ELSA Annual Report 2010/2011
ELSA International Board 2010/2011
„For years to come the sky is the limit.“
Annual Report of the International Board of ELSA 2010/2011
Paolo Amorosa, Vice President Seminars & Conferences Laurits Ketscher-Olsen, Vice President Marketing Ezgi Kilinç, Vice President Academic Activities Òscar A. Lema Bouza, President
Elif Yildirim, Vice President Student Trainee Exchange Programme
Filipe Bismarck, Secretary General
Olga Sendetska, Treasurer
„Run By and For Law Students and Young Lawyers“
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ELSA Annual Report
About ELSA
Annual Report 2010-2011
The European Law Students’ Association, ELSA, is an international, independent, non-political and non-profit-making organisation comprised and run by and for law students and young lawyers. Founded in 1981 by law students from Austria, Hungary, Poland and West Germany, ELSA is today the world’s largest independent law students’ association. ELSA Members x 32,000
ELSA Local Groups x 210
ELSA National Groups x 42
This Annual Report is produced by ELSA International in Brussels, Belgium. The articles are contributions by the members of the International Team, comprising the International Board and Directors. Furthermore, the closest externals with which the International Board 2010-2011 has cooperated have made a contribution of their experience of working with ELSA. The Annual Report is published every year at the end of the term in office of each International Board. ELSA International Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 Fax: + 32 2 646 29 23 E-mail: elsa@elsa.org Website: www.elsa.org ELSA International’s Corporate Partner
ELSA International
ELSA International’s Human Rights Partner CMS_LawTax_CMYK_over100.eps
VISION
"A JUST WORLD IN WHICH THERE IS RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY"
ELSA International’s Auditing Partner
ELSA’s Members ELSA’s members are internationally minded individuals who have interest for foreign legal systems and practices. Through our activities such as seminars, conferences, law schools, moot court competitions, legal writing, legal research and the Student Trainee Exchange Programme, our members acquire a broader cultural understanding and legal expertise.
ELSA International’s English Language Partner
Our Special Status ELSA has gained a special status with several international institutions. In 2000, ELSA was granted Participatory Status with the Council of Europe. ELSA has Consultative Status with several United Nations bodies; UN ECOSOC, UNCITRAL, UNESCO & WIPO.
ELSA International’s Media Partner
ELSA International’s Marketing & IT partner
ELSA is present in 42 countries Albania, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
ELSA Annual Report
ELSA is supported by
This project has been funded with support from the European Union. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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Introduction
Final Farewell from the International Board 2010/2011
We managed, we always do!
Yet another year has passed at 239, Blvd. GĂŠnĂŠral Jacques, and just like every twelve months it is time to look back and evaluate what has happened during the year, what has been done and what has been left for others that will come behind, what was good and what was even better, to sum up, what have the past 365 days been all about. For thirty years ELSA has been bringing European law students and young lawyers together across borders, while helping them grow personally and professionally and contribute to legal education, foster mutual understanding and promote social responsibility. By being open to everyone and taking inputs from every single member we have become a unique organization that keeps on getting stronger and drawing the passion of members, officers and alumni alike. With this publication we show not only what was done by the International Board 2010/2011, but by the whole Network, by those more than 30,000 people that put their time, efforts and enthusiasm into this association. It is a report that shows the many different fields of action of ELSA, referencing its key activities and the internal organization, and documenting the results of the term with thorough statistics and extensive reports. Thus, it gives a picture of what ELSA is, what ELSA does
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and what ELSA aims at. For us it is also a way to thank those who have made this one year trip possible. In the first place, we have to thank the Council of ELSA, representing all the members, for having given us the chance to lead this project by electing us. We also have to thank a very special person without whom none of our projects would have become true, Tiago Moreira Alves, ITP trainer and former IB member, who not only guided us in the beginning and through the year, but was also there whenever we needed him, and served as a counselor, but also as a friend. And, of course, our dear predecessors, Amanda, Sofia, Mirko, Leo, Timo, Peter and Frida, who shared not only a month in the same house, but also a lifetime of experience, expertise, and friendship. We were not alone in the ride, but had the priceless help of thirteen other people, our Directors and Assistants, who not only bore the weight of some of our work but also gave us very much needed support. These people, who volunteered for the job we appointed them to do, surprised us every day with their hard work, willingness to help, and unselfishness, and made us proud to call them members of ELSA International. Therefore we must thank Vilte, from Lithu-
ELSA Annual Report
Introduction We will never forget the fun times at the office and out of it, the long board meetings, the pre-ICM rush, with everyone staying in the office all day and night, the places we were to, the people we met, the weekly SMOBO meeting, the long night talks, skyping while we were next to each other, Olia’s coffee, cleaning days, Ezgi’s papers, Colruyt rides, Filipe’s games, waking up Laurits for board meetings, airport rides, Elif ’s smile, Synergy editions, internal meetings, Oscar’s facts, the phone ringing at the worst times, New Year’s Eve, Istanbul, the van trip to Poznan, Laurits’ jokes, transitions, nightly visits to the fridge, the L Team, the study visits, Filipe’s room cinema, the BBQs, nights out... and so many more that have left an imprint on us and we will carry forever.
ania; Laura, Kim and Marje from Germany; Sofia, from Finland; Malin, from Sweden; Arvind, from the Netherlands; Kasia and Anna, from Poland; Sonia, from Romania; Simin, from Turkey; Angelica, from Italy; and Peter, from Denmark. Making a brief summary of a year like the one we spent at the ELSA House is very hard, not only because, needless to say, there is a lot to tell, but because it is very difficult to pick the moments to be left out of such an exercise, and, above all, because some of the things we have been through are impossible to put into words, but rather have to be felt to be understood. We can say without a doubt that we went through good and bad things, and that there were moments that we would like to put in a closed box never to be open again. But fortunately memory is selective, and we will keep mostly the good memories, having the bad present only to remind us that we must learn from them.
We have passed the torch to a new International Board that we are sure will do a superb job in not only maintaining, but improving ELSA. We hope that Khrystyna, Zosya, Irakli, Niousha, Jaana, Ricardo, Kaisa and Liisa will be more succesful than us, because that will mean that ELSA is in a better position. As a last favour, we would like to ask the whole ELSA Network to be as supportive to them as you have been to us.
„With this publication we show not only what was done by the International Board 2010/2011, but by the whole Network.“
ELSA Annual Report
Please, enjoy this report as a reminder of this unforgettable year. We hope you remember us as seven good people from Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine who always tried their best. We may have made mistakes, and we are sorry for them, but we always did things in the way we thought was more beneficial to ELSA, and looking for nothing else than the best interest of the Network. In the end we can say that even when things were difficult and it seemed it was not possible to pull through, we managed.
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Highlights 2010/2011
Statistics of the executive year 2010/2011 ELSA International
35 countries of 42 visited by
the International Board meeting more than 1000 members
338 members from 9 coun-
tries visited the ELSA house in Brussels for 15 study visits
400 days were spent by the
International Board in the ELSA House from 28.06.2010 to
01.08.2011 159 participants for internal
meetings in Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Georgia and Portugal
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ELSA Annual Report
Highlights 2010/2011
59 trainings held by our
International Trainers Pool for active ELSA members throughout the network
337 delegates and 100 alumni from 37 countries at the
spring International Council Meeting and 30th Anniversary in Poznan, Poland More than 500.000 kilometers travelled by the International Board, which is more than around the globe
12 times
320 delegates from 28
member countries present at the autumn International Council Meeting in Alanya, Turkey
ELSA Annual Report
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Activities
Activities
The heart of ELSA
In our One Year Operational Plan (OYOP), we had one very clear goal: to potentiate the activities of the key areas, strengthening and enlarging them, since they are the most important ones in ELSA, the raison d’être of the association. As a result, we can say that the state of activities has improved, and we have more established ones along with new projects that continue to lead the way of the organization. In the next pages you will be able to see this progress and ascertain the current status of the ELSA activities. This important information should be taken into account not only to evaluate the current situation, but also in order to set the Strategic Goals for 2018, a decision that should take place in the upcoming year 2012. The Academic Activities area was of course headlined by the 9th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law (EMC2), the only worldwide project of ELSA, which Final Oral Round returned to Europe after three years, to be hosted at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva. The competition remains a success, and in order to improve it and to leave room for more activities under the area, a full-time Director was called for to take the position for the next term. The resurgence of Legal Research Groups and the resolution of the “Our Rights, Our Freedoms” competition with the Council of Europe of the IFP Essay Competition were some of the other highlights in the area.
was one of the most prominent events of the year. Furthermore, if a particular aspect of the area should be underlined this year it has to be the ELSA Delegations, which have undergone a profound growth, as it can be asserted by looking at the statistics. The Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP) continues to be one of the main reasons for students to join ELSA. The numbers in the past year have remained steady, compared to the previous one, partly due to the impact the financial crisis has had on law firms and companies. Nevertheless, the International Board tried to revitalize the area by introducing new projects, such as the traineeships at the World Health Organization and the joint project with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF), both within the frame of the new International Focus Programme (IFP) topic, Health Law.
„For years to come the sky is the limit.“
Seminars and Conferences has long time stood as a key area with many projects. This trend continued during the term 2010/2011, with more and more international seminars, conferences and law schools, among others, the latter being an activity with an impressive attendance in the past few years. As usual, the IFP Conference
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And this, the IFP, has been a common denominator for the three key areas during our term. In its first year of implementation efforts were put on raising the awareness about the topic, as well as generating activities and projects that directly dealt with health law. It proved to be quite a successful initiative, which resulted in many activities throughout Europe and having the IFP Opening Conference in Prague as the main event of the year. The interest displayed by the Network in the topic attested that the choice made by the Council in Malta was right, and it has left room to a great deal of new projects to be developed during the next two years. Overall, it has been a great year for ELSA’s activities but, with the only boundary of our human and financial resources, for years to come the sky is the limit.
ELSA Annual Report
Activities
ELSA has special status with various international bodies, including UN, WIPO and more, and sends delegations to their committees
International events held by local and national groups, covering seminars, conferences and more
The particitpants of the 9th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO law
The International Focus Programme runs over a 3 year period and during 2010-2013 the focus is on Health Law
ELSA Annual Report
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Activities
A selection of international events organized throughout the network in the term 2010/2011
Something of interest for every member Throughout the ELSA network our members are offered the opportunity to participate in international events where they get to meet members from other countries, increase their knowledge in a specific legal topic or their knowledge of the organisation and other soft skills. All in all, as a member of ELSA you have all the means to develop as a person and into a profession, every year, all year around.
Topic Type Location Date Iberian Freshers‘ Camp
Internal
Pontevedra, Spain
1 – 8 August 2010
Maritime Law
Law school
Lisbon, Portugal
3 – 8 August 2010
ELSA Italy Training Days
Internal
Cagliari, Italy
3 – 10 August 2010
The Middle East Conference
Conference
Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
9 – 15 August 2010
and Slubice, Poland Maritime Piracy - Legal Perspectives
Seminar
Copenhagen, Denmark
10 – 15 August 2010
ELSA International STEP and
Internal
Kolobrzeg, Poland
11 – 15 August 2010
Internal
Helsinki, Finland
25 – 29 August 2010
Project
Italy, Portugal
September 2010 – July 2011
Law school
Ankara, Turkey
4 – 10 September 2010
Study visit
Helsinki, Finland and
3 – 6 October 2010
Marketing Meeting (ISMM) ELSA Joint Internal and Financial Management Meeting (JIF) International Legal Research Group on Corruption International Arbitration The ELSA Baltic Sea Exchange
Stockholm, Sweden The Penal code and its first year
Conference
Plzeň, Czech Republic
18 October 2010
Internal
Alanya, Turkey
24 – 31 October 2010
Internal
Lisbon, Portugal
14 – 17 October 2010
Project
Trento, Italy
7, 14, 21, 28 October 2010
of an efficiency ELSA International Council Meeting (ICM) ELSA International Presidents‘ Meeting (IPM) European Security and Defence Policies after the Lisbon Treaty 10
ELSA Annual Report
Activities
Topic Type Place Date ELSA EX YU 2010 conference
Conference
Ljubljana, Slovenia
4 – 7 November 2010
Photo Competition
Project
Tirana, Albania
December 2010 – February 2011
ELSA International Presidents‘
Internal
Tbilisi, Georgia
09 – 14 February 2011
Conference
Hamburg, Germany
17 – 20 February 2011
Conference
Gdansk, Poland
17 – 22 February 2011
Conference
Plzeň, Czech Republic
13 – 14 January 2011
Migration
Law school
Lisbon, Portugal
8 – 13 March 2011
EMC Regional Round
Moot court
Vilnius, Lithuania
8 – 13 March 2011
Euthanasia
Conference
Sarajevo, Bosnia and
9 – 14 March 2011
Meeting (IPM) Reproductive Rights focused on Bioethics Global Ocean Governance: From Vision to Action Codification of private Law and its conception 2
Herzegovina EMC2 Regional Round
Moot court
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
16 – 20 March 2011
Conference on WTO
Conference
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
18 March 2011
IFP Opening Conference, Health Law
Conference
Prague, Czech Republic
22 – 27 March 2011
ELSA International Council
Internal
Poznan, Poland
27 March – 3 April 2011
Energy Law
Conference
Poznan, Poland
31 March – 1 April 2011
Law Students‘ Froum
Project
Krakow, Poland
13 – 17 April 2011
International Humanitarian Law:
Seminar
Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia
27 April – 1 May 2011
Conference
Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria
06 – 8 May 2011
Study visit
Helsinki, Finland and
11 – 14 May 2011
Meeting (ICM)
Privatization of Warfare Speak up! The legal right to express yourself The ELSA Baltic Sea Exchange
Stockholm, Sweden „Law &… Image, Technology,
Seminar
Trieste, Italy
16 – 19 May 2011
Moot court
Geneva, Switzerland and
23 – 29 May 2011
Culture, Cinema, Dance, legal Thriller“ Final Oral Round EMC2
Evian, France Asian Law
Conference
Heidelberg, Germany
16 – 19 June 2011
Banking and Finance Law
Law school
Brasov, Romania
1 – 18 July 2011
„Law is Better than War“
Law school
Brasov, Romania
1 – 18 July 2011
Military Law
Law school
Rotterdam, Netherlands
17 – 24 July 2011
Human Rights and Globalization
Law school
Zadar, Croatia
24 – 31 July 2011
“Beat the Wolf ”
Law school
Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy
24 – 31 July 2011
Mergers&Acquisitions
Law school
Istanbul, Turkey
24 – 31 July 2011
Model United Nations
Project
Porto, Portugal
25 – 31 July 2011
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Activities
ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law (EMC 2)
9 years of global challenge
For nine years, the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law (EMC2) has been the key to internationality beyond Europe for ELSA during nine consecutive Ezgi Kilinรง years, by giving publicity and reputation Vice President Academic Activities to the association on the global scene. ELSA International 10/11 In order to benefit the most from it, the International Board 10-11, did not only made some solid changes in the competition which will benefit the project in years to come, but also improved the current situation of the competition. While the number of the Teams participating in EMC2 has been approximately the same as in previous years, a positive sign is the continuity of participating faculties and Team members from previous years that stay on board as Team Coaches. Nevertheless, the number of Teams, especially from Europe, should increase. We believe that the ELSA Organising Secretariat (EOS) is definitely the answer to this issue, since during this year each EOS member was in constant contact with their assigned National Groups. We started realizing of the positive results of this assistance through e-mails from law faculties in the countries of these National Groups. I think that the benefits of the EOS should be kept in mind by the National Groups. Whereas the Final Oral Round (FOR) had been organized in cooperation with other institutions or associations for the past two years, the 9th Edition was the first one since 2008 to be back in Europe, and also to be back in Switzerland. Having the advantage of the location, the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final of the FOR were held in the WTO headquarters in Geneva. The venue was not the only advantage we received, but the number 12
and the quality of the Panelists were also very high. Even when for the FOR part held in Evian, we received the contribution of 20 Panelists from Geneva only, out of 27 Panelists in total. The conference of the FOR was supported by the University of Geneva and the Dean of the Law Faculty, Prof. Bovet Doyen. Prof. Doyen announced that the University of Geneva is prepared to participate with a team in the 10th Edition, which will receive ECTS credits for its participation. We hope that moot courts, but especially EMC2, will gain recognition by other law faculties as a complimentary study module, following this example. The high quality of the competition and the professionalism of the organization is also shown by the increase in the number and size of the sponsorships that ELSA International has secured. The major sponsors of EMC2 such as the University of Barcelona (IELPO) and the World Trade Institute (WTI) agreed to expand their contribution with regards to the EMC2. Besides the two major long time sponsors we received the support of the Trade Law Guide for the second straight year, and their will to support EMC2 even more for the 10th Edition. We also added two new sponsors for EMC2 in Maastricht University and Appleton Luff International Lawyers. As the overall responsible for the competition on behalf of ELSA International, I am glad to state that all of the sponsors are willing to support EMC2 in the upcoming years and most of them would like to increase their support. All in all EMC2 has been a global challenge for 9 years by now, a competition for students, which is acknowledged by the WTO and its Director General, Mr. Pascal Lamy. With the 9th edition being a success, we can say that the competition has a bright looking future.
ELSA Annual Report
Activities
Delegations
ELSA with NGO status
The focus put on the ELSA Delegations to International Organisations by the International Board 2010/11 has largely paid off. It was a clear goal since the beginPaolo Amorosa ning of our term to increase the presence Vice President Seminars of ELSA in the main international fora, & Conferences ELSA International 10/11 both for reasons of image, outreach and academic outcome within the Association and to provide as many of our members as possible with the amazing opportunity to be delegates in such prestigious and important working sessions alongside government officials and representatives of the most renowned international NGOs. In the beginning of the term, the IB 2010/2011 created a supporting structure for delegations based on academic coordinators in charge of specific institutions and tasked not only with the coordination of the legal and practical preparations of the delegates but also as a pool of advisors to ELSA International on the broader management of delegations. In addition, we decided to appoint an Assistant for Delegations, for the VP S&C to delegate part of the coordination and the administrative work. This whole new structure allowed us to increase significantly the number of delegations, especially by exploiting more the consultative status within the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), giving ELSA the chance to also participate directly in the work of other UN organs. For instance, ELSA has been and will be represented in various sessions, forums and working groups within the Human Rights Council during this year, for the first time since its creation in 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly. Indeed, one point to be underlined in respect of the recent expansion in delegations is the circumstance that it relates for the largest part to international ELSA Annual Report
bodies dealing with human rights related issues, therefore fostering the commitment for them ELSA has since an International Council decision taken in Rome 1998 and strengthened through the agreement in 2008 that made the Council of Europe the human rights partner of our association. The final figures for this successful year for Delegations are the following: 30 calls, 25 sent delegations, 187 applications of very high quality; the International Board was able to appoint 109 delegates with an impressive geographic representation, with delegates coming from 21 countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. This was not only a year of contingent success but also a year of long-term planning to ensure a bright future for ELSA Delegations. Together with the Academic Coordinators and the Assistant for Delegations, we refined procedures, designed new ways of exploiting the academic outcome of working sessions for other ELSA activities and implemented a solid system of reporting, involving cautious quality checking and clear uniformity guidelines. Moreover, we set the tasks and the function of a new organ of support, the Advisory Board for Delegations, with the goal of exploiting the knowledge acquired through previous years experiences within the delegations and, more in general. Institutional Relations of ELSA, which will start its work in the term 2011/12. As the responsible for the ELSA Delegations in the International Board 2010/2011, I am proud that the hard work of this year brought to a full revival one of the most interesting and valuable activities ELSA can offer, leaving also a solid basis for the reaching of new heights in the upcoming years.
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Activities
International Focus Programme (IFP)
Health Law – First year of implementation Health Law was elected as the topic for the International Focus Programme for the period 2010–2013 at the International Council Meeting (ICM) in Malta, spring 2010. This article describes the first year of implementation.
The IFP is a programme that collects and guides the efforts of the whole ELSA Network in order for the members to reach Sofia Kallio common goals and academic results within Director for International one hot legal topic. The goal for the first Focus Programme ELSA International 10/11 year of implementation of the new topic, Health Law, which was selected at the ICM Malta, in April 2010, was to raise awareness of the topic within the Network, to establish contacts within the field of law and to organize some major international projects. ELSA International believes that the goals have been reached for various reasons: most of the ELSA countries have organized IFP events; the implementation has covered even STEP – which has not proven to be simple with previous IFP topics; and the topic has brought new cooperations with different organizations. IFP Events The IFP Opening Conference took place in Prague, Czech Republic between February 22 and 27 2011 with the tremendous effort of Martina Kalapáčová as the Head of Organizing Committee and Jiří Mačát as the Responsible for the Academic Programme. This programme was compiled with the help of JUDr. Ondřej Dostál, Ph.D., LL.M., himself a former ELSA member. The programme consisted of lectures from international and Czech experts on health law, such as Egle Granziera from the World Health Organization (WHO), André den Exter from the Erasmus Observa14
tory on Health Law and Iain Byrne from Interights. The lectures covered various issues related to Health Law, since the aim was to introduce the topic broadly as an opening event. Nevertheless, the first international conference on the new IFP topic was actually held already a week earlier in Hamburg, Germany, on Reproductive Rights with the focus on Bioethics. The topic of the event shows the large scope of Health Law as a topic: in addition to the legal aspects, there are also many ethical, cultural and human rights issues that, nevertheless, need to be decided upon through a legislative process. Similarly with regard to the broad scope of the topic, the international conference “Euthanasia – EU perspective” (9th – 14th March 2011) in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be highlighted. It was the first international event of the ELSA Group in the country, and it found its source of inspiration in the IFP topic. STEP traineeships A major opportunity for ELSA members was the STEP traineeship at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva which took place in summer 2011. The task of the STEP trainee was to support the work of the Health and Human Rights team, for example, by contributing to various documents, preparing them for publication and assisting in the facilitation of training workshops. In addition to the traineeship at WHO, the STEP officers saw the new topic as an inspiration for new types of cooperation in their countries. Their effort has resulted in seven traineeships so far.
ELSA Annual Report
Activities other successful joint projects between the fields of pharmacy and law.
Health Law was added as one of the possible areas of expertise of the trainee – and we will surely have more and more young experts on Health Law due to the events on the topic. In addition, the IFP related STEP traineeships have been promoted in the STEP Newsletter under the IFP logo. IPSF project The topic of Health Law also proved to give new incentives for cooperation with other student associations. The Joint Research Project with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) was created as a result of the discussions between the responsible persons for traineeship programmes of the respective associations. The research project covers the topic “Pharmacy Law and Competition Law: How do they clash and how do they integrate?”, and it has found a great deal of support from the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). The researchers will stay in The Hague, The Netherlands, to do the original research, after which the project will run until April 2012 and result in an outcome containing scientific data of the selected countries that will do research upon the topic. The project is a great example of the cooperation between student associations and of the cross-disciplinary nature of the topic Health Law. The project even led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the associations, and we look forward to
ELSA Annual Report
IFP Essay Competition The IFP Essay Competition is a tradition already founded with the previous topic, Intellectual Property Law. The first Essay Competition on Health Law covers Public Health Law and Human Rights with the topic “How to support countries in designing, adopting and implementing effective and comprehensive public health laws, which both promote and protect the public’s health and as well as are consistent with human rights?”. The results of the Essay Competition will be published in late autumn 2011, and the winners will receive prizes from the partners of the Competition: The London School of English, the Erasmus Observatory on Health Law of the University of Rotterdam and the Council of Europe. A look to the future In order to get a more thorough insight in the implementation of the IFP topic in 2010/2011, we would recommend having a look at the IFP Newsletter. The online Newsletter contains articles on events and projects, and describes the efforts that the Network has made for the International Focus Programme. ELSA International would like to thank the ELSA Network for their work and effort in the implementation. Based on the number of events and attention to Health Law as an IFP topic, it can without a doubt be said that the ELSA Network has taken the topic with great enthusiasm. It is, indeed, a hot legal topic that interests future lawyers, individuals in the society in their everyday lives and maybe especially us as young people that cross borders and cultures more freely than the former generations. The following year of implementation will bring even more events focusing on various topics more in depth. A major international event will be the IFP Mid-Evaluation Conference with the focus on Mental Health Law, and will be held in Trieste, Italy (16th – 22nd April 2012). We wish the IFP on Health Law a great success in the following years of implementation – and we hope that the ELSA Network will take full advantage of the opportunities it offers!
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Activities
Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP)
STEP up to new challenges
The Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP) enables law students and young lawyers to go and experience a Elif Yıldırım different system of law, in the country Vice President STEP itself, together with professionals. This is ELSA International 10/11 indeed a once in a lifetime chance for every law student who wants to achieve more in their law career and ELSA provides with such an opportunity to its members. During the past year, we decided, in the first place, to focus on the quality of the traineeships, while still bearing in mind the quantity. At the start of the term we already had a good system to keep track of the quality of our traineeships: Evaluation Forms, which were being collected and archived by the International Board. However, there was still room for improvement, for which, after the International Council Meeting in Alanya, ELSA International decided to call for a Working Group to work on improving the evaluation system and forms. In the end, with the help of the STEP officers from ELSA Estonia, ELSA Germany, and ELSA Italy, we came up with very beneficial solutions, which lead to the collection of more evaluation forms that contained more relevant information, thus giving a better insight to the traineeships. Furthermore, we also focused on a new student hunting strategy, which was aiming for national officers to embrace their traineeships and do a special marketing for them. This also ended up having more applications from top law students all over Europe. An important decision was also taken: to work on the International Focus Programme as a marketing tool for STEP, starting all the way from the international level, which crystallized in two of the most important achievements for the year. Thus, we started to work on a “Joint Research Project” together with the Inter16
national Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) and under the supervision of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) about the topic: “Pharmacy Law and Competition Law: How do they integrate and how do they clash?” The project is a combination of STEP and a Legal Research Group, an innovation envisioned by the International Board 2010/2011 as a field with great potential for the academic growth of ELSA . The outcome of the research will be presented at the 100th Anniversary Conference of the FIP, which will be held in Amsterdam in October 2012. Also within the IFP field, ELSA has been able to provide its members with yet more traineeships in international organizations, with the successful addition of the World Health Organization. The institutional relations of ELSA in STEP also made its impact in the Council of Europe, which provided seven ELSA members with the possibility to work as trainees, even in the European Court of Human Rights. It is great that both parties are very satisfied with this co-operation which will hopefully follow with more traineeship opportunities. STEP has also received a lot of attention from our official alumni association, the ELSA Lawyers’ Society (ELS), and during this term ELS has agreed to share contacts and raise the quality and the amount of traineeships during term 2011/2012. We can proudly say that the Student Trainee Exchange Programme seems to be starting to get back to its glorious days, and is receiving more attention both from the Network and employers, including important legal institutions. Our officers are getting more and more experienced, embracing their responsibilities and aiming for better opportunities which lead the way to cultural diversity, one of the main goals of ELSA. ELSA Annual Report
Activities
In the term 2010/2011 the number of traineeship positions offered was maintained on the same level as in the previous term of ELSA International
In comparison with the previous year there has been a 12,04% increase in the number of STEP applications from the members of ELSA
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ELSA Annual Report
Externals
Externals
ELSA: an ideal partner
The term 2010/2011 can be categorized as one of consolidation and expansion of the external relations of The European Law Students’ Association. The work on the field was carried out in two different diÒscar A. Lema Bouza rections, partners and Non-Governmental President Organizations. ELSA International 10/11 At the beginning of our term we were supported by six general partners: CMS, the Council of Europe, Mazars, the London School of English, C5 and European Voice. During our term we were able to sign an LL.M. partnership with Queen Mary School of Law, contacts with which were started by the previous Board, as well as start negotiations with IE Law School for the same type of partnership. Furthermore, we signed a contract – not partnership – with Vistaprint which will allow our Groups to have access to marketing materials in corporate design in an easier and more accessible way. Furthermore, we achieved the goal of expanding the partnership with Council of Europe, by the addition of some new concrete projects. The highlight would be the development of a European Human Rights Moot Court Competition, which we hope will have a big impact in the Network for the upcoming years. Furthermore, the participation of the ELSA Network in a European-wide Legal Research Group on the new CoE campaign “1 in 5”, on violence against children was envisioned, continuing experiences like the “Our Rights, Our Freedoms” competition. We also redeveloped some of the partnership strategies, and one of the results was the renewed contract with the London School of English, in which we aim towards a more tailored promotion, linking our results with our partner, and therefore achieving an even bigger identification with them. As the last improvement we must mention the increased cooperation with European Voice in the EU Studies Fair, which ELSA has promoted in a successful manner for the past few years and will ELSA Annual Report
be involved even more in the future, after obtaining a stand for the upcoming edition. It was also a good year for project partnerships, renewing and expanding the cooperation with CBL for international law schools in China and Dubai; introducing the Erasmus Observatory on Health Law of the University of Rotterdam as the IFP Academic Partner for the new topic, Health Law; and having new marketing-related partners in Studyportals.com and Studentevents.com. Cooperation with other NGOs was included in our One Year Operational Plan as one of the key points to be increased during our term, and we can definitely say it was indeed accomplished. In this aspect, we kept in close contact with our partner law students’ association, ALSA, in Asia, and we started looking beyond, to Australia, keeping a close contact with the Australian Law Students’ Association, with whom we hope to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that facilitates the communication and joint initiatives. This was also the goal with the Israeli Law Students’ Association, and an agreement in principle was reached. Furthermore, we signed MoUs with the European Medical Students’ Association (EMSA) and the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF), with whom we launched a joint research project, as well as drafting and agreeing upon a MoU with the Board of European Students of Technology. We did not only focus on student organizations, but also on professional ones, of which we must mention the International Trademark Association (INTA), with whom a new and expanded cooperation was established. Overall, we can state that we were pleased with the state of the external relations in ELSA, although we must say that we still have great room for improvement in the field. In the upcoming pages, you will be able to see the result of some this cooperation as well as how others see ELSA and its potential. 19
Externals
C5 Group - IT & Marketing Partner of ELSA
The idea behind: The C5 group (C5) as IT and Marketing Partner of ELSA My headline last year was “ongoing support”. With that headline I wanted to Daniel Schreyer outline that a certain usual workload was Member of the brought into the cooperation between Executive Board ELSA and C5. Of course, also this year, C5 Group there was “ongoing support”: we cooperated in questions of design, printing and shipping of materials, especially the Synergy as well as in the further development of webpages on the base of ELSA International´s new homepage throughout the ELSA Network. And of course, there is an ongoing financial support (sponsorship) worth approximately 11.000 Euros in 2010/2011 and 42.000 Euros from 2007 on. But besides this, this year I want to outline the idea behind the partnership. From our point of view, ELSA has a unique market position: with its focus on law students and young lawyers, ELSA offers European, indeed even humanitarian, goals and issues, and is active in the comprehensive education of these young legal experts. At the same time, ELSA is a wonderful network for students and little by little also for alumni. If you want to live and breathe Europe as a young lawyer you cannot ignore ELSA! Unfortunately - it’s very mundane, but that’s the way it is - to reach its goals and realise its issues and activities, ELSA needs members who get involved and it needs money, that is supporters, sponsors, people who place adverts, to finance its activities. Marketing activities are needed to reach them all: the website, the membership magazine … It’s all about supporting existing members, attracting new members who go to ELSA’s homepage for information, it’s about offering an interesting placement for ads and projecting a good image for sponsors and supporters. To make this possible for ELSA and to ensure that ELSA International can function well or even better, the Board approached us in 2007/2008. The website was not working properly, the design was outdated, costs needed to be cut as well. It was a whole 20
bunch of tasks that were proposed to us. With my being a member of ELSA since 1996, with being local president of ELSA Munich and treasurer of ELSA Germany, we understand what is important for ELSA, how ELSA works and we know about difficulties or specific characteristics. We know that ELSA officers change every year, that local groups are always a bit sceptical about what the national board is doing and that national groups are sceptical about what ELSA International is doing. We also know that there is never enough money but instead many highly motivated ELSA members. At the same time, we know exactly what matters for an IT project or a website, what good design looks like and how magazines are written, printed and delivered worldwide. We serve many clients who pay a lot of money for their logo to look good, for an intelligent IT solution to their problems or for their mail to reach its destination fast and cost-effective. That’s why I am firmly convinced that the connection between external professionalism and knowledge about ELSA’s individuality contributes to making ELSA “grow up” and be more professional to a degree that is still appropriate for a student organisation. C5 is happy to support ELSA with services that do not belong to ELSA’s “core business”. This in turn prepares the ground for new ELSA activities. That´s why I am still fascinated of this cooperation – being deliverer of services at the one hand and sponsor on the other hand. And alumni also… as I know ELSA now for years, for 15 years exactly, I am a bit proud and satisfied to see how the development was and still is. I hope that we can contribute to this development also in the future… We are looking forward to all these ELSA activities, we stand by for any help and we thank the Board of 2010/2011 for the good and professional cooperation.
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Externals
The International Trademark Association (INTA) - Partner of ELSA
Gateway to a Career in Trademark Law
The International Trademark Association (INTA) recognizes the importance of providing useful information and assistance to law students and future trademark proAlan C. Drewsen fessionals. Since 2004, the Association has Executive Director been offering a wide range of services to International Trademark Association the academic community, including affordable membership options for law students and professors, annual essay and moot court competitions that award scholarships to winners, and networking events and educational seminars to help students shape their careers in trademark law.
and Human Rights” as it relates to the Internet. And in Munich, the Association debated on “ICANN’s expansion of the domain name space and its impact on trademark owners.”
To further provide European law students with industry insight and networking opportunities, INTA formed a strategic partnership with ELSA in 2008 that aimed to bring law students in direct contact with trademark professionals. Over time, the organizations’ collaboration helped students further understand the importance of trademarks and the crucial role trademark professionals play in protecting IP rights.
Lastly, ELSA students had the opportunity to network with trademark professionals from around the world. In the past, students had access to INTA’s conferences in Vienna and Barcelona.
INTA’s Europe Office in Brussels is a frequent host to groups of students who wish to meet the organization and have more intimate discussions on trademark law. Visiting groups from Belgium, Bucharest, Poznán, Trieste, Turkey and Rotterdam have taken advantage of INTA’s invitation and were able to benefit from the organization’s expertise on trademark and intellectual property rights protection. Students also received career advice from INTA’s seasoned trademark professionals.
„To further provide law students with industry insight and networking opportunities, INTA formed a strategic partnership with ELSA in 2008.“
The Association welcomes any ELSA group wishing to organize a visit to INTA’s Brussels or New York offices. ELSA members who would like to explore a partnership with INTA should email brussels@inta.org.
INTA has more than 5,900 members from around the world, many of whom have enthusiastically provided advice and assistance to ELSA’s student members. With this unique offering, ELSA students were able to tap into INTA volunteers’ knowledge and expertise as they considered a career in trademark law.
For more information on INTA’s academic membership, visit www.inta.org/academics and join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/GoINTA. INTA student members also have access to My Powerful Network http://network.inta.org, the largest social network specific to the trademark community.
INTA volunteers were frequent speakers at ELSA’s events. Students learned about trademark protection when the Association’s volunteers spoke at the seminar “IP in Daily Life” in Istanbul. In Helsinki, students listened to INTA volunteers discuss “IPR
INTA looks forward to continuing its fruitful cooperation with ELSA in promoting the fulfilling opportunities of a career in trademark and intellectual property law. We wish ELSA the best of luck in the year ahead.
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Externals
Council of Europe - Human Rights Partner of ELSA
Co-operation between Council of Europe and ELSA International
Barbara Orkwiszewska Directorate of Communication, Council of Europe
The 2010/2011 term, marked by the 30th Anniversary of ELSA, was also the fourth year of cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Association.
ELSA of Children - a new legal research group - will carry out research on the sexual abuse of children. The project aims to raise awareness of children‘s rights among law students and to promote the Council of Europe’s campaign ‘1 in 5: Stop Sexual Violence against Children’ and the related Convention. The project is to analyse and compare the national laws in order to fill gaps in European legislation and redress the lack of exhaustive national criminal legislation in this field in the Council of Europe member states.
In December 2010, the Prize-Giving Ceremony closed the Competition ‘Our Rights, Our Freedoms’ designed to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the European Convention „Two new projects, involving the of Human Rights. The six finalists of the Com- whole Network, have been initiated As experts in the field petition were presented consider that the phethis year: ELSA of Children and the with diplomas and prizes nomenon affects all Euby the Deputy Secretary ropean countries, ELSA, Human Rights Moot Court.“ General, Maud de Boerrepresented in 42 counBuquicchio. tries across Europe, is in a particularly good position to undertake research Two new projects, involving the whole Network, on such a global issue. have been initiated this year: ELSA of Children and the Human Rights Moot Court. The final reports, expected for June 2012, will be
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Externals
published on the website of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe provided ELSA’s international, national and local events with in-depth resources and visibility materials giving insight into the issue of sexual abuse of children. In particular, the theme was developed at the International Council Meetings of ELSA in Alanya, Turkey, and in Poznan, Poland, respectively by a Directorate of Communication staff member and the Vice-President of the Children’s Ombudsmen. The 2010/2011 board of ELSA International also assessed the feasibility of the first ever English version of the René Cassin Human Rights Moot Competition being open to the ELSA Network. The Competition, which involves the presentation of pleadings before juries on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights, is to be held annually in the European Court of Human Rights. The final project of the Competition will be presented at the International Council Meeting in Palermo. As in previous years, ELSA Groups were efficient-
ELSA Annual Report
ly promoting Council of Europe activities. Specific and general information materials were provided for 35 academic events Network-wide. Moreover, three ELSA events – the ICM in Alanya, the ICM in Poznan and a conference on the fight against organised crime and the limits imposed by international legislation organised by ELSA Ferrara - were attended by the Council of Europe’s experts. Moreover, under the traineeship agreement commenced in July 2009, members of the Association are offered traineeship opportunities in different sectors of the Council of Europe. Six members of the Association were eligible during the period covered by the report. The Directorate of Communication sincerely thanks the International Board of ELSA 2010/2011 for its efficient and enjoyable work during the whole term. It was a good year for our relations, with the setting up of two large-scale projects which should bring the activities of the Council of Europe closer to 30,000 law students affiliated to the European Law Students’ Association.
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Externals
The Australian Law Students’ Association (ALSA)
ALSA Report for ELSA Annual Report
Matthew Floro President, Australian Law Students’ Association, 2010-2011
The Australian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) is a national not-for-profit association comprising all Law Student Societies and Law Student Associations, representing approximately 28,000 law students. The core functions of ALSA are:
• To advocate the interests and concerns of Australian law students; • To gather and disseminate information of interest and concern to Australian law students; • To facilitate communication and the exchange of information between law student societies, within Australia and abroad; and • To initiate activities of a social, intellectual, and competitive nature among law students at a national level. ALSA sets out to ensure that Australian law students have a representative voice to the higher education sector, government, the legal profession and the community. ALSA also aims to forge links with overseas law student associations, including the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA).
to attend many ICMs and other ELSA events in the future. Looking forward, I believe that ALSA and ELSA should foster greater linkages that benefit both organisations and their student members. ELSA is the world’s largest independent law students’ association and ALSA is one of the world’s most established national law student associations. There is much that we can learn about each other as the practice of law becomes more globalised. Óscar and I had preliminary discussions about a Memorandum of Understanding between our two organisations being developed. We hope our successors continue these discussions. Examples of possible collaborations include international video conferences, publications exchanges, STEP/internship exchanges, and moot/competition exchanges. ALSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian Law Students’ Association this year and we hope to continue to expand our international outlook. It has been a pleasure working with Óscar and ELSA in my term. On behalf of ALSA, I wish Óscar and ELSA all the best for the future.
Throughout my 2010-2011 term as ALSA President, I conferenced with Óscar Lema Bouza, ELSA President, on a number of occasions to knowledge-share and to build closer relations. We were very grateful to have Óscar present to ALSA Council, our governing body, during our ALSA Annual Conference in July via video-link. Earlier this year, our Publications Officer (ALSA Reporter), Michael Munk, attended the ELSA LIX International Council Meeting (ICM) in Poznan, Poland on behalf of ALSA. The ICM celebrated ELSA’s 30th anniversary, and Michael was delighted to take part in the workshops and plenaries, social programme, and Anniversary Day, including the famous Gala Ball. We hope 24
Michael Munk from ALSA at the ICM of ELSA in Poznan, Poland
ELSA Annual Report
Externals
International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF)
IPSF – Students Today, Pharmacists Tomorrow
The International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) was founded in 1949 by eight pharmacy student associations in London. The FederaMelissa Teoo tion now represents around 350,000 Chairperson of Student pharmacy students and recent graduaExchange tes in 70 countries worldwide. IPSF is IPSF 2010/2011 a non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organization and is the leading international advocacy organization of pharmacy students promoting improved public health through provision of information, education, networking and a range of publication and professional activities.
project are anticipated to be presented at each organisation’s annual conference. We would like to sincerely thank ELSA and FIP for this interesting collaboration and hope that there will be more collaborative projects in the future.
2010-11 marked a historic year for the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) where we started our first collaboration with a law student organization, the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA). This year IPSF and ELSA collaborated on a joint research project as part of ELSA’s International Focus Programme (IFP). The focus of the programme from 2010 to 2013 is Health Law. This research project is conducted in conjunction with the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). The topic for the joint research project is ‘Competition Law and Pharmacy Law: How they integrate with each other and how they clash?’. IPSF strongly believes that this project will help set precedence for the Federation to collaborate with other non-health care organizations. Two participants (each from IPSF and ELSA) are set to begin on the project in October 2011, travelling to the IPSF office in Den Haag, the Netherlands. Both students will be working under the guidance of Mr. Luc Besançon, FIP Manager of Scientific and Professional Affairs. For a period of 6 months, the participants are required to gather and compile data from various countries. It is anticipated that by April 2012, the project would be completed and the results of the project will be disseminated through to IPSF, ELSA and FIP channels. In addition to that, the results of the ELSA Annual Report
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Externals
Alumni
ELSA you do, ELSA you become, in ELS(A) you stay
As a student organization run by law students for law students, ELSA, from its very beginning, has been highly dependent on the dedication and enthusiasm of its members, as their conviction has been the driving Laura Schmitt force behind its magnificent rise from Director for Alumni ELSA International 10/11 a small group to the world’s largest independent law students’ association, promoting the idea of a unified legal education and cultural exchange. But when talking about members, we do not only have to think about the current ones, students who give their time and efforts to ELSA, but also to our former members, those who, after leaving the association, have established themselves as top-notch professionals in diverse fields, whether as attorneys, prosecutors, judges, professors, entrepreneurs, etc. ELSA alumni are an asset that the association must pay attention to, not only for purely sentimental reasons, but also because they are in a privileged position to help the association. For all of this, the International Board 2010/2011, decided to make it a priority, and include it in its OYOP. With this in mind, a deepened cooperation was established with ELSA’s official international alumni association, the ELSA Lawyers’ Society (ELS), in order to give an added value to ELSA members, whether current or former. With this in mind, a Director for Alumni position was created, dedicated to be the contact between both organizations, as well as carrying out the administrative tasks derivated from the agreement signed in 2009, while, together with the Directors for Anniversary of both ELSA and ELS, designing a strategy to profit from the unique opportunity that the 30th anniversary of ELSA and the 20th of ELS represented.
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Over the past months we have managed to update the ELS directory and the corresponding mailing list. This not only facilitates the administration of ELS but also provides ELSA Groups on National and Local level with the possibility to search for their own alumni in order to be able to contact them but also to search for potential speakers, STEP employers etc. But it is especially a great tool for ELS members, as it allows them to stay in touch with friends and former colleagues all over the world and to socialize with potential business partners or professionals sharing the same interests. As a result of these efforts ELS has grown to counting approximately 400 active members to date, which means an increase of 256% over the start of the year. The numbers speak for themselves. During the anniversary celebrations in Poznan we could welcome an incredible 200 alumni, who joined us in our celebration of ELSA’s past and present and signaled their willingness to dedicate their time and knowledge to improve ELSA – an offer we very much hope the ELSA Network will make great use of, because, whilst working with our predecessors, we have been amazed by how they have preserved their ELSA spirit and their impressive experience. We also hope that it has served as a reminder to those former members of how much ELSA has given them, and how can they help. This is only the beginning. ELS has a huge potential, and its continuous growth is deemed to be linked to the work done together with ELSA in all its levels, International, National, and Local, which, we are sure, will be as dedicated as ever in the upcoming years. ELSA you do, ELSA you become, ELSA you stay. .There is a life after ELSA in ELSA! See you in ELS!
ELSA Annual Report
Externals
The ELSA Lawyers’ Society (ELS) - Alumni Network of ELSA
20 years supporting ELSA
Robert Tremel President ELSA Lawyers‘ Society
Once, the former Canadian basketball player and head coach of the Canadian basketball team John Donohue was asked to sponsor a university. He countered the proposal with the question: “Well, what are your alumni doing? Why should I invest in you if your alumni aren’t?”
If ELSA approaches you, you will not be able to get rid of it so easily. Alumni of ELSA have supported their association ever since. Individual alumni of ELSA are trainers in ELSA’s trainers’ pool, lecturers at ELSA events, judges at the ELSA Moot Court Competition (EMC²), they provide advice and are available to help. In 2008 ELSA and the ELSA Lawyers Society (ELS), the international alumni association, signed a formal contract including financial support for ELSA. Besides this contribution, programmes like the scholarships for participants of the International Council Meetings or grants for ELSA events exist.
by ELSA also for its alumni, attracted about 150 alumni from different generations and from all over Europe. Some alumni even came from the USA or South Africa to meet old friends and to celebrate with ELSA. The International Board of ELSA took the chance to foster the relations between alumni and active members by giving ELS the chance to present themselves during its International Council Meeting. ELS also took the chance to publish an anniversary publication and present 30 years of ELSA’s and 20 years of ELS’ history. The publication was a great success and a reprint had to be ordered. The anniversary and the publication gave the opportunity for alumni to present themselves and for ELSA members to have a look at their possible future. The publication also helped to raise funds within the alumni, so that it was also a financial success for both ELSA and ELS.
„Some alumni even came from the USA or South Africa to meet old friends and to celebrate with ELSA“
The relation between ELSA, its members, and the alumni is not a one-way-street. It is a fruitful cooperation for both sides. ELSA, on its side, is responsible for administrative tasks of the alumni association like administrating the alumni database. In particular, during the term 2010/2011, the Director for Alumni, Laura Schmitt turned out to be a real treasure for the alumni. The term 2010/11 was an extraordinary year as the 30th anniversary of ELSA and the 20th anniversary of ELS opened possibilities. The anniversary celebrations in Poznan, organised ELSA Annual Report
The good relationship between ELSA and its alumni was also reflected in an impressive number of new members for the ELS, especially from the younger generation. On the other hand some older members decided to become “lifetime members” of ELS. On the national level there was a strong interest in its own past and in their alumni by ELSA Groups. To sum it up: Alumni and ELSA members made a big step towards each other during the last year. A successful year also lays the groundwork for future successful years. ELS and ELSA decided to focus on the Student Trainee Exchange Programme and elaborated a campaign among the alumni network in order to increase the number of STEP jobs from alumni. If a potential employee asks what the alumni of ELSA do, the answer is: Our alumni invest in us! 27
Network
Anniversary
30th anniversary of ELSA
Kim-Julia Zamljen Director for Anniversary ELSA International 10/11
Filipe Bismarck Secretary General ELSA International 10/11
ELSA was founded on the 4th of May of 1981, in Vienna by five law students from four different countries.
Almost thirty years after, we are 32,000 members in 42 countries across Europe. Our Network is always evolving, but it is crucial to know our past in order to prepare the future in the best possible way. That is the reason why ELSA International was so committed to celebrate our anniversary, since it is a unique opportunity to get in contact with our alumni, to evaluate the role of ELSA in our society, to understand all the new possibilities we can offer to students and to promote our solid association to the general public. The preparations started in 2010, with the selection of a Team and a Director for Anniversary. The Director for Anniversary, KimJulia Zamljen, was the link between the National Groups and ELSA International. She was responsible for internal and external anniversary relations, project management, ELS Anniversary correspondence with the Directors for Anniversary of ELS, and for the whole Team, made up by Antti Husa from Finland, Ania Napierala from Poland, Filipe Bismarck from Portugal. Martina 28
Berger from Austria, Sara Lema Bouza from Spain, Tudor Bolgar from Romania and Zizi Chkhaidze from Georgia. Together we jumped on the train of the Anniversary and started the journey of thirty years of broadening the horizon. After brainstorming and decisions about which projects we want to implement during this year, the biggest challenge was to bring the Anniversary to the National Groups, since it was the International Board’s desire that the National Groups celebrated what happened in the last thirty years, as well as the bright future in front of us. If we look back to the very beginning of ELSA, we know that there were five people having an idea – a simple idea to create a network, a social network but without any media backgrounds. The idea came up during a conference of Christian Democratic Law Students in Portugal. The idea was to create a multinational, non-partisan, non-profit law student organisation. During both International Council Meetings of the term 2010/2011, in Alanya and Poznan, ELSA International tried to bring the Anniversary to the National Groups. Workshops on the topic were held and working groups elaborated possible Anniversary events for each country. Our aim was to have at least one Anniversary event in each National Group and as many birthday parties on the 4th of May as possible. ELSA Annual Report
Network
fathers, as well as musical and dancing performances. The picture competition was one of the most interesting competitions in the last years in ELSA, as the task was to show on a picture what the popular ELSA Spirit is. We are happy to say that “ELSA Spirit caught on camera” has been, indeed, a very successful competition, since many ELSA members took part in it. Once again, people from all over Europe it endorsing the idea of ELSA fitting the declaration by Jürgen Sattler, one of the founding fathers, “the idea helps to get to know Europe, not only the legal systems but the different cultures”. The pictures show diverse ideas about the ELSA Spirit, from diverse people, from different countries, from different cultures. Many National Groups also celebrated the 30th birthday of ELSA, and the International Board tried to be present in many of those events as possible. Around the actual birthday, the 4th of May, our President was in Belgium and Greece, our Secretary General in Hungary, our Treasurer in Poland, our VP for Marketing was in Austria and Belgium, our VP for Academic Activities was in Romania, our VP for Seminars and Conferences was in Sweden, and our VP for STEP was in Turkey. Many other National and Local Groups organized events to celebrate this milestone, and we would like to thank all of them for their efforts. The whole Network went “beyond borders” to celebrate the Anniversary of our Association.
We continued with an Anniversary Debate, which showed how time has changed, and how different the work of Maria Parker and Patrik Oliver was compared to that of Jochen Hoerlin and Patrick Zupansic, or Joelle Joosten’s. Imagine working without Internet, Email, Skype, office, it seems to be a kind of impossible but still, it worked, or otherwise ELSA would not be what it is right now. The Anniversary Debate was also the place for the founding of the “ELS Angels Association”. Maria Parker together with Johanna Kauppinnen, one of ELS’s Director for Anniversary, created the ELS Angels who will support ELSA members in every way they can. It doesn’t matter whether human resources, money, or just a simple advice is needed. The Anniversary day ended with an Anniversary Gala Ball. It was a very great event, a perfect day and again a part of a pure joyride through the different countries and cultures with amazing people.
„There was also one day which hopefully will stay in our memories forever. The Anniversary day during the LIX. International Council Meeting in Poznan, Poland.“
There was also one day which hopefully will stay in our memories forever. The Anniversary day during the LIX. International Council Meeting in Poznan, Poland. The day started with the Opening Celebrations, with the presence of around 700 people at the Adam Mickiewicz University Hall, with speeches of, among others, the mayor of Poznan, the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Marraine of ELSA, Ms. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, and Wojciech Kostrzewa, one of the founding
ELSA Annual Report
After eight months of the Anniversary year we can say that this association worth it to be celebrated in every possible way, in every country and together with all ELSA members, this is, together with friends! I do hope that the last months of this Anniversary year will be as great as the beginning. I expect many events will come up and ICM Palermo will be a good event to celebrate the European Law Students’ Association together. Last but put not least there are many people who deserved a big thanks. Without the work of the Anniversary team and the whole Network, it would have not been possible to create the year like it was. The effort, time and passion every single team member put into this project deserves respect and gratefulness. So thank you all for entering the train together with us and I hope we all continue the ride through another thirty years of our beloved association.
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Internal Meetings of ELSA
Shaping ELSA’s future
During this year in ELSA International we have had the pleasure of organizing our two International Council Meetings in Alanya, Turkey and Poznan, Poland. As Filipe Bismarck the Secretary General I was the Secretary General overall responsible for our assemELSA International 10/11 blies, with the gigantic task to ensure that the meeting excides all the expectations of our members. But thanks to the organizing committees everything went smoothly. The ICM in Alanya was my first ICM in this position, and I will remember it forever. Some very important questions were discussed and decided upon during this week of October on the banks of the Mediterranean. We welcomed a new Member (ELSA Bosnia and Herzegovina) and a new Observer (ELSA Azerbaijan), with our ELSA family now reaching 42 countries. But we also decided on issues like Human Resources or the fundraising regulations. It was a great event, where the enthusiasm and spirit of the participants matched the great work by the OC, which even prepared a surprise for the famous ELSA Vision Contest by hosting it on a boat, contributing to the great atmosphere between the almost 300 people from all over Europe that gathered.
of ELSA Albania as a full member. It was also the time to elect the new International Board which will be in charge of the association from 1 August. As in every spring ICM this moment was the climax of the Meeting, and one full of emotion, too. This ICM will remain in the history of ELSA due to the celebrations of our 30 years. We dedicated a full day dedicated to the celebrations, which included an opening ceremony, a debate were we discussed the past, present and the future of ELSA, and a magnificent Gala Ball. I hope this event will bring back alumni to full collaboration with ELSA for the future, by reminding how much it has meant for them. Looking back to ICM Alanya and to ICM Poznan always makes me feel happy and proud of our Network, we were able to take important decisions, to discuss on how to implement and work in certain areas, to enlarge ourselves but not only, we were also able to have fun and above all to make friends for life. Attending an event like this is a unique experience and I can firmly affirm that the two International Council Meetings during our term in office were no less. I hope that in the future not only we see them improve, but also grow, to continue being a true showcase of the ELSA Sprit.
The ICM in Poznan was as excellent as in Alanya. It took place at the end of March, with more than 600 people present to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Association. The Council took important decisions such as the new EDF regulations, the introduction of the Local Group report, the changes in the Market Research, the elimination of SPEL, and the approval 30
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Network
Trainings
Jump into the International Trainers’ Pool
Training is part of the Human Resources Strategy of ELSA, and has always played a crucial role in enhancing the qualities of ELSA Members throughout the whole Network. It is one of the biggest opportunities ELSA proviArvind Rattan Director for Trainings des with, and it is implemented at all ELSA International 10/11 levels in the Network. Since the establishment of the International Trainers’ Pool (ITP) in 2000, ELSA International stimulates the Network to increase these sessions, as training resolves all internal needs. Moreover, the ITP is a training body for the whole Network, which means that every ELSA Group is entitled to make use of it. Both ELSA International and the ITP faced many difficulties in the beginning of the term 2010/2011. Those difficulties could be categorised mainly as a lack of knowledge of the concept of training and its conditions. It was one of the primary goals of ELSA International to increase the awareness of the ITP in the Network, as well as lowering the threshold for Groups to hold trainings for their members. Another challenge was to increase the effectiveness of the ITP. Some of the most important activities carried out to overcome this situation consisted in restructuring the International Trainers’ Pool, the Refreshment Weekend and the Train the Trainers’ Week. The Refreshment Weekend is annual event organised by ELSA International and dedicated ITP trainers to increase the training skills, the ELSA knowledge and the motivation of the Pool members. ITP Trainers are expected to attend Refreshment Weekends, as it is one their obligations towards ELSA International, according to the regulations. The 2010 edition can be considered a succes when it comes to the content; however, the number of participants was not satisfactory. Nevertheless, we expect that this will not happen anymore, and that solid work has been done in order to underline the importance of this event. To increase the effectiveness of the ITP, and to reaffirm the idea ELSA Annual Report
that the ITP is a high quality effective trainers’ pool within the Network, ELSA International carefully restructured the Pool and reviewed the ITP Membership of every trainer. This operation was also an obligation of ELSA International according to the 2008 Regulations. The ITP consisted of 35 trainers in August 2010, and, after the revision, the number of trainers in the ITP decreased to 21. As a follow-up to this, the ITP Regulations have been changed. The Train the Trainers Week 2011 (TTTW) took place from July 2 through 9, in Büdingen, Germany, and was organized by ELSA International and a Trainer Team in a warm but professional way. Twelve participants took part in a week full of presentations, trainings and other activities to improve and evaluate their training skills. Out of them, ELSA International selected nine, who can call themselves ITP trainers since Monday July 11 2011. Overall, we can feel very satisfied about the International Trainers’ Pool. The ITP provided 51 trainings in the term 2010/2011, which means an increase in the number of trainings compared to previous years, especially when taken into account the factor that, unfortunately, there was no ELSA House Training Week held, due to serious difficulties with human and financial resources. The ITP was present in the whole Network, and had the privilege to train the newest members of ELSA, as well as some of the so-considered “weaker” Groups in the Network. Every National Group with a National Trainers’ Pool requested trainings from the ITP, contributing to the statement that the ITP is a high quality trainers’ pool for the whole Network. Another positive trend is that almost 50% of the requests were from National and Local Groups in the Network, meaning that the ITP is not considered anymore as a exclusive trainers’ pool of ELSA International, an image that was widespread in the past. however, the best news for ELSA International is that the feedback we received from the Network about trainings and the ITP was really positive, which allows us to expect more and more trainings from the ITP being held in the near future.
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Marketing
Marketing 48273
50000 45000 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0
6
42588
39348
3
12952
2
Visits (per month)
Pages viewed (per month)
2009/2010
2010/2011
0
2
2
2 2
2
2
2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 3 months 12 months
Ads on the www.elsa.org website
76 % more followers of ELSA on
6
66
6
5
6
5 4
Presence of ELSA established on
3 2
2 1
1 0
3
9
4 3
4
1 month 6 months
8
5
4
1
9
6
5 4
Website activity of www.elsa.org
7
6
2
1
2 1
0 44
45
1/4 page
46
47
48
1/2 page
49 1 page
Ads in Synergy mermbers‘ magazine
ELSA Annual Report
33
Financial situation
Balance Sheet 31st July 2011
Assets Fixed Assets Assets Assets under construction Total Fixed Assets
31/07/11
31/07/10
EUR
EUR
5,696.38 50,000.00 55,696.34
Liabilities
1,359.01 30,000.00 31,359.01
Capital Opening Balances Prior period adjustment Profit/Loss
31/07/11
31/07/10
EUR
EUR
15,032.40 12,500.00 26,369.35 53,901.75
23,028.71 -8,333.33 337.02 15,032.40
0.00 0.00 14,570.32 1,000.00 3,828.00
6,500.00 6,000.00 31,008.03 1,000.00 0.00
Current Assets Debtors Control Account Receivables from Members Receivables from Externals
29,221.51 10,338.62
27,646.20 34,469.72
Provisions EDF Provision ELSA Online Provision Provision for bad debts Provision for ELSA House
Total Debtors
39,560.13
62,115.92
Provision for EC grant
Deposits and Cash
48,772.67
42,227.41
Provision for ELSA Online
6,000.00
1,508.32
1,240.91
Total ELSA House
1,000.00
Prepayments
Total Current Assets
Total Assets
34
89,841.12
145,537.46
Total Capital & Reserves
73,300.07
59,540.43
Liabilities Creditors Control Accont Deferred Revenue
26,253.41 45,983.98
21,560.81 55,842.01
Total Liabilities
72,237.39
77,402.82
105,584.24
136,943.25
Total Capital & Liabilities
145,537.46 136,943.25
ELSA Annual Report
Financial situation
Detailed income and expenditures 1st August 2010 - 31st July 2011
Income
EUR
Externals
24,438.63
The ELSA House (office)
Membership Fee
18,000.01
Office running costs
2,254.24
Communication
2,880.03 2,215.88
Observership Administration Fee
350.00
Expenditures
EUR 38,529.85
ELSA Online Fee
15,000.01
ELSA Online administration
Advertisements
16,058.00
Bank Charges
289.84
Grants
25,825.00
Contribution EDF (Foundation)
685.93
Bank Interest
263.36
Miscellaneous Income
1,304.33
OECD Contribution
500.00
ELS
6,182.38
Statutory and Internal Meetings Travel
17,778.30
Board allowance
19,600.00
Directors Representation
Synergy ELSA Moot Court Competition Projects
41,094.82 27,702.60 6,890.00
Auditing Annual Report Miscellaneous Marketing Budget Costs related to previous years Costs of provisions
1,904.65 579.50 1,541.22 572.03 74.32 3,828.00
Depreciation
3,297.54
Projects Expenditures total Profit total
ELSA Annual Report
515.52
166.57
ELSA Moot Court Competition
183,609.14
1,978.78
Contingency Synergy
Income total
6,413.49
36,389.01 4,413.29
11,331.80 157,239.79 26,369.35
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Financial situation
Financial situation
Treasurer’s report to the Final Accounts 2010/2011
Olga Sendetska Treasurer ELSA International 10/11
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of changes in financial situation of ELSA International during the financial year starting on the 1st of August 2010 and ending on the 31st of July 2011.
Income Externals The only corporate partner of ELSA International remains CMS with a contribution of 20.000,00 EUR. There have been smaller contributions of 4.438,63 EUR, which is not expected to remain as a permanent income, but rather depends on the agreements made each year. Project income of EMC2, on the other hand, has increased by 50% and is promising to grow further in the following years. Membership fee, Observership Administration Fee Proposal on Local Groups adopted at ICM Poznan has made the calculation of the Membership fee more accurate and it is safe to say that invoiced amounts for 2011/2012 mirror the actual situation in the Network. The problem of debts of the National Groups remains. To overcome the situation ELSA International has taken up negotiations regarding payment agreements and promotion of NSS system with the help of which National Groups would be able to submit proposals for waving their debts. Advertisements Unfortunately the year of 2010/2011 has not made the set out budget for sales of banners on the website www.elsa.org. Income for Synergy on the other hand has brought a profit which allows ELSA International to continue the project. The area of advertisements has been focused on strategising in the field of advertisements pricing as well as creating a valid advertisers database. Grants In 2010/2011 ELSA has been awarded with Youth in Action 4.1 grant in amount of 28.000,00 EUR for the calendar year of 2011.
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Expenditures ELSA office Considerable amount of financial resources of ELSA International has been dedicated to improving the working conditions in the ELSA office. This way, the following assets have been purchased in 2010/2011: office phones, routers for internet, 7 office laptops. ELSA has also improved the service of internet and adopted a new printing solution for the office. ELSA House In the year of 2010/2011 renovations have been made to the rental house which serves as the headquarters of the association. Partial renovation of windows and a complete renovation of one of the bathrooms have taken place amounting to a total of 4.727,19 EUR. Allowance Another change related to the working and living conditions of the International Board has been raising the allowance to the amount of 300,00 EUR per month per each board member. This provides more equality in possibilities for members from the whole Network to be able to run for the highest executive body of ELSA. Write off bad debts ELSA has cleared out all of the bad debts composing of missing transfer costs, unknown and old debts that are unrecoverable. The amount of debts from externals that has been written off is 16.437,71 EUR. Projects The project of ELSA International in the year of 2010/2011 making the biggest loss has been Train the Trainers Week 2011. The loss made on the event in comparison to the budgeted amount has been 150%. Financial situation of ELSA International has been stabilised and further improvement is predicted in the term of 2011/2012.
ELSA Annual Report
Financial situation
External Auditors’ Report to the Final Accounts 2010/2011
ELSA Annual Report
37
Financial situation
Internal Auditors’ Report to the Final Accounts 2010/2011
We, Mikael Söderman and Jan Moritz Lang, have audited the Final Mikael Söderman Jan Moritz Lang Accounts of ELSA Vice Auditor Auditor ELSA International 10/11 ELSA International 10/11 International 2010/2011, prepared and presented to us by the Treasurer of ELSA International 2010/2011, Olga Sendetska, from the 13th till 14th of August in Brussels. We have been provided access to the claim forms, invoices received and sent as well as to bank statements, credit card bills, PayPal account statements and board meeting minutes. The Treasurer also presented the balance sheet, profit and loss accounts, aged debtors and aged creditors details as well as a schedule of fixed assets. The material provided was well structured and organized efficiently. In accordance with the revised Standing Orders regulations on auditing after the LIX ICM Poznan (Art.20.3) and the corresponding discussions in the workshop and plenary we have focused our investigation on governance, risk and internal controls. Therefore we refer to the auditing report provided by the external auditors for additional information and statements concerning the compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
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Governance Regular board meetings have taken place throughout the year and the board members have been regularly updating each other about ongoing developments in their respective areas. Decisions on investments, such as the purchase of notebooks, have been taken by the board after discussing the necessity and price. Risk A large portion of ELSA International’s assets is and has long been claims against either its member countries or external debtors. During this term in office a significant amount of receivables from externals has been written off, as it was unlikely to ever be received. The remainder of receivables from externals as they are stated in the financial accounts can realistically still be collected. On the other hand the amount receivable from members has unfortunately increased slightly compared to the same day one year ago. It is unsatisfactory to see that even National Groups with a stable financial situation do not pay their membership fee in due time especially since the date of invoicing has been three weeks prior to July 31st. On the other hand several National Groups have accumulated debts over a certain period of time and most likely will face severe difficulties in paying down the debt. Therefore, we would like to raise awareness of Art. 18.4 of the Standing Orders and the debt man-agement system it offers. As of today a portion ELSA Annual Report
Financial situation
of the money considered to be owed to ELSA seems unlikely to ever be collected and thus creates a false impression of the financial situation of ELSA. It would be gratifying to see, if the improvements achieved with the receivables from externals were to be continued with member-related-debts. The amount of uncollected debt poses a risk to ELSA’s ability to always fulfill its obligations within due time as is evidenced by the amounts owed to the ELSA Development Foundation. As of 31/07/2011 ELSA owed 18.765,08 ₏ to EDF. The fulfillment of this obligation will severely reduce the amount available on the ELSA Accounts and underlines that restrictive spending and a comprehensive debt collection and management will remain an important and necessary focus of financial management. We are satisfied that the board of ELSA International is working together with the ex-ternal auditors on identifying tax risks. Internal Controls To ensure an effective flow of information, that ensures that board members are able to receive information concerning all activities of ELSA, and to scrutinize the work within the board, the board has adopted a system of mirrored inboxes. The president has access to the online banking system and was able to control the transactions processed within due time. Since the statutory regulations and the Decision Book do not outline a coherent risk man-agement and internal control system, we would like the Council to consider potential mechanisms they would like to implement such as the obligation of board members other than the Treasurer to sign bank statements on a monthly basis, a limit concerning ex-penditures without prior board approval or automated budget expenditure cuts, when income goals are not reached.
its internal regulations and the purpose. The expenditures for travels with externals have risen significantly and exceeded the amount budgeted by more than 40%. The Treasurer of ELSA International attributed a portion of the increase to a growing exchange with other student and law faculty organizations. Claim forms During the auditing of the interim accounts we had some suggestions for improving trans-parency for expenditures claimed. We are glad that that the board of ELSA International has improved on this point. We were satisfied to see, that the Treasurer has continued to get her claim forms signed for approval by a different board member and claim forms with expenditures in a foreign currency have been equipped with a conversion rate for the date the money has been spent. Transparency In order to increase transparency the claim form should include reason for using transportation methods that are not public. Some claim forms stated the reason for taxi travels already, in other cases the reason could be deducted from the receipt issue time, but in other occasions the reason remained unclear. Miscellaneous
General financial situation
Since the separation of ELSA International and ELSA Development Foundation (EDF) has taken place in the bookkeeping programme and they are two different legal entities, separate bank accounts should be established for EDF. Unfortunately so far no bank account has been established for the foundation itself. Thus, EDF grants are still being processed via the ELSA accounts. This is an unsatisfactory situation, since the foundation has been established in 2009. EDF and ELSA are two different legal entities and should be treated accordingly. We consider it urgent that separate bank accounts are established for EDF.
Income
Conclusion
The income achieved has reached the amounts estimated by the revised budget after the LIX International Council Meeting in Poznan in most cases. 83% of the income budgeted has been reached and the income goals could have been reached to 97,45% by use of provisions. The income of the links project has reached neither the amount budgeted nor the level of previous years. The loss in revenue comes at roughly the same time as the introduction of the new frontpage and a nonpermanent-presentation of the respective partner. We recommend to analyze the reasons for the revenue loss and to devise a strategy to enhance further efforts in this field.
In accordance with above explanations and with reference to the limited scope of investigation as outlined in Article 20.3 of the Standing Orders, we are glad to inform the Council that we give a positive recommendation to approve the Final Accounts 2010/2011 of ELSA International. We rely on the work carried out by the Treasurer. Folders and docu-ments were kept properly with a few small exceptions. We believe that the work, which will be performed by the Treasurer, can be improved in accordance with the information suggested. We recommend to the Council to approve the Final Accounts 2010/2011.
Expenditures
Best regards to the Council!
The expenditures of the Association are in accordance with ELSA Annual Report
39
ELSA International 239, Boulevard GĂŠnĂŠral Jacques B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Phone: +32-2-646-2626 Fax: +32-2-646-2923 E-mail: elsa@elsa.org Website: www.elsa.org