br />
is secured. It may sound for the majority of the population foolish to write<br />
that balance sheets and financial backgrounds are ‘interesting’ and most<br />
of the people think that it only means ‘hills of invoices’ and excel sheets.<br />
Yes of course, sometimes you feel that you are ‘under fire of the invoices’,<br />
but a good financial management of an <strong>ELSA</strong> event is a real challenge.<br />
Let’s look a bit closer on the example of our summer school.<br />
The summer school had a final account of approximately 25.000 Euros,<br />
out of which the participation fees were ‘only’ 8.000 Euros. The rest of<br />
the income was given by sponsors, by the University of Pécs and we also<br />
applied for grants. <strong>Of</strong> course these figures are the figures of the final accounts<br />
of the summer school. It was a long way to get there…<br />
When planning an event, at first place, you will need a good draft budget.<br />
You will see from that budget, whether you can afford the event or not (i.e.<br />
you have money for it or not), or under what conditions you can organise<br />
it. The treasurer has a very important role in drafting the budget as other<br />
board members tend to forget: you always need money for the events. <strong>Of</strong><br />
course a draft budget has to be revised in the course of the organising<br />
according to the needs and opportunities.<br />
The budget has to comply with two important requirements: It has to be<br />
realistic and a bit over calculated, especially at early stages. Realistic<br />
means that it has to show you and the other organisers, which heading<br />
will need which financial means. Therefore you need to look up the prices<br />
before you put them in the budget. Note: Try to avoid estimation as much<br />
as you can. You can always ask for the prices at a hotel or at a restaurant<br />
without undertaking any obligation. Over calculation means that if you do<br />
not know the exact price of the issue in question, then write in a figure<br />
that is above the average price. At the end there will be headings that will<br />
require much bigger financial means, and headings that will need less<br />
money.<br />
One more thing about budget: Always calculate with unexpected costs.<br />
Unexpected costs should be 5-10 % of the budget. Don’t be optimistic,<br />
there are always unexpected costs…<br />
Pay attention to the cash flow as well. In finance, cash flow refers to the<br />
amounts of cash being received and spent by a business during a defined<br />
period of time, sometimes tied to a specific project. That means that you<br />
need money at hand, from which you can pay the bills. For example you<br />
need to pay a deposit for the accommodation even months before the<br />
event, when you haven’t yet received any participation fees or any contribution<br />
from sponsors. For that purpose you may need to temporarily use<br />
the general <strong>ELSA</strong> budget – if your national rules allow that.<br />
And a last remark: Be familiar with the tax and bookkeeping rules of your<br />
home country. Your association would get a big fine, if you made a mistake.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT<br />
Fredrik Ohlsson<br />
Auditor<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Auditing <strong>ELSA</strong> – Preferably Not A Sweaty Experience<br />
“Here’s an often overlooked accounting technique that can save you thousands<br />
of dollars: For several days before you put it in the mail, carry your<br />
tax return around under your armpit. No IRS agent is going to want to<br />
spend hours poring over a sweat-stained document. So even if you owe<br />
money, you can put in for an enormous refund and the agent will probably<br />
give it to you, just to avoid an audit. What does he care? It’s not his<br />
money.” (Dave Barry)<br />
My name is Fredrik Ohlsson and I had the honor of being elected auditor<br />
of <strong>ELSA</strong> International 2006/2007 by the council at the ICM in London. I<br />
am 26 years old and was born in Uppsala, Sweden, where I have lived<br />
most of my life. I finished my degree this summer and currently hold an<br />
internship at the District Court of Stockholm where I deal with, amongst<br />
other things, financial crime.<br />
In a “Rechtsstaat” we are presumed innocent until proven guilty, which<br />
means that if you can get away with it, you have done nothing wrong.<br />
This is all well and good in a judicial system where it is preferable that<br />
ten guilty men go free rather than one innocent being punished. Such is<br />
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s y n e r g y 37<br />
www.ntu.ac.uk/synergy<br />
not the reality of an auditor. We hunt for mistakes, faults that we know are<br />
there. We assume ill intent, embezzlement and fraudulent actions. There<br />
are no ten people, there is only you and we will find the truth! I am both<br />
glad and relieved to be on this side of the audit.<br />
It is human to fail and even the most meticulous treasurer will make mistakes.<br />
As auditors we do not assign blame and as scary as an audit can<br />
be it is also a comfort. We all make mistakes and the auditor is there as a<br />
support to make a final check before the papers are finalised. As internal<br />
auditors we come from <strong>ELSA</strong>, we are part of this <strong>Association</strong>, it is our<br />
money too. Think of us as an angel on you shoulders you can turn to in<br />
times of need, which will make sure your actions are just.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> is fortunate enough to be audited also by Deloitte, who will make<br />
sure that we, the internal auditors, do our job as well as check the work<br />
of our eminent treasurer. With this layered cake of sweet goodness, faults<br />
will be rooted out and our work will be supreme.<br />
Don’t worry Tina, auditors got your back, please don’t sweat on the receipts…
So what can one<br />
say about marketing<br />
in <strong>ELSA</strong>? The<br />
word somehow<br />
seems to imply that<br />
it has something to<br />
do with a “market”. But is there a market in <strong>ELSA</strong>? And<br />
what does market mean more than the place where I buy<br />
my vegetables on Sundays?<br />
To make this column interesting, let’s picture <strong>ELSA</strong> as a<br />
vegetable stand on precisely that Sunday market. Behind<br />
the stand is a slightly overweight but passionate man<br />
governed by his philosophy of making people see the<br />
true values of consuming high quality ecologically grown<br />
vegetables and his customers also come to him because<br />
they associate him with those things.<br />
Our vegetable seller is however experiencing some problems<br />
in selling one of his products, namely the brussel<br />
sprouts, and continuing to sell them would eventually<br />
lead to bankruptcy of his “good-for-society” business.<br />
Now our previously so jolly vegetable seller is facing<br />
a series of difficult questions. Why are the customers,<br />
his market, not buying the brussel sprouts? How far can<br />
he stretch his philosophy of providing high quality ecological<br />
vegetables to meet the maybe not corresponding<br />
needs and demands of the market that he has analysed?<br />
How can he alter his existing products to better suit the<br />
demands of his correct target group, namely those people<br />
that still share his values that vegetables should be ecologically<br />
grown and of high quality? How does he in the<br />
end communicate whatever he decides to his market in a<br />
clear and efficient way?<br />
All of this is marketing and it is a marketeer’s job to always<br />
put focus on these critical questions. To analyze the<br />
target groups and products and bring that understanding<br />
to the decision making table. To write “New vegetable<br />
– Cucumber!” in big red letters on a poster is in the end<br />
just a small formality in comparison with the above mentioned.<br />
So, get out there and start selling the right vegetables to<br />
the right people so that they become satisfied, healthy<br />
and enlightened! I bought them and that’s why I am here<br />
today…<br />
38<br />
Nils Fjelkegård<br />
Vice President<br />
Marketing<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Kamila Magdalena Chareza<br />
Director for Advertisements<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
Why Advertise?<br />
Ever since 2002 when I have started my work with <strong>ELSA</strong> I have always<br />
known, that there is much marketing potential within our <strong>Association</strong>.<br />
But only three months ago, when I took on the responsibilities of the<br />
Director for Advertisements, I have fully realised where it is hidden –<br />
in the advertisement opportunities we offer. You must all have realised<br />
that advertisements are one of the world’s new decision enforcements,<br />
by which I mean, they really do effect our decision making process.<br />
The magic of advertising is visible on a day to day basis, and each<br />
and every one of us, even from ‘high society future lawyer people’<br />
like ourselves, undergoes its force. Haven’t you ever experienced a<br />
strange craving to buy exactly this and not that other candy bar? Well<br />
if you have, then you should know what I’m talking about.<br />
After all we are only people, and a nice, super shiny, full colour, eye<br />
catching ad will always make us pay at least the minimum attention<br />
to its content. But the true sense in advertising is to make you realise<br />
that you need something of which you have not really even thought of<br />
before. <strong>Of</strong> course it may also be a means of showing you something<br />
you were too lazy to look for yourself, but nevertheless, an ad should<br />
make you crave for its ‘product’.<br />
Some of you are probably wondering why a Director for Advertisements<br />
is really needed in <strong>ELSA</strong>, and that is why I would like to explain what<br />
my day to day work looks like. After taking up the responsibilities of<br />
Ida Lindholm, the former Director, my work, although very well organised,<br />
is very time absorbing. I start each day by answering all received<br />
e-mails, forwarding reminders and updating my contact database,<br />
which has grown quite impressive with its about 250 contacts all over<br />
the world. Throughout the day I continue with e-mails if necessary,<br />
and spend some time on planning my work for the coming months. I<br />
also stay in touch with the Vice President Marketing, Nils Fjelkegård,<br />
to keep the International Board updated on my work progress.<br />
I must admit that there is much more to my work than it seems from<br />
the outside; the many hours spent on negotiations and changing our<br />
offers to make our Advertisers even more satisfied, sometimes do feel<br />
overwhelming, but in the long-run, when I can see the results I get I do<br />
feel proud that my work actually pays off. Only due to this systematic<br />
work style which I chose to continue after Ida, we have been able to<br />
bring to you this truly amazing number of 8 000 copies of Synergy<br />
on this special <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> of <strong>ELSA</strong>. It is a result of the very<br />
hard work by Nils Fjelkegård, Ida Lindholm and myself in the last few<br />
months. I hope that now you will fully understand why we should and<br />
do sell ads.<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
MARKETING<br />
Kshitij Sharma<br />
ALSA Chandigarh<br />
India<br />
Swedish Meat Balls – An ALSA India Experience<br />
Two interviews, a good academic record, involvement in co-curricular<br />
activities and the ability to represent India, which of course<br />
was the most challenging - the efforts made to reach Sweden<br />
were kind of never ending.<br />
The India project between <strong>ELSA</strong> Stockholm and ALSA Chandigarh is already<br />
eight years old and my batch was the fourth of Indian students<br />
who got the life time opportunity to visit Sweden and study law at the<br />
Stockholm University.<br />
It was interesting to experience Sweden, a peaceful monarchy and a perfect<br />
example of the democratic Scandinavian model. During our stay we<br />
attended the course “Introduction to Swedish <strong>Law</strong>” and got acquainted<br />
with the Swedish legal system and discovered how it is different in many<br />
respects vis-a-vis the Indian legal system.<br />
It was my first time abroad and although being very excited about it I was<br />
a bit nervous too. After spending some time in Stockholm I realised that<br />
the city is amazing and really safe whether you are in the underground or<br />
in the bus or walking in the darkest of alleys in the old town. I still remember<br />
the feeling when I came back to Stockholm from my weekend trip to<br />
Amsterdam and it seriously felt as if I was back at home.<br />
Stockholm provides the perfect atmosphere to learn if it is one’s first visit<br />
abroad. The people really don’t interfere in the others affairs but at the<br />
same time they are very helpful despite their busy schedule.<br />
The Swedish and Indian societies differ in many ways, but the differences<br />
should be mutually respected, as they are result of lifestyle which has<br />
developed over a long time.<br />
Our hosts in <strong>ELSA</strong> Stockholm have really been very hospitable and due<br />
to their efforts we got the chance to, apart from the academic schedule,<br />
also see almost everything what Stockholm offers to a tourist (the museums,<br />
the parliament, ballet, ice hockey, the city hall, the royal palace, the<br />
archipelago and much more). We also tasted the Swedish cuisine (they<br />
cooked Swedish meet balls for us with chicken instead of beef which was<br />
really sweet of them).<br />
In the end I would like to say that I feel really blessed and fortunate to<br />
have had the opportunity to participate in the India Project. It has indeed<br />
been the best experience of my life so far and I feel more independent,<br />
responsible and organised. It’s a completely new me!<br />
ALSA/<strong>ELSA</strong> Exchange Programme<br />
The India Project is an exchange project between <strong>ELSA</strong> Stockholm, Sweden,<br />
and the Asian <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> (ALSA) Chandigarh, India.<br />
A former member of <strong>ELSA</strong> Stockholm initiated the project in 1998. The<br />
purpose of the programme is to contribute to legal education and to increase<br />
mutual understanding between Sweden and India by providing an<br />
opportunity for law students to learn about the other country’s legal system<br />
as well as cultural and social life in a continuous exchange programme<br />
between the two organisations.<br />
s y n e r g y 39
A day in the life of<br />
an <strong>ELSA</strong> Rovaniemi<br />
member<br />
NAME: Jussi Puutio<br />
STATUS: 2nd year law student at the University<br />
of Lapland<br />
BACKGROUND: Residing in the Polar Circle,<br />
undisputed home of Santa Claus<br />
7:10 – My mobile wakes me up after I’ve pressed<br />
snooze twice. I open the curtains and we still do<br />
not have the first snow. Boring... After a shower I<br />
eat strawberries, rye bread, coffee and I enjoy it<br />
all with the morning paper.<br />
8:00 – I take my bike and rush to university. I’m<br />
just on time for the 08:15 start of the legal English<br />
exam. I’ve never done such a huge English exam<br />
before. I get 31 pages of material at the beginning<br />
and I have only three hours to do it. I’ve waited<br />
for it for a month. The course was quite hard because<br />
I had to be present Monday to Wednesday<br />
from 8 to 14. Now it’s finally all over!!<br />
11:30 – After the exam I’m one and a half hours<br />
late for the international law lecture, but I’m definitely<br />
still going. The lecture is about torture in<br />
prisons and terrorism. Sweet!<br />
11:50 – I’m having lunch in our school cafeteria<br />
with Antti and Kimmo. We are eating chicken<br />
salad with lots of garlic dressing. Kimmo is taking<br />
photos of me for this article but somehow I shut<br />
my eyes always in the wrong moment.<br />
13:00 – Having coffee with Antti, our STEP-trainee<br />
Lena, Vice President STEP Tuulia and lots of<br />
friends who were passing by. The coffee break<br />
took only an hour and 15 minutes. We talked<br />
about for example Lena’s farewell party tomorrow.<br />
40<br />
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…<br />
14:15 – International law lectures starting again.<br />
We discussed human rights problems around<br />
the world. Our discussions were quite simple<br />
minded and characterless so I could have been<br />
sleeping at home.<br />
15:45 – After lectures I have 15 min time to go<br />
home and get my badminton kit. Nevertheless<br />
there is always time to take a few photos and<br />
then a fast 7 minutes ride to home.<br />
16:15 – Antti gave me a lift to the badminton hall<br />
and played badminton with me. We were 15 min<br />
late for the student union’s badminton session.<br />
Anyway our game was rough.<br />
17:30 – Home sweet home. Now I don’t have<br />
to do anything. After stretching I take a long hot<br />
shower and finally shave my growing beard. I<br />
smell like candy after using my new red shower<br />
gel. I cook some pasta, eat and surf the net. I put<br />
the washing machine on.<br />
19:30 – It was so relaxing until the boys called<br />
me to come and have a few “exam beers” in<br />
Paha Kurki pub (direct translation: “the Bad<br />
Crane”). So I had to run again and I still smelled<br />
like candy. We planned on buying a six-pack of<br />
beer and a card with a picture of a clown for our<br />
English teacher. We really liked him but he called<br />
us clowns. Maybe our imagination was too wild<br />
for him in the discussions on our course...<br />
21:30 – Back home. I need to put my wet laundry<br />
on a clothes-rack. I’m so tired that I can’t do<br />
anything but watch TV. So I lie down on my bed<br />
and browse channels. News, stupid series, news<br />
again, whatever, I don’t care…<br />
23:00 – I’d like to watch Late Night with Conan<br />
O’Brien but a few minutes after 23:00 I fall asleep<br />
and I miss the show. Actually the day was so<br />
hard that I slept over 11 hours.<br />
A day in the life of an<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> London member<br />
NAME: Vicky Dolka<br />
STATUS: 3rd year law student at the University<br />
of London, School of Oriental and African Studies<br />
(SOAS).<br />
BACKGROUND: Originally from Athens,<br />
Greece<br />
8:30 – The alarm, set at radio station BBC 2,<br />
awakes me. I open the curtains – ahhh, another<br />
grey and rainy day. Looks like my umbrella will<br />
be joining me today, yet again! So, off to SOAS at<br />
Russell Square I go...<br />
10:00 – After a crowded tube ride, finally here at<br />
SOAS for my <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> module.<br />
12:00 – Meeting some friends for afternoon tea<br />
and scones. Then scoping for some yummy<br />
treats afterwards…<br />
Magazine of The <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Students’ <strong>Association</strong> | No. 40/II 2006
- An Inside Look Into The Daily Endeavours <strong>Of</strong> <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Members From Across The Network<br />
Do you know someone who<br />
might be an interesting subject<br />
for a profile in Synergy? An<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> member, a law student,<br />
a professor, a lawyer, or some<br />
13:00 – In the library, putting in the hours! Aiming<br />
for a first this year!<br />
15:00 – Classes at the Chinese law module of<br />
SOAS Vernon Square campus.<br />
17:00 – There is an anti-war campaign going on<br />
today at Westminster – let’s go see what this is<br />
all about…<br />
18:00 – This weekend is my friend Nancy’s birthday<br />
party so after the quick stop at the campaign<br />
it is time for a tiny shopping escapade.<br />
20:00 – The Piccadilly line to my flat is experiencing<br />
severe delays so waiting for the alternative<br />
– the bus!<br />
21:00 – After nearly one hour on an over-crowded<br />
bus, finally home to realise that my flatmates<br />
have invited some friends, and they are having a<br />
little feast of a dinner! What a great ending to a<br />
productive day!<br />
other external with an interesting<br />
background or occupation…<br />
A day in the life of the<br />
International Board<br />
NAME: The International Board 2006/2007<br />
STATUS: Working full time for <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
BACKGROUND: 7 people, 6 nationalities,<br />
multiple personalities, 1 house, 8 rooms, 1<br />
office, 1 network, 1 vision.<br />
9:15 - Already full intensity in the Key Area section<br />
of the office. Halvor is discussing the Moot<br />
Court with Giedre and Loreta is occupied with<br />
obviously quite serious S&C issues (most likely<br />
answering e-mails from certain slightly more active<br />
S&C’ers in the Network; you know who you<br />
are…).<br />
10:10 - A wasp suddenly interrupts the peaceful<br />
Monday meeting and distracts the attention<br />
from the otherwise quite important discussions<br />
that take place. A few moments later a board<br />
member reaches for his Corporate Partner note<br />
block and ends the disturbance with three firm<br />
smacks. Now we are even ending innocent lives<br />
in the pursuit for efficient decision making in the<br />
<strong>Association</strong>, were will it end?<br />
13:30 - Lunch break in the kitchen. The Board<br />
Members tend to have quite different eating habits.<br />
Some go for the pots and pans, some go for<br />
a sandwich on the corner, but surprisingly often<br />
people seem to restrict themselves to a good biting<br />
on the nails in front of their computer screens<br />
instead. The nutritional value might be discussed<br />
but it at least gets the job done…<br />
Contact the editor and<br />
it might just end up in<br />
our profile section!<br />
15:00 - Planning meeting for the ICM. Under<br />
guidance of our President Christopher, yet another<br />
in a long row of ICM planning meetings<br />
take place. Little did the Board Members know<br />
that they were just about to embark on a three<br />
hour long role playing session…<br />
19:00 - <strong>ELSA</strong> Leiden is arriving to the house in<br />
less than one hour and some of the final preparations<br />
involve buying drinks for some 45 persons.<br />
The bags were heavy that night…<br />
20:45 - Our Dutch friends must have been close<br />
to ravenous judging by the time it took to consume<br />
the recently delivered pizzas. The International<br />
Board manages to control the almost rioting<br />
masses with some presentations and guided<br />
tours of the house.<br />
00:15 - Still some work to finish before the sponsor<br />
meetings in Amsterdam the day after. <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
has a strange habit of making you forget about<br />
time, in a good way though, well, most of the<br />
time at least.<br />
s y n e r g y 41
Interview<br />
Jovana Vukovic<br />
Director of BLOC<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Norway<br />
The International Criminal Court is a perfect example of the tension between<br />
the US and its <strong>European</strong> allies. The question whether the US should<br />
join the ICC is almost useless debate, because frankly, the US will never<br />
join the ICC. There is too much objection to it at home.<br />
The 1993 draft of the ICC would have been ratified by the US had one<br />
provision stayed in- that all the referrals to the Court would have to be<br />
approved by the Security Council. The US was perfectly happy with that.<br />
<strong>Of</strong> course, it did not happen.<br />
A better question is how the US should deal with the ICC. The US view is<br />
that American citizens are accountable only to our own laws; to US laws,<br />
and that they should not be subject to a politically motivated ICC.<br />
<strong>European</strong>s are more inclined to have a communal type of thinking, and<br />
are more inclined to give up pieces of their sovereignty. Look no further<br />
than the creation of the EU and the <strong>European</strong> Court of Human Rights for<br />
evidence. They see this as being perfectly natural, post-World War II.<br />
Americans are not so inclined to do this. American ideals are independ-<br />
Magnus Lütken<br />
Treasurer<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Bergen<br />
How can the UN be an effective vehicle for peace in the 21st century, when<br />
it’s most powerful member, the United States, refuses to join the ICC? -<br />
American Professor Frederick M. Lorenz has the answer.<br />
ence and freedom, so the idea of a court outside our borders deciding the<br />
fate of our president, of our soldiers, is completely foreign to an American.<br />
Even the British, who are quite independent-minded, have no problem<br />
with this. That just shows how strong these traits are in the US.<br />
This has, perhaps, also to do with the US’ role in the world. If you look at<br />
any country, and take the number of peacekeepers per capita, or contributions<br />
to the UN in terms of dollars, the number of overseas bases, there is<br />
no doubt the US plays the biggest role. So the question is really whether<br />
the US can be held to the same standard as everyone else. In some cases<br />
they likely cannot.<br />
In an ideal world the UN would be a well-functioning, collective system<br />
of security, and all the member nations would also be a part of the ICC.<br />
This would make, perhaps, international action in conflict areas less opposed,<br />
as all would be held to the same standards. The ICC would be of<br />
course stronger with the US as a member, but I believe it can still have a<br />
great role to play.
Nancy Son<br />
Co-editor for Synergy<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> International<br />
In JUSTICE For Justice<br />
Maik Martin – a former <strong>ELSA</strong> Berlin member – has studied in<br />
Berlin, obtained a postgraduate diploma in Durham University,<br />
and a master in law at Oxford University. He is currently the Legal<br />
<strong>Of</strong>ficer for <strong>European</strong> Criminal Justice at the all-party law reform<br />
and human rights organisation JUSTICE in London. In his spare<br />
time Maik is trying to work on his PhD thesis on public inquiries<br />
in common law jurisdictions.<br />
Maik takes us on an exciting journey through his life at JUSTICE<br />
– the issues he tackles, the people who he lobbies and inspires<br />
us that getting involved is the first step in achieving justice.<br />
So, a former <strong>ELSA</strong> member?<br />
“Yes, I used to be an <strong>ELSA</strong> Berlin member. I remember the Local Group<br />
did a lot of stuff, but it seemed too focused on the career – advancement,<br />
obtainment… So I think it is a good thing now that Synergy is going<br />
a bit broader introducing members and law students with other issues.<br />
Although I did not participate in the STEP program myself, friends have<br />
and it offered them a great opportunity to see other legal systems. The<br />
provision of information about obtaining places abroad – this access is<br />
extremely important”<br />
Now, on to JUSTICE – how did you get involved?<br />
“I used the JUSTICE web site for research for my PhD in Berlin. Then I<br />
saw the ad for the EU job, thought it very interesting, applied and then<br />
was just lucky!”<br />
Fair enough! Take us through a day in the life of a Legal <strong>Of</strong>ficer<br />
for <strong>European</strong> Criminal Justice.<br />
“Working for a law reform and human rights organisation, my days are<br />
normally filled with any or all of the following: lobbying by advising the<br />
UK and <strong>European</strong> legislature; writing briefings to members of the UK Parliament;<br />
participating in inquiries that are being held by the <strong>European</strong><br />
Union Committees in the House of Lords and the House of Commons<br />
and providing them with our view of things. I also meet EU Commission<br />
officials in Brussels, organise petitions, and work with other NGOs.”<br />
At the end of the day, how do you measure success?<br />
“It is difficult to say what success is – in a way, it is success when your<br />
concerns have been commented on during parliamentary debate and in<br />
committee reports. For example, we deem the House of Lords’ adoption<br />
of the Amendment to the Extradition Act (from the UK to the US) quite<br />
a success. But then again, debate and raising awareness is almost as<br />
important as getting actual results.”<br />
Can you inform us about the issues concerning the <strong>European</strong><br />
Arrest Warrant?<br />
“In the past, states applied for mutual legal assistance – now, you have<br />
a system of mutual recognition in Europe - where one state issues a domestic<br />
arrest warrant, and the expectation is that without major formalities,<br />
this will be recognised in other member states and that person will<br />
be surrendered. The idea is to make domestic arrest warrants freely transferable<br />
and movable around the EU so expedition is sped up. And this<br />
can be seen in the UK Osman case, where the tube bombers surrendered<br />
within 5-6 weeks – not the usual 40 weeks of the past.<br />
One major point of criticism however is that there is no harmony between<br />
Interview<br />
member states in substantial criminal law and procedure and that the<br />
rights of the individual surrendered to another country are safeguarded.<br />
It used to be the case that an offence had to be criminal in both member<br />
states in order to extradite. But now, what mutual recognition does is allow<br />
states to surrender someone for something he has done that wasn’t even<br />
criminal in the member state where he will be extradited from. So, as a<br />
hypothetical example, the UK may have to extradite David Irving to Austria<br />
for denying the holocaust which is an offence in Austria but it is not an<br />
offence here. Another example would be, if you get a fine in the UK – then<br />
this could be enforced in another state.<br />
It is vitally important that all these judicial co-operation measures between<br />
EU countries are complemented with instruments that lay down<br />
minimum standards for criminal proceedings in all EU countries which<br />
should go beyond what the <strong>European</strong> Convention on Human Rights already<br />
provides.”<br />
Clearly, this is a very contentious issue – and surely, <strong>ELSA</strong> members<br />
and other law students would be interested in getting involved<br />
themselves. Can you give us some tips and pointers on<br />
how interested individuals can get involved?<br />
“Well, firstly, <strong>ELSA</strong> members and law students can get involved by participating<br />
– watch out, engage in discussions and debates, go to meetings,<br />
etc. Information should be available from law schools and checking<br />
websites for up-to-date information is good.<br />
At JUSTICE particularly, we are about to launch the JUSTICE Student Human<br />
Rights Network – we try to get students involved with what we’re doing<br />
and try to see what students are doing and what they’re interested in. If<br />
you’re interested in this network, why not drop us an email (jshrn@justice.<br />
org.uk) and get involved? We’re also running an internship scheme twice<br />
a year for law students or those who have finished their studies. It is<br />
unpaid (but with a stipend) and I definitely think it is something worth<br />
getting involved in. Check out our website: www.justice.org.uk”<br />
Thank you for that. Any last words?<br />
“Get involved - take advantage of the STEP project. And, make sure you<br />
continue to approach organisations for STEP programmes. I cannot stress<br />
enough how crucial a programme like STEP can be in helping students<br />
get internships across the globe”<br />
s y n e r g y 43
Foundation Meeting<br />
in Vienna (May)<br />
1981<br />
1987<br />
First issue of Synergy<br />
published<br />
“25 Years of Legal Development”<br />
5th-9th December 2006<br />
Oslo, Norway<br />
This is a very special year and we in <strong>ELSA</strong> Oslo wanted<br />
to do something special to celebrate the <strong>Anniversary</strong> of<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>. Some of us were not even born 25 years ago,<br />
and to be a part of a large organisation that has fostered<br />
mutual understanding and cultural diversity for 25 years<br />
is a great feeling.<br />
“25 Years of Legal Diversity: <strong>Law</strong> beyond Borders”<br />
8th-12th May 2006<br />
Rotterdam, the Netherlands<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Rotterdam was re-established in 2004 and a big<br />
<strong>Anniversary</strong> Conference in our opinion was a perfect<br />
way for us to get back into the <strong>ELSA</strong> Network. It was<br />
a great experience for us and we really saw the cultural<br />
diversity of <strong>ELSA</strong> with 12 different nationalities present<br />
at our event.<br />
“25 Years of Millennium Development Goals”<br />
13th March 2006<br />
Leiden, the Netherlands<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Leiden decided to contribute to this very special<br />
year by organising an <strong>Anniversary</strong> Seminar within the<br />
scope of the International Focus Programme “25 Years<br />
of Legal Development”. With our event we brought a<br />
focus onto the future, on how to survive the next 25<br />
years…<br />
“25 Years of Human Rights Violation in the Baltic<br />
Region”<br />
20th April 2006<br />
Vilnius, Lithuania<br />
In Lithuania we thought it was very important to contribute<br />
to the <strong>Anniversary</strong> celebrations and we decided<br />
to organise a Conference on human rights and youth<br />
involvement in this area. The understanding that we are<br />
a part of 25 years of <strong>ELSA</strong> comes together with the wish<br />
to double this number.<br />
“25 Years of Environmental <strong>Law</strong><br />
and Nuclear Power”<br />
28th-30th June 2006<br />
Würzburg, Germany<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Würzburg decided to organise an <strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
Conference because it was a good chance to reach a<br />
broader audience anywhere in Europe and we wanted<br />
to be a part of the special <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong>. For us<br />
the <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> of <strong>ELSA</strong> shows that a great idea<br />
has succeeded. We wish <strong>ELSA</strong> to steadily increase its<br />
scope, its members and its importance as it has done<br />
in the last 25 years.<br />
“The Development of Environmental <strong>Law</strong> in the<br />
<strong>European</strong> Legislation within the Past 25 Years”<br />
15th-<strong>25th</strong> September 2006<br />
Iasi, Romania<br />
Organising an international <strong>Anniversary</strong> <strong>Law</strong> School<br />
seemed a good opportunity to bring <strong>ELSA</strong> Iasi a step<br />
further and make Romanian <strong>ELSA</strong> members understand<br />
that we are a part of a strong Network. There are a lot<br />
of people who believe in the values of <strong>ELSA</strong> regardless<br />
of cultural, economic or social differences. <strong>ELSA</strong> is the<br />
perfect way to show that law students really can work<br />
together!<br />
“25 Years of Discrimination <strong>Law</strong>: Guarantees and<br />
Legal Methods for Suppression”<br />
31st October – 3rd November 2006<br />
Mavrovo, Republic of Macedonia<br />
We set as the main objective of our <strong>Anniversary</strong> Conference<br />
to educate young people about the importance of<br />
eliminating and suppressing discrimination and to promote<br />
the egalitarianism, equality and the right of equal<br />
opportunities. This is how we see the <strong>ELSA</strong> vision.<br />
1989<br />
First issue of <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Law</strong><br />
Review published<br />
5th <strong>Anniversary</strong> Council Meetings in<br />
Vienna (March) and Oslo (October)<br />
1986<br />
25 YEARS OF <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>, founded by law students from Austria, Hungary, Poland and West Germany<br />
in Vienna on the 4th May 1981, is celebrating its <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> in 2006. <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
is now the world’s largest independent law students’ association with a membership<br />
close to 30 000 law students and young lawyers in 35 <strong>European</strong> countries.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> celebrates its Silver Jubilee in the entire Network through a series of different<br />
activities at local, national and international level.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party<br />
4th May 2006<br />
Stockholm, Sweden<br />
Linklaters, a Legal Development Partner of<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Sweden hosted a lecture and an <strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
Cocktail for Swedish <strong>ELSA</strong> members<br />
at their main office in Stockholm on 4th May<br />
2006. The celebrations then continued with<br />
the Gala Ball at the National Council Meeting<br />
of <strong>ELSA</strong> Sweden in Uppsala on 6th May<br />
2006.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party<br />
4th May 2006<br />
Kaliningrad, Russia<br />
The <strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday was celebrated by the<br />
participants of the International Conference<br />
“Development of Agriculture in the EU and<br />
Russia: Problems of Legal Regulation” which<br />
was organised by <strong>ELSA</strong> Kaliningrad. Participants<br />
raised a toast to <strong>ELSA</strong>’s <strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
at the National Park “Curonian Spit” on the<br />
shores of the Baltic Sea!<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party<br />
4th May 2006<br />
Porto, Portugal<br />
The official <strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party took place<br />
in Portugal, where the idea of <strong>ELSA</strong> was born<br />
more than a quarter of a century ago. <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
members from all over the Network gathered<br />
in Porto for the <strong>Anniversary</strong> Gala Ball to celebrate<br />
the <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> of <strong>ELSA</strong> together<br />
with corporate partners of <strong>ELSA</strong>, academics,<br />
alumni and other supporters.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party<br />
5th May 2006<br />
Bonn, Germany<br />
German <strong>ELSA</strong> members celebrated the <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Birthday with a reception at the Garden Pavi-<br />
lion of the University of Bonn on the 5th May.<br />
The reception took place during the Local <strong>Of</strong>ficers’<br />
Training Days of <strong>ELSA</strong> Germany and<br />
was opened by the Dean of the <strong>Law</strong> Faculty.<br />
“25 Years of Human Rights”<br />
10th December 2006<br />
Bucharest, Romania<br />
Organising an <strong>Anniversary</strong> Conference as<br />
a part of a traditional <strong>ELSA</strong> <strong>Law</strong> School in<br />
Bucharest is the way to emphasise the correlation<br />
between the experience we have<br />
inherited from the previous <strong>ELSA</strong> teams and<br />
the enthusiasm we now share for being part<br />
of this association. We hope that <strong>ELSA</strong> will<br />
stay the same in the future: with its ups and<br />
downs, with flaws and tending towards the<br />
better; this is after all <strong>ELSA</strong>’s charm.<br />
1991<br />
Foundation of <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
<strong>Law</strong>yers’ Society (ELS)<br />
Porto<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party<br />
4th May 2006<br />
Lecce, Italy<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Italy celebrated the <strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday at their<br />
National Council Meeting in Lecce. A regular<br />
welcome party was, to the surprise of the participants,<br />
turned into <strong>Anniversary</strong> celebrations<br />
with a splendid <strong>ELSA</strong> cake and happy birthday<br />
songs! “Tanti auguri <strong>ELSA</strong>!”<br />
“25 Years of the International Criminal Court<br />
and the Role of Criminal <strong>Law</strong> in the EU”<br />
7th December 2006<br />
Treviso, Italy<br />
We decided to organise an <strong>Anniversary</strong> Conference<br />
to promote the image of <strong>ELSA</strong> in front<br />
of our own members and in front of the whole<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Network. We hope in the 25 years to<br />
come, <strong>ELSA</strong> will help to eliminate borders between<br />
students in different countries and cultural<br />
differences will be perceived not as a wall<br />
between people but as means to enrich every<br />
student’s culture.<br />
10th <strong>Anniversary</strong> Council Meetings in<br />
Vienna (March) and Stockholm (October)<br />
1992<br />
Introduction of an <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Philosophy Statement<br />
Leiden<br />
Rotterdam<br />
Bonn<br />
Oslo<br />
Würzburg<br />
Treviso<br />
Stockholm<br />
1991<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday Party<br />
4th May 2006<br />
Athens, Greece<br />
Participants of the <strong>Anniversary</strong> Conference “25<br />
Years of Environmental <strong>Law</strong> in the <strong>European</strong><br />
Union – Legal Challenges in the 21st Century”<br />
celebrated the <strong>ELSA</strong> Birthday in Athens, where<br />
they came together to blow the candles on the<br />
“25 Years of <strong>ELSA</strong>” cake!<br />
“25 Years of Environmental <strong>Law</strong> in the<br />
<strong>European</strong> Union – Legal Challenges in the<br />
21st Century”<br />
3rd–7th May 2006<br />
Athens, Greece<br />
We decided to organise an <strong>Anniversary</strong> Conference<br />
as it would be an important event for the<br />
celebrations across the Network. We think that<br />
the <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> shows that <strong>ELSA</strong> is not<br />
something temporary; it reflects a perspective of<br />
an association that has a lot to give in the future.<br />
We hope in the next 25 years more members will<br />
be a part of <strong>ELSA</strong> and being a law student will be<br />
synonym to being an <strong>ELSA</strong> member.<br />
1993<br />
First issue of GLSE<br />
published<br />
Kaliningrad<br />
Lecce<br />
Vilnius<br />
Mavrovo<br />
Bucharest<br />
Athens<br />
Iasi
15th <strong>Anniversary</strong> Council Meeting in<br />
Cracow (March) and Istanbul (October)<br />
1994<br />
1996<br />
Clifford Chance becomes the<br />
first Corporate Partner of <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
The founders of <strong>ELSA</strong> were law<br />
students from 4 different coun-<br />
tries: Michael Goldinger from<br />
Austria, Wojciech Kostrzewa<br />
from Poland, Attila Tarkany<br />
Szücs from Hungary, Jürgen<br />
Sattler from Germany and<br />
Ernst Wurz from Austria.<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong> and its <strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> Supporter,<br />
T.M.Lewin are giving one lucky <strong>ELSA</strong> member<br />
a chance to have the shopping experience<br />
of a lifetime with the fantastic <strong>Anniversary</strong><br />
writing competition. To be in for<br />
a chance of winning and being dressed by<br />
T.M.Lewin please e-mail us explaining, in<br />
no more than 500 words, about your <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
<strong>Anniversary</strong> experience. One response will<br />
be selected as the lucky winner of the competition.<br />
The quintessential tailoring collection from<br />
T.M.Lewin offers stylish suits and shirts that<br />
every lawyer needs in their wardrobe to create<br />
the right impression. If you are selected as the<br />
lucky winner you will be restyled and will get a<br />
brand new outfit, valued in the region of €700.<br />
Please e-mail your responses to us by 15th<br />
February 2007 at elsa@elsa.org. The winner<br />
will be announced on <strong>25th</strong> February 2007. More<br />
information on the T.M.Lewin collection can be<br />
found at www.tmlewin.co.uk.<br />
20th <strong>Anniversary</strong> Council Meetings in Vienna<br />
(March) and Coimbra (October-November)<br />
1995<br />
Commitment to Human<br />
Rights<br />
2001<br />
Foundation of <strong>ELSA</strong> in Vienna 1981 Four founders at the <strong>Anniversary</strong> ICM in London 2006<br />
“<strong>ELSA</strong> has been, and is in our hearts. It is unprecedented luck, that neither political changes, nor aggressive<br />
personal aspirations were able to destroy our dream. <strong>ELSA</strong> is not a kid anymore, it is a beautiful and meaningful<br />
citizen of every member country. Please, be sure that the founders’ hearts are always with you – but the<br />
future is on you. We all are proud of you, we will continue to keep our fingers crossed for <strong>ELSA</strong>, and celebrate<br />
with you all. We are proud of your achievements, your dedication and the care you have given to develop the<br />
organisation. God bless you and <strong>ELSA</strong>!” – Founders of <strong>ELSA</strong><br />
Council Meeting plenary today<br />
<strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> Supporters:<br />
1997<br />
First issue of <strong>ELSA</strong> SPEL (Selected<br />
Paper on <strong>European</strong> <strong>Law</strong>) published<br />
<strong>25th</strong> <strong>Anniversary</strong> Council Meetings in<br />
London (March) and Alanya (November)<br />
2006<br />
Council Meeting plenary 25 years ago<br />
1998<br />
ICM mascot “Cesar”<br />
introduced (March)<br />
…During one of the bilateral student meetings between Vienna and Budapest Attila Tarkany Szücs discussed<br />
with Ernst Wurz an idea of broadening networks on the level of law students in Europe. It happened that Ernst<br />
participated in a conference of Christ Democratic <strong>Law</strong> Students in Portugal in the summer of 1979, where<br />
together with his German colleague Jürgen Sattler, they elaborated on the actual idea of <strong>ELSA</strong> as multinational,<br />
non-partisan, non-profit law student organisation. Ernst wanted Jürgen to meet Attila, but could not<br />
give Attila’s full name, or address, or a phone number, so it was a series of accidents that Jürgen and Attila<br />
could actually meet. They needed just ten minutes to become friends for life and carry on with the idea of<br />
<strong>ELSA</strong>. Later on Attila proposed also to get into the loop his counterpart in Warsaw, Wojciech Kostrzewa,<br />
whom he knew from the co-operation between their Universities. Wojciech immediately supported the idea<br />
and was invited to join a conference in Budapest in November 1980, where he met Attila, Jürgen and Michael<br />
Goldinger, another law student from Austria. They agreed to organise a conference in spring 1981 and to<br />
make all necessary arrangements to found <strong>ELSA</strong>. And so, on the 4th of May 1981, in Vienna, the traditional<br />
place of multilateral agreements, the foundation took place with the signatures of five of them.
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