ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016
About ELSA
ELSA International Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 Web: www.elsa.org E-mail: elsa@elsa.org
The Association
ELSA Members x 48,000
The European Law Students’ Association, ELSA, is an international, independent, non-political and notfor-profit organisation run by and for law students and young lawyers. Founded in 1981 by 5 law students from 4 countries, ELSA is today the world’s largest independent law students’ association. We provide law students with professional and personal development opportunities, fostering mutual understanding and creating a Europe-wide network of internationally minded law students and young lawyers.
VISION
"A JUST WORLD IN WHICH THERE IS RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY"
ELSA Local Groups x 380
ELSA National Groups x 43
ELSA International
Technical Supporter of the ELSA Moot Court Competition
General Partners
Human Rights Partner
LL.M. Partners
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.
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 is present in 43 countries Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
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International Summer School Partner
English Language Partners
Co-funded by European Youth Foundation
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Contents International Board of ELSA 2015/2016
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The Year of the International Board
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AIJA - General Partner
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Cooperation between ELSA and AIJA Council of Europe - Human Rights Partner Why ELSA is important for the Council of Europe
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UNECA - EMC2 African Round supporter
ECA helping to empower future African trade negotiators
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Mark Villiger, European Court of Human Rights
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Judging the Finals WTO - EMC2 Technical Supporter
Learning and growing together Severnvale Academy - Language Partner
Achieving English language precision
Van Bael and Bellis - EMC2 Sponsor
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Collaboration by common values
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ELSA Day for gender equality
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Unification of the ELSA Law Schools
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State of the Network
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Student Trainee Exchange Programme
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The Flagship Projects of ELSA
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EDF: the four cycles
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Developing ELSA's academic business card
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The Coaching System
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International moot court competitions
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Cracking the code - ELSA's new website
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Spreading our values in the digital world
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Intranet - connecting every ELSA member
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Financial Strategy
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Internal Management in ELSA
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ELSA Delegations
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Unified ELSA Law Schools, p.22
ELSA's legal publications, p.32
International moot court competitions, p.36
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International Board of ELSA 2015/2016
Anna Haipola
President
(August 2015 - May 2016)
Finland
Hector Tsamis Secretary General Greece
Treasurer Czech Republic
Antonia Markoviti
Ada Gawrysiak
Vice President for Academic Activities Greece
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Marek Škultéty
Vice President for Moot Court Competitions Poland
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"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
Dagne Sabockyte Vice President for Marketing Sweden
Matej SadloĹˆ
Vice President for Seminars and Conferences Slovak Republic
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Vedran Stanković
Vice President for Student Trainee Exchange Programme Croatia
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The year of the International Board
ELSA Means Ambition A year unlike others
In summer 2015, all eight of us moved from 7 different countries to the ELSA House in Brussels ready to learn from our predecessors and later undertake our responsibilities as the International Board to offer ELSA our best. At that time, we were aiming at being one of the most outstanding International Boards that ELSA has ever seen – as does any other Board. However, we quickly realised that this vision of ours needed to change into us channelling our great ambitions to make sure that ELSA would grow stronger and enjoy further progress, since this is what keeps the association running. 35 years of ELSA history are a lot to compete with, but you can always leave your mark and influence the path of the future. Our aspirations were high and our motivation kept flourishing day by day until our year was over. And this is the first thing that we are very proud of. Each one of us dedicated his or her efforts to the development of the association. For this reason, I will not mention any specific fellow Board member and his or her achievements here, but I will let you explore the pages of this Annual Report to find out more. However, I cannot but mention some milestones. During the term 2015/2016, we managed to acquire ELSA Armenia as the 40th full member of ELSA, to obtain new partnerships and external contacts, to introduce ELSA’s financial strategy, to create a new functional website, to update our regulatory frameworks on a large scale, to ensure effective knowledge management and transfer, to provide long-term guidelines and expertise to the ELSA Network, to set a solid basis for the development of our human resources and their training, to unify our marketing materials, to 6
build a stronger profile of ELSA through the flagship projects strategy, and to develop our presence on our communication channels. We also achieved a unified system for our ELSA Law Schools, opened ELSA Delegations for our members to new international decision-making bodies, coordinated the organisation of three international Conferences, two international Moot Court Competitions, two international Legal Research Groups, the second edition of the ELSA Law Review, the fourth edition of ELSA Day, opened the biggest number of traineeships for our Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP), and determined, along with the Council of ELSA, Environmental Law as the new topic for the International Focus Programme 2016-2019. A key moment of our term was undoubtedly the 35th birthday of ELSA on May 4th, 2016. All ELSA Groups were encouraged to organise events in order to jubilate the coral anniversary of our association. The completion of 35 active ELSA years was properly celebrated with the whole Network during the International Council Meeting held in Malta in late March as well as in Brussels, where ELSA holds its headquarters. The 35th anniversary attracted a lot of alumni from whom we all learnt more about the history of our association and understood better its path. Our international alumni association, the ELSA Lawyers’ Society, was actively involved in the festivities and stimulated the bridging between the former generations and the future ones. On our way, we faced the resignation of our President, Anna Haipola. Naturally, the time after the resignation was difficult for the remaining members of the ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Board, since we had to undertake all the President’s duties and add them to our own tasks and projects. How to function as a team, keep up with all the workload and also continue improving the association without a President was surely not covered during our transition. It was probably the biggest challenge we had to face during our year. However, things can’t always be predicted in life and this challenge simply needed to be dealt with. The final months of the term were characterised by periods of restless work and determination to finish the projects we had started, but, at the same time, it proved to us that progress can be made even under unexpected and difficult circumstances. All eight of us set and worked towards our common goals together for the bigger part of our term and we are truly grateful to Anna for all her hard work, dedication and kindness towards each one of us as members of the International Board, as well as the whole ELSA Network. I also want to thank the ELSA Network for the encouragement and understanding throughout the year that motivated us to strive for further progress in ELSA. "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." Before closing, on behalf of the whole International Board, I would like to express our gratitude to the Council of ELSA for giving us the opportunity to be the executive body of our association for one year; to the ELSA Network for their hard work, their consANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
tant support, their useful advice and their warm acceptance; to the members of the ELSA International Team for their excellent performance and their cooperation throughout our term; to all partners and external contacts that believed in our association and our projects; to our international alumni association, the ELSA Lawyers' Society, as well as every ELSA alumnus for standing by our side; and, most importantly, to each and every member of ELSA for engaging in our diverse association and being a part of our international family. During the term 2015/2016, we all observed the development of the ELSA Network and the people dedicating time from their studies and work to contribute to its vision, principles and values. We are very glad that we could be the ones sailing the ELSA ship for one year and finally realise how much we also grew as individuals. ELSA may indeed change your life; provided though that you grab the opportunities ELSA offers and dare to challenge yourself. Ambition means ELSA, and ELSA will always be associated with personal aspirations, professional objectives, broadening of horizons and social awareness. This is ELSA, and this is why we profoundly cherish it and will always save our warmest wishes for it.
Hector Tsamis
Secretary General ELSA International 2015/2016
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AIJA
Cooperation between ELSA and AIJA Is there life after ELSA?
"Is there life after ELSA? Which association can give you the same opportunities for professional and personal development in such a unique human environment? Where can you find THAT same ambiance, the ELSA spirit?" These questions are very familiar to AIJA members as well! Both ELSA and AIJA impose a limit on how long law students or young lawyers can remain members of our respective associations. This is unique in the world of lawyers' associations, and is an essential factor for ensuring the famous "spirit" of both ELSA and AIJA. If you had a chance of participating at an AIJA event, there is no need for me to repeat what I heard from an "over-aged" AIJA member, currently managing partner in his reputable firm, when he described AIJA to a younger lawyer. He suggested that instead of using the slogan "The Only Global Association of Young Lawyers" we should simply say "The Only Enjoyable Association of Lawyers"… I remember many general assemblies, where some members - approaching the age limit and anxious about missing out on the "AIJA Spirit" in the future - asked the leadership whether we would consider raising the age limit… Maybe you have similar experience at ELSA?! The good news to ELSA members is, that yes, there is life after ELSA, and you can find an equally spirited "new home" within AIJA once you are politely asked 8
to leave ELSA! Our aim is to provide a platform for learning, networking and sharing for young lawyers. Through a wide range of events (we organize 20 topical 2-day seminars, 2 half year conferences and 1 annual congress), AIJA promotes professional cooperation and friendship among young career-building legal professionals on an international stage. A busy calendar of top-quality events and a unique platform for exceptional business and personal networking are what make AIJA the association to be part of. This is now easier than you may imagine, thanks to the Cooperation Agreement that our associations entered into with each other in 2015.
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We cooperate on many instances, and I think the most interesting - and directly beneficial - aspects for our members apart from the STEP program is that ELSA
Which association can give you the same opportunities for professional and personal development in such a unique human environment? Where can you find THAT same ambiance, the ELSA spirit? provides AIJA with volunteers for each AIJA Annual Congress and eventually to seminars as well. This is a unique opportunity for ELSA members to attend an AIJA event and experience the AIJA spirit at no ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
cost. At the same time, AIJA benefits from competent assistance and, hopefully, from potential future members. AIJA also introduced a "future lawyer" member category, and with a 20 euro annual fee, you can take advantage of our exclusive member benefits.
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The age limit at AIJA is 45 years. It may be surprising to you, truly young ones, but this is - and for over half a century since AIJA's foundation has been - the
He suggested that instead of using the slogan "The Only Global Association of Young Lawyers" we should simply say "The Only Enjoyable Association of Lawyers" official definition of youth set forth in our statutes! This also means that many AIJA members are already very experienced, many are already senior associates or partners, or even managing partners of their firms. At the same time, they are - and feel - young. The combo of the two is a winning recipe: you can make very valuable connections and learn from experienced lawyers while having a great time in a friendly environment in the most spectacular places around the world. ELSA members are talented, used to "association life" and open to the world, so I am sure they will have a fruitful career also within AIJA. Start with volunteering to assist at one of our events! Or apply for a scholarship or submit your candidacy for the Best International Future Lawyer Award next year! Or simply come and join us. We look forward to welcoming you!
Orsolya Görgényi President 2015-2016 AIJA
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Council of Europe
Why ELSA is important for the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe has kept ongoing and close relations with ELSA since regular co-operation was decided upon in 2007. Over the years, ELSA has expanded to include 43 countries and has stepped up its activities aiming to equip its members with the professional skills and democratic competences needed in pluralistic societies. This makes the Association a competent and powerful relay for the Council of Europe’s legal and human rights challenges, the core of our work. The Council of Europe is a political organisation which works with the governments and the parliaments of 47 states. We set up with them, and for them, democratic political, legal and social standards and practices. Once introduced into domestic laws, they allow national institutions and societies to be ruled in a more democratic way. Beyond this official mission, we feel that our rules, values and expertise should be publicised and explained to both specialised and grassroots communities. We focus on their networks which act as multipliers for our activities. With 42 000 members in 43 countries, ELSA fits perfectly into this communication strategy. This is why we think the Association is a useful partner enhancing the visibility of the Council of Europe among international legal students.
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ELSA promotes the Council of Europe through projects and events. Research Groups and a Human Rights Moot Court Competition have a strong legal aspect. ‘ELSA Day’, however, aims to raise awareness about social values, solidarity, gender equality, rights of vulnerable groups. The goal is to bring about a change of mentality. Around 150 events, ranging from lectures to charitable functions, were organised in the 2015 edition of ‘ELSA Day’. From this year onwards, a trophy funded by the Council of Europe will be awarded for the best contribution to this project. The first-ever winner of ‘ELSA Day’, dedicated to gender equality, was ELSA Azerbaijan. The group was honoured at the International Council Meeting held in Malta in March 2016. The Directorate of Communications provides ELSA with topics for activities which are in line with the strategy defined by the Secretary General in the annual report called ‘State of Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Europe’. The document identifies topical global concerns destabilising democracy and social cohesion which the Organisation is due to tackle. We also coordinate and ensure the logistics of the projects that ELSA carries out. We further promote them via media, social networks and mailings. We are also
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in charge of designing and providing the visuals such as posters as well as diplomas for the competitors. ELSA also receives significant support for its projects from the Council of Europe’s operational divisions. Our officers formulate the subjects and outlines for the Legal Research Groups, take part in the juries and contribute articles to the ‘Synergy’ magazine. We invite you to take part in the initiatives organised by ELSA and the Council of Europe to challenge yourselves, to compare your skills to those of other international competitors. We think this is a meaningful experience for students, preparing you to be competitive in your future professional lives. This is also a way to improve your job prospects in an increasingly challenging labour market due to ongoing globalisation.
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Our rules, values and expertise should be publicised and explained to both specialised and grassroots communities. With 42 000 members in 43 countries, ELSA fits perfectly into this communication strategy.
Barbara Orkwiszewska
Directorate of Communications Council of Europe
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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
ECA helping to empower future African trade negotiators Many African countries face major challenges in utlising international trade law to their advantage. This is not only in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but also at the bilateral and regional levels. At the WTO in particular, lack of legal expertise in WTO law, constrained financial resources and fear of political and economic pressure from developed countries inhibit African member states from active participation in the Dispute Settlement Body. International trade agreements are complex, covering interrelated economic, technical and legal issues. The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) at the UN Economic Commission for Africa serves as a continental hub to provide and coordinate technical support for the development of trade policies in Africa, in particular the negotiation and implementation of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreement and the boosting intraAfrican trade initiative in addition to bilateral and multilateral trade policy issues. Against this background, in its efforts to help build Africa’s capacity in the area of international trade law in the long term, the ATPC supported the 3rd African Regional Round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law, by sponsoring nine university teams from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
in the winning teams come from Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. The ELSA Moot Court Competition is a simulation of a WTO panel proceeding conducted in English. Each participating team represents both the complainant and the respondent in a fictional case and prepares both written and oral submissions. Oral pleadings are made before panels consisting of WTO law experts. The competition provides students with the opportunity to put theory into practice, thereby complementing their legal education and improving their litigation, research and writing skills. Many universities in Africa do not have courses in international law in their curriculum and the ELSA Moot Court Competition is timely for African law students. From ATPC’s perspective therefore, the starting point for mitigating the problems facing African countries with respect to trade law is to target tertiary education systems on the continent.
The competition, which was hosted by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, took place from 29 March to 2 April 2016.
The ELSA Moot Court Competition is instrumental in fostering awareness and provides invaluable learning as well as networking experience for participants and the universities involved. It is a powerful capacity-building activity which seeks to contribute to legal education, foster mutual understanding, enhance the professionalism of African law students and create, in the long term, experts in trade law.
Eleven African law students, seven female and four male, from South Africa’s Rhodes University, Kenya School of Law and the Oliver Schreiner School of Law of the Witwatersrand University, also in South Africa qualified for the ELSA Moot Court Competition. The students
Coordinator, African Trade Policy Centre United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
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David Luke
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European Court of Human Rights
Judging the Finals Mark Villiger, Former Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, on the Final Round of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition It was a considerable honour for me to preside the 2016 Fourth Edition of the ELSA European Human Rights Moot Court in Strasbourg. Over the years this competition has acquired a high reputation and much prestige. Also this year it attracted widespread participation: 80 teams from all over Europe applied with their written pleadings, 16 teams were chosen for the oral rounds in Strasbourg. Over a number of days these teams then competed with each other in proceedings which were modelled after those of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court). Above all, it was a great pleasure to listen to the two finalist teams, those from the University of Sofia "St. Kliment Ohridski" in Bulgaria and from the University of Cambridge in England. I cannot overemphasise the high quality of their pleadings – both as regards the profound knowledge of the European Convention on Human Rights in its interpretation by the Court and their most persuasive rhetoric. The bench was composed of nine Judges from all over Europe – North, South, East, West – thus offering a truly European and very objective adjudication. One of the particularities of this moot court competition is that the Judges may at any time interrupt the parties and put questions to them – which was frequently done. The replies were so impressive, at times brilliant, that the bench subsequently had considerable difficulties deciding a winner: it was split down the middle with 5 votes to 4, thus clearly confirming the very high level of the pleadings on both sides. ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
As it was, the team of the University of Cambridge won the competition, once again my sincere congratulations to them! As a winning prize, they will now have a traineeship at the Court. Equally, I must warmly salute the team of the University of Sofia which also pleaded most convincingly.
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The replies were so impressive, at times brilliant, that the bench had considerable difficulties deciding On the whole, I have enormous admiration for all participants who over many months thoroughly prepared for this big event. They have gained so much in so many respects: a deep knowledge of European human rights and its procedures; how to plead in court both as an applicant and as a respondent; and not least how to cooperate as a team. Finally, my sincere thanks go to the organisers, in particular the Vice President for Moot Court Competitions Ada Gawrysiak and her team, without whose tireless preparation over nearly a year this event would never have come about. My gratitude also goes to the Council of Europe which supported the event and to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey for their contributions.
Mark Villiger
Former Judge and Section President, European Court of Human Rights
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World Trade Organisation
Learning and growing together The WTO and the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law Each passing year, we undertake the responsibility of supporting ELSA's Moot Court Competition on WTO Law with great enthusiasm and it continues to be a rewarding experience. The competition provides those of us immersed in the daily grind of international trade law the refreshing opportunity to witness talented students of diverse backgrounds and nationalities get bitten by the international trade bug as they grapple with the contemporary issues in WTO law and other plausible solutions to today's multilateral trade concerns. The WTO also takes pride in working closely with the bright young minds heading ELSA International. For the 14th edition of the competition, WTO staff was very pleased to work with Ada Gawrysiak, who was a capable and tenacious organiser and steered the 14th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition to great success. Under her leadership a lot of progress has been made towards increased participation, the improvement in the academic quality of the competition, the reduction of costs and efficiency gains in spending. We were pleased to see ELSA build upon the successes of years past. With 75 universities, from 39 countries, on 6 continents participating in the competition, ELSA has lived up to the promise to ensure that the competition remains a truly global one providing promising students, of diverse backgrounds from all over the world, with a venue to hone their advocacy skills and further their interest in international trade law. The WTO has been a technical sponsor and partner of the ELSA competition on WTO Law since it be-
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gan 14 years ago. This exemplifies the WTO’s comprehensive support for capacity building focusing not just on government officials but also on students and academics. The WTO sends legal experts on technical assistance missions to act as panellists in the regional rounds. WTO staff members also advise ELSA on the academic as well as the logistical aspects of running the competition. Furthermore, the WTO hosts the Grand Final of the Final Oral Round of the Competition at the WTO Headquarters. Indeed, for many of us, Spring in Geneva, Switzerland means the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law! As can be seen from the ever-increasing list of sponsors and technical supporters, it takes a village to run the competition. At the WTO, our enthusiasm for and support of the competition stretches across the membership, as well as amongst staff members in several divisions of the WTO Secretariat. In our view, this is, in no small part, owed to the contribution that the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law has made, and continues to make, to the enhancement of trade-related capacities of WTO Members. The WTO was pleased to add a new dimension of our partnership, by following ELSA and the competition on our social media platforms. The WTO re-tweeted posts from the regional rounds and tweeted from @WTO during the Final Oral Round. Moreover, the WTO Director-General, the patron of the competition, congratulated the participants and winning team via a video uploaded to the WTO's Facebook page. In his message, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo noted that events like this are "important for the ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
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We see former ELSA participants working in the governments of WTO Members, at trade-related NGOs, at other international organizations, and here at the WTO
system, as they help foster better understanding of the WTO and its rules; and they are important for the WTO, which is proud of having the opportunity to assist in the training and development of the next generation of trade lawyers." Moreover, students not only competed against the top teams from around the world but interacted with practitioners in law firms, governments and the WTO Secretariat. At the Final Oral Round, students were also able to participate in the British Institute on International and Comparative Law’s (BIICL) conference on WTO law which was held simultaneously with the moot court. The BIICL Conference on WTO Law, which is usually held in London, featured this year a very special tribute in memoriam of Professor John Jackson and Ambassador Julio Lacarte Muró, both of whom played a key role in the design and development of the multilateral trade system as it is today as well as the education and training of generations of international trade lawyers. The enhanced capacity and knowledge of WTO law and WTO-related subjects, to which the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law contributes, increasingly allows WTO Members to take full advantage of the rules-based multilateral trading system, to deal ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
with emerging challenges, and to enforce Members' rights and obligations. We see former ELSA participants working in the governments of WTO Members, at trade-related NGOs, at other international organizations, and here at the WTO. Thus, the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law is a valuable tool towards achieving the important goals of the WTO's technical assistance mandate and we are pleased to be able to partner with ELSA in this regard. As ELSA International starts preparing for the 15th anniversary edition of the competition, we take this opportunity to thank Ada and the entire outgoing board of ELSA International, and welcome the new one, whom we look forward to working with. We are optimistic that the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law will continue to provide a great opportunity for building enthusiasm for and capacity in international trade law. Maria Perez-Esteve
Counsellor, Council and TNC Division World Trade Organisation
Marisa Goldstein
Counsellor, Legal Affairs Division World Trade Organisation
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Severnvale Academy
Achieving English language precision Caroline Browne, Principal and Director at Severnvale Academy English Language School, UK, talks about English as a second language, the legal job market and Severnvale’s strategic partnership with ELSA What attracted you to providing Legal English Courses in such a specialised area? I qualified and practised with international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, spending time in London and Brussels. I have always loved working in an international environment. After 4 years in practice I turned to a career of teaching for one of the UK’s leading legal professional education providers, providing exclusive legal training and tuition for trainees of over 30 law firms. I have combined these skills that I have built up over the last 10 years to run a niche English language school that offers courses for students and professionals working in the legal field for whom English is their second language. A unique but rewarding combination! What prompted Severnvale and ELSA to form a strategic partnership? Many reasons really! I had the great honour to be on the panel of judges on the ELMC for a couple of years, so I got to experience first-hand the hard-working culture of ELSA and the comradery that evolves as a result. I suppose there is a natural synergy between ELSA and Severnvale, having roots in Legal English. We know there is a strong demand for European citizens 16
to come to the UK to improve their English language skills. In 2015, 84% of our students were from the EU. The intensity of Severnvale Legal English courses mirrors working life and expectations of legal practice. We are able to help motivated and aspirational individuals achieve quick results for improving their English and increasing their employability in the legal job market. Our team at Severnvale are highly experienced and specialise in a number of areas including business, commercial, litigation, employment and competition law. What do you see as the biggest challenges for ELSA students entering the legal job market today? We know that the market is becoming increasingly competitive and that is why it is important to have additional skills that makes you stand out. International travel is more and more common and having an awareness, understanding and experience of different cultures is necessary to ensure business efficacy. Also, firms face smaller training budgets, but also have incredibly high expectations of their employees: they expect candidates to speak, write and draft in accurate and appropriate English. What does Severnvale offer to the ELSA community?
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For students looking to break into a career in law we can help by giving them a competitive edge, by focusing on their English language skills in the context of law. Severnvale offers the Test of Legal English Skills (TOLES) exam, which is an internationally recognised qualification to demonstrate proficiency in this area. The TOLES programme was initially created at the request of major commercial London law firms who required a method of testing the English of international interns and new associates in its international offices. The exam measures a candidate’s legal English skills against the standard required of native Englishspeaking lawyers. Severnvale is an exam centre for TOLES and the exam is offered 5 times per year. In addition, we also support the development of reallife skills which are used every day in practice and during the interview process (often in English), such as contract drafting, negotiating and client care. For job-seekers, we have experience in CV drafting,
interview preparation techniques and practice. For current practising solicitors, studying at Severnvale is a way to enhance continuous professional development. Over the years we have assisted those seeking a new role/promotion, or those about to go on secondment to a client or different department. We have also helped with the preparation and delivery of client presentations and drafting suggestions for commonly used documents. In a nutshell, how would you describe the student study experience at Severnvale? Severnvale has been running for 34 years (almost as long as ELSA!) and is based in Shrewsbury, central England. We are a private school, so take great pride in ensuring our students feel relaxed and welcome so that they learn to the best of their ability. Our average class size of 4 people guarantees individual attention and rapid improvement in a short space of time. The majority of our students come to us for 2-3 weeks and in 2015 there were 23 different nationalities studying
“As a corporate lawyer working for an international company, nearly 90% of my business communication (written and spoken) is in English. When I decided to do a training course to further improve my English, I chose Severnvale Academy based on the interesting classes they offer, which provide a combination of general English, business English and the specific Legal English with different prioritisation according to personal preferences. I have fond memories of my time in Severnvale and I can only recommend it to students as well as working professionals. The classes are demanding but great fun and the staff at Severnvale are extremely nice, highly qualified and well organised. I should also mention the fun evening events organised by the Severnvale staff and the school’s perfect location in the very heart of England. The carefully chosen host in the homestay accommodation made me feel at home right from the first day. I stayed in Severnvale for two weeks, learned much more than I expected and continue to benefit from it in my day-to-day work.” Sandra Di Francia is a corporate lawyer at E.ON (E.ON SE in Essen, Gemany)
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Academy established
1982
Average class size "At Severnvale Academy I found what I was looking for to improve both my legal and language skills.The classes had a small number of students, so that the teachers could focus on their personal needs. They run specialist classes in law and business, which is generally quite rare to find in schools of English for foreigners. For me personally, I benefitted from the added value of personal tuition and the high level of professionalism, structure and organisation of the lessons. All the staff have a very kind and amiable approach, not only during lessons, but also in the activities after class and at weekends. Severnvale provide complete assistance with practical issues, so that students can concentrate 100% on their studies and the Academy continues communication with students when they are back in their own countries. I really had a very good experience, which is why I’ll return to Severnvale in the near future.”
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EU students
84%
Average course length
2-3 weeks
Different nationalities
23
Michela Tucci is a lawyer-linguist working at the Court of Justice of EU. In her role she has to translate legal texts in English into her main language; and provide legal analysis in cooperation with other departments at the EU Court of Justice.
with us. We place great emphasis on learning in and outside of the classroom and have many sports and cultural events, evening socials and networking events planned each week. Students stay with host families to experience true language and cultural immersion. Being close to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool airports makes it an easy journey from most European countries.
a high standard and the impressive levels of dedication and professionalism combined with a desire to have fun, made it a fantastic event. It was great to see so many alumni there, which emphasises the bond of colleagueship that is formed in student days, lasting for many years to provide the networking opportunities for life-long careers. And, of course, the evening of the gala ball in such a wonderful location will be a historic ELSA memory to take with me.
You recently presented at the annual ELSA ICM in Malta – what were your greatest memories? It’s hard to single out one, I have so many! Obviously, being the 35th anniversary it was an extra special celebration. I was delighted to witness that the “work hard play hard” attitude, for which ELSA is renowned, still exists and is demonstrated by all involved. Students participated in the Severnvale workshops to 18
Caroline Browne
Principal and Director Severnvale Academy ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Van Bael & Bellis
Collaboration driven by common values
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Van Bael & Bellis on mutual benefits of cooperation with ELSA For the last three years, Van Bael & Bellis has supported the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law. The firm’s participation has evolved from supporting the African Regional Round and providing panellists throughout all stages of the competition during the first two years, to acting as a platinum sponsor in the 14th edition of the competition this year. Van Bael & Bellis is a leading independent law firm based in Brussels, housing nearly 70 lawyers coming from 20 different countries and specialising in international legal work. The firm has a second office in Geneva which is exclusively dedicated to WTO matters. The firm has deep expertise in the areas of international trade and WTO law. Indeed, Van Bael & Bellis has handled more WTO dispute settlement cases than any other EU law firm and has acted as lead counsel for many of the largest WTO Members. The firm’s strong global WTO practice also includes advising governments and business associations in trade negotiations and assessing the consistency of certain trade measures under the WTO Agreement. The collaboration between Van Bael & Bellis and ELSA is driven by common values. Van Bael & Bellis offers its clients the support of an effective team of highly-qualified professionals with multi-jurisdictional expertise and an international perspective. A similar ethos of professionalism lies at the heart of ELSA, which provides an encouraging atmosphere to promising students with diverse backgrounds and nationalities allowing them to develop their knowledge and specialization in WTO law. ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Great experience, teaching practical aspects of working on WTO issues and opening doors to a professional career in international trade law - Joanna Redelbach, associate at Van Bael & Bellis, participant in the ELSA Moot Court Competition in 2011/12
Both Van Bael & Bellis and ELSA benefit from working together. As a leading law firm, Van Bael & Bellis is keen to support initiatives such as the ELSA Moot Court Competition in order to encourage interest in WTO law and WTO-related topics across the globe. Moreover, the ELSA Moot Court Competition assists the firm by facilitating contact between practitioners on one hand and talented and internationally-oriented individuals with a deep understanding of WTO law on the other. Van Bael & Bellis values its collaboration in the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law, which continues to be - for participants, practitioners and academics in the field of international trade law - a highly enjoyable and rewarding experience. It brings WTOinterested minds together and welcomes newcomers to the field of international trade law. Needless to say, Van Bael & Bellis looks forward to contributing to the organization of the next edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law.
Philippe De Baere
Partner, Van Bael & Bellis, EU and WTO trade law
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ELSA Day
ELSA Day for gender equality Turning theory into practice
‘We were travelling for the autumn International Council Meeting via the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. We noticed an additional sign - quite insignificant at first sight - that made us think. On the doors of the toilets, apart from the man and woman symbols, there was also a figure of a person changing a baby. It was on both doors.’ Was this important and worth mentioning? Well, imagine a father alone wishing to change his baby and a changing place existing only at women’s toilet - as it generally happens. Where should he enter? It is actually quite clear that the real definition of gender equality is neither extreme actions and feelings towards one of the sexes, nor exclusive privileges and concessions without any long-term aspirations to change the status quo. Gender equality is equal treatment. By one to the other. Today, very few law students receive education in gender equality that goes beyond the anti-discrimination legislation; to put it in simple words, the message is simply that there should be no discrimination based
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on gender. This is a problem because at least a part of these students will be addressing this matter in their professional lives in the future. Therefore, they have to understand the essence of gender equality and the issues connected to it. Among our actions as the European Law Students’ Association, we decided to take things into our own hands and give the law students a platform where the issues connected to gender equality could be addressed, as a complement to the official curriculum of our law schools. On the 25th of November 2015, we organized the fourth edition of ELSA Day with the focus on gender equality. ELSA Day is a day we created in our association to celebrate human rights. Since it creates a forum to reflect our vision, the project is supported by the Council of Europe (CoE). The idea is very simple - on this particular day, the members of our association are encouraged to organize events on a selected human rights focus, both for other members of ELSA and law students in general, and for the public at large. There are no boundaries in regards to what form the event should take exactly, but it is usually a panel
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
discussion, a lecture or a seminar on the selected topic. Besides those, we had visits to different institutions, film screenings and other interactive activities that engaged and involved our fellow law students in the human rights discussion. This year, the ELSA network managed to organize more than 150 events in total, the majority of which focused on gender equality. The fact and fortunate coincidence that the same day was also the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women boosted the visibility of the whole attempt a lot. Students from Portugal in the West to Azerbaijan in the East, from Norway in the North to Cyprus in the South participated in ELSA Day 2015. Normally, a single ELSA Day event reaches from 15 to 50 people on spot. This means that between 2250 and 7500 people this year got a chance to discuss and deepen their knowledge on gender equality thanks to this initiative. With some smart use of social media and other ELSA Day campaigns before and after the actual events, this overall number of people involved gets much higher. And how many organizers does one event require? Most of the time, not more than one or two. However, together we were capable of putting gender equality in the spotlight with quite simple means.
1 150 35 1
day events countries goal
Of course, the whole effort is also rewarded thanks to the collective promotion of the project and also the
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ELSA Day Competition, where the most interesting ELSA Day event is awarded with a special prize. This year’s winner was ELSA Azerbaijan because of their innovative Orange Movie Festival on Gender Equality. They were awarded with the ELSA and the Council of Europe prize, namely a statuette featuring a transparent female figure solidly placed on a bronze base, seemingly floating on waves. The statuette represents a lighthouse that guides us home to democracy, as ELSA and the CoE strive to do. It embodies a social model that both our institutions strive to build: a solid democracy guided by transparent principles. For us, ELSA Day 2015 was a true success story and a proof that everyone has the power to do something for this issue. That can include organizing yet another seminar on gender equality, choosing not to share a picture that reinforces the stereotypes, engaging in a discussion about gender equality and voicing your opinion instead of changing the topic, or simply educating yourself about the issue by reading articles online or at the library nearby. Everything counts when striving to achieve a more equal world - even the little sign on a door of a public toilet.
Antonia Markoviti
Vice President for Academic Activities International Coordinator of ELSA Day ELSA International 2015/2016
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ELSA Law Schools
Unification of the ELSA Law Schools Establishment of the biggest system of extrauniversity legal education in Europe
This year the Summer ELSA Law Schools became the biggest annual project organised by our network. The numbers speak for themselves: 33 ELSA Law Schools in the Summer Cycle 2016, 1412 participants and 5608 applications! For comparison, in the two cycles of STEP this year we had 375 traineeship spots and 2074 applications, and our Moot Court Competitions involved around 800 participants together. According to the Strategic Goals 2018, the ELSA Law Schools are considered the leading scientific events in the ELSA network. The dramatic increase of the number of the Summer ELSA Law Schools during the term 2014/2015 was a turning point. The number increased to more than 30 events per summer. However, these projects were not regulated at all, they did not have any quality standards, any unified terms and conditions, and participants could not be sure what level of services they could expect. Therefore, the growth required standardisation, mainstreaming of the procedure and protection of the ELSA brand itself. For that reason, one of my main aims was to unify these projects and to create the biggest system of extra-university legal education in Europe. I can now proudly say that we succeeded in identifying the main issues already at the beginning of the year with the Working Group on Unification of the ELSA Law Schools. First of all, the lack of cen22
tral marketing campaign meant that not all ELSA Law Schools had the same visibility, and that made some of our Law Schools receive larger amounts of applications, while others struggled to fill all their spots with applicants. Secondly, the fact that there were no common application dates made it extremely difficult for potential participants interested in several ELSA Law Schools to keep track of when they should apply. The lack of information on the ELSA Law Schools portal during the application period had also been the subject of many questions by potential participants and meant that many applicants did not apply.
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The fact that there were no common application dates made it extremely difficult for potential participants interested in several ELSA Law Schools to keep track of when they should apply Now, when we are slowly finishing the first unified Cycle, I can say that two changes allowed us to effectively implement the heightened quality standards. The first being the enlarged ELSA Law Schools Team that successfully implemented the idea of individual contact towards the Organising Committees (OCs), the Coaching System of ELSA ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
“ “ The core tool was the ELSA Law Schools calendar with clearly outlined deadlines, which allowed ELSA International to verify that the work of the OCs was being done in time and was of a sufficient quality
Law Schools. The second being a framework unifying the ELSA Law Schools into a single system, which shares internal organisational deadlines, application dates and a co-ordinated marketing. Here, the core tool was the ELSA Law Schools calendar with clearly outlined deadlines, which allowed ELSA International to verify that the work of the OCs was being done in time and was of a sufficient quality.
Because of the above mentioned facts and as it is visible on the enormous number of applications, opening the application periods at the same time made the process much easier to promote and more transparent for the applicants. Moreover, an optional additional application period allowed the ELSA Law Schools unsatisfied with the quality of their applications to reopen the application process and to select the participants from a higher number of applications. The result was the satisfaction of all ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
the OCs with the number and quality of their participants. This solved the most crucial issue of the scientific outcome of the event, as the quality of the audience is relevant for the level of the scientific programme itself.
This solved the most crucial issue of the scientific outcome of the event, as the quality of the audience is relevant for the level of the scientific programme itself
To sum up, I believe that the ELSA Law Schools team, all the Organising Committees and I made a huge effort this year, established a new flagship project of ELSA and created a sustainable framework for further development of the biggest system of extra-university legal education in Europe.
Matej Sadloň
Vice President for Seminars & Conferences ELSA International 2015/2016
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ELSA in numbers
State of the Network Breaking ELSA up in numbers
Words describe, but numbers confirm. For us in ELSA, it is indispensable that we base our statements on real information. In this way, we make sure that our members, partners and other externals are aware of the true status of our association. Besides, in the same way we can also measure the levels of development we have achieved and, subsequently, create our strategy for the future.
sition between the outgoing and the incoming Boards, as well as the evaluation of the communication among all levels of ELSA (local, national and international). Moreover, through the responses submitted by the National Groups, the ELSA Network is offered the opportunity to provide the International Board with their inputs, comments and suggestions for further improvements on the international level.
Hereby, I will present briefly the current status of the ELSA Network. The information displayed is based on the results of our internal survey, which is called State of the Network (hereinafter SotN), and takes place twice per term in office, once in autumn and once in spring. The International Board issues a questionnaire which is sent out to all the National Groups in the ELSA Network. The aim of this SotN Inquiry is to collect data on the current status of ELSA around Europe. The information collected refers to the quantity and quality expansion of our Network, the implementation of our Strategic Goals, the development in the different areas of activity, the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and tran-
All these data are compiled by the International Board in the respective SotN Report, which is then shared with the ELSA Network and discussed with the National Groups during the following International Council Meeting, where conclusions are drawn and new strategic decisions are made for the future. It is important to mention that, in order for the International Board to ensure that the National Groups will fill in the SotN Inquiry, the internal ELSA regulations have set its submission as one of the conditions which need to be fulfilled so that a National Group is entitled to vote in the plenary sessions of our International Council Meetings.
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ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
The data presented here are based on the results of 19th SotN Inquiry, received in October 2015, and on the results of the 20th SotN Inquiry, received in March 2016. I will also attempt a comparison with the previous term in office based on the responses of the 17th SotN Inquiry, received in October 2014, and on the responses of the 18th SotN Inquiry, received in April 2015. Geographical Spread and Coverage In ELSA, the National Groups being part of the Network are divided into Members and Observers. The main difference between the two categories is that the Members are entitled to vote, provided that they have fulfilled the requested conditions. During the term 2015/2016, we maintained the number of 43 countries where ELSA is present. The current status of ELSA’s geographical spread includes 43 National Groups, out of which 40 are Members and three are Observers. The number of Members was raised this year from 39 to 40 after the successful approval of the membership application of ELSA Armenia by the International Council of ELSA. The full list of Members and Observers:
Members: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. Observers: Belarus, Republic of Moldova, Russia In order to achieve national geographical spread, our National Groups have created Local Groups in the different cities and universities of their countries. According to the latest information, ELSA has 274 Local Groups, which cover 383 out of the 1,188 Law Faculties around the European continent. However, nine National Groups do not have any Local Groups mostly because of the geographical size of their country. The rise of this number is justified by the termination of some inactive Local Groups on the basis of the quality expansion that these specific National Groups have focused on. On the other hand, the increased total number of Local Groups is attributed to the quantity expansion that the National Groups have put their efforts on. This rise has of course affected the higher coverage of Law Faculties, thus further spreading the values and principles of ELSA around Europe. ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Human Resources The increase of the number of Local Groups as well as the first implementation of the new Human Resources Strategy of ELSA has resulted in higher numbers in regards to individual and active members. During the term 2015/2016, we managed to pass the bar of 45,000 individual members and reach the record-breaking number of 48,459, out of which 6,766 are active human resources contributing to the executive and operational work of ELSA on all levels. However, the focus on human resources is not only quantitative, but also qualitative with the conduct of 250 training sessions around the ELSA Network, including the ones having taken place during our international internal meetings, with the purpose of the personal and professional development of our members and executive officers. These training sessions were delivered by trainers from our International Trainers’ Pool, or the respective National Trainers’ Pools, or by externals. Furthermore, alumni are also considered a viable part of our human resources when they conclude their membership in ELSA. Besides our international alumni association, the ELSA Lawyers’ Society, 10 National Groups have successfully established their own national alumni organisations and 22 have been keeping updated databases of their former ELSA members.
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We managed to pass the bar of 45,000 individual members and reach the record-breaking number of 48,459, out of which 6,766 are active human resources 25
edition in February 2016. The Synergy Magazine is digitally available and is also shipped in printed copies to our international partners and sponsors as well as all National and Local ELSA Groups, which distribute them at the Law Faculties, their events and informative meetings, and they also bring them to meetings with externals. In this context, it is also worth mentioning the launch of the new website of ELSA whose use is now friendlier towards both students and partners. Operative Status of ELSA International
Network’s Engagement In ELSA, we measure Network’s involvement by the number and diversity of the activities organised as well as the participation in our various international internal meetings. The most important information refers to the conduct of the different categories of projects as well as to the attendance of the last International Council Meeting of ELSA, held in Malta between the 20th and the 27th of March 2016. In total, from August 2015 until March 2016, the ELSA Network organised 1,056 projects related to the Academic Activities area (Legal Research Groups, Law Reviews, Essay Competitions, Negotiation Competitions, Lawyers@Work), 30 Moot Court Competitions, 741 events related to Seminars and Conferences (Lectures, Seminars, Conferences, ELSA Law Schools, Study Visits, Institutional Visits), and opened 199 available spots for our traineeship project, the Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP). Moreover, the number of votes cast during the aforementioned International Council Meeting reached the record-breaking number of 114, meaning that 38 out of 40 National Groups were present or were represented by proxy, since each one of them has three votes. Internal and External Communication Communication has a significant role for the promotion of our work and projects on all levels. Our ELSA Network uses a lot of different communication channels in order to reach out to as many members, potential members and externals as possible. During the term 2015/2016, besides the classic means of email, electronic newsletters and Facebook, the ELSA Network invested a lot of time on enhancing its presence on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Furthermore, our members’ magazine, Synergy, which is published twice per year, welcomed its 59th 26
The constant expansion of the ELSA Network as well as the increased workload of the International Board requires an ELSA International Team, comprised of Directors, Assistants and Project Teams, who cooperate with the members of the International Board for the realisation of their operational plans and activities. During the term 2015/2016, we were lucky to collaborate with 95 Officers and be responsible for 14 working groups, whose job was invaluable for our efforts. We are very thankful for their performance and motivation. The current presentation of the status of our association is only a short depiction of the basic information collected. As mentioned before, the complete collection of the SotN results have been presented to the ELSA Network during the International Council Meetings and can be accessed by contacting the International Board of ELSA. The 20th edition of the State of the Network marks the 10 years that the International Board has been collecting information by the ELSA Network. On a related evaluation conducted, the National Groups confirmed our belief that SotN is indeed a valuable tool for ELSA to assess its current status, monitor the progress and identify the needs of the ELSA Network. Our association turned 35 years on May 4th, 2016, and on the basis of all our statistics we affirm its continuous development and we wish that ELSA keeps on spreading its vision for a just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity by contributing to legal education, fostering mutual understanding and promoting the social responsibility of law students and young lawyers. Behind numbers, there is always a greater goal.
Hector Tsamis
Secretary General ELSA International 2015/2016
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
STEP
Student Trainee Exchange Programme Leading in providing legal working experince
this year’s remarkable achievements is returning the Council of Europe to the pool of stable STEP traineeship providers. Globalization is one of the focuses in STEP too – therefore, this year, entire 12 traineeships outside of Europe were offered within STEP. Besides the traineeships themselves, the administration of STEP is developing as well – the success of STEP heavily relies on a well-functioning internal adminisIn a globalized world, there is an increase trative system, whose automatisation is now almost in the demand for international traineeships by law complete. In turn, this will make the whole administstudents. Before getting your first rative process run much smoother than STEP employment, it is becoming more and ever before. in numbers more important to already have acqui(2015/2016): red working experience through variWhat makes these achievements signious traineeships. This is where STEP ficant is that they are the result of hard 375 traineeships* comes in. It is a unique programme, and dedicated work of more than 300 in 35 countries offering international legal traineeship STEP Officers throughout the entire opportunities, in different countries, ELSA Network. Traineeships are offe2075 applicants within different fields of law, for differed in 32 ELSA countries, applicants from 41 countries rent groups of law students, therefore come from 41 ELSA countries – memaking it one of the leading, largest aning that STEP is present everywhere *41% increase in comparison to 2014/2015 and most diverse traineeship programand it offers opportunities for law stumes. dents from all across Europe. The numbers of the term 2015/2016 are a perfect example of With an increased demand for traineeships, ELSA how STEP Officers contribute to ELSA’s dedication works on keeping the pace by increasing the number to legal education and promotion of cultural diversity. of provided traineeships. This year, ELSA offered 375 traineeships in 35 countries, with 305 different traiThis year shows that STEP is growing year after year – neeship providers participating, which is one of the which means that we can eagerly look forward to vast biggest yearly increases in the number of offered trainew opportunities that the future will bring! neeships! ELSA has set as its purpose to contribute to legal education and to prepare law students for professional life in an international environment. Student Trainee Exchange Programme – STEP, is one of the cornerstones of this purpose, by providing ELSA members with international traineeship opportunities for 32 years.
Efforts are being done not only for the quantity expansion, but also for the quality expansion in STEP. Having strong partners who offer traineeships to ELSA members is always a focus in STEP. Another of ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Vedran Stanković
Vice President for STEP ELSA International 2015/2016
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Flagship Projects
The Flagship Projects of ELSA Creating a clear image of the association
It is a fact that ELSA provides many opportunities for law students. As we operate on three levels – local, national and international – the projects organized to further educate the members of ELSA and to foster mutual understanding are being organized on all three levels of ELSA as well. There are many local ELSA groups with their own projects, seeking for attention with their local events, smaller competitions and topics focused on the domestic law. Then there are national ELSA groups, with national projects, bigger competitions and events, which are trying to gather law students from different law faculties. And, last but not least, there is ELSA International with its Europe-wide projects and events. We should not forget that in addition to all these projects, there are other student associations providing similar kinds of activities. The bottom line is that with all this variety, it is difficult for an ordinary student to choose the project that is the most relevant for him or her.
holders. The whole concept is that ELSA should be described on all three levels as an association, which provides the six following international opportunities: ELSA Delegations, European Human Rights Moot Court Competition, ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law, Legal Research Groups, ELSA Law Schools and Student Trainee Exchange Programme. The goal with this strategy is to make the academic prestige and the benefits of participating in the Flagship Projects well-known not only to our members, but also to all the law students in Europe in general. This fact should be the advantage when comparing our projects with other student associations.
One of the main aims of ELSA is to provide legal education in the international environment. However, there are still some ELSA groups that are not focusing on the main aim of the association to an extent that would be preferred. Therefore, from the beginning of our term, we saw a clear need to clarify the situation and to make it easier for all ELSA Officers to promote the association. We came up with an idea, a new promotional strategy, of the six Flagship Projects, that should represent the brand of ELSA and be the core of our activities on the international level. Our aim was to rebuild the face of ELSA towards an ordinary law student, which would in the end also make ELSA more easily understandable to the rest of our stake-
Evaluating all the projects currently organized on the international level, taking into consideration the existing demand from students, impact to students’ resumes, their increased professional experience, diversity and exclusivity in what we offer, as well as the already existing, but not yet codified practices among ELSA’s Officers that are executing the promotion.
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In building this identity of ELSA, we went through the following steps:
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Identifying the problems connected to the unclear image of ELSA.
Identifying the number of and the actual Flagship Projects Setting the base for a new PR strategy with the Flagship Projects as the core, including stabiliANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
zing the visual brands of each of the Flagship Projects; giving them the priority and the biggest visibility on our channels (from the website and social media pages, to printed brochures and presentation materials); making clear definitions for each of the Flagship Projects, identifying the benefits of participating in them and making them easily understandable for our members and other law students; passing on the idea to the national and (at least to some extent) local levels of ELSA, and prioritizing the Flagship Projects in the planning of the International Board’s work. The new strategy was well-received by the ELSA Network when presented during our internal meetings. Also, we could clearly see that this is the right way to go by analysing the numbers – the number of applications received and the overall reach of our communication online have never been higher. However, it should not be forgotten that the term 2015/2016 was only the first year of the Flagship Projects strategy. Even though some of the Flagship Projects already had strong brands and some others got theirs stabilised this year, in a Network consisting of 43 national and ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
more than 300 local chapters, implementation of new strategies takes time. We are confident that the base we set this year to make ELSA be better understood among our stakeholders is sufficient to continue building upon. Yet, to fully eliminate the confusion in the promotion of ELSA, further branding of the Flagship Projects and further branding of ELSA through the Flagship Projects will be required. We do trust that the next generations of ELSA will accept these challenges and we look forward to seeing future ELSA Officers collecting the fruit of this work in the near future.
Dagne Sabockyte
Vice President for Marketing ELSA International 2015/2016
Matej Sadloň
Vice President for Seminars & Conferences ELSA International 2015/2016
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ELSA Development Foundation
EDF: The four cycles
How the Student Trainee Exchange Programme inspired ELSA's financial management
Offering an additional source of funding to projects organized under the header of ELSA groups, the ELSA Development Foundation (EDF) has not yet undergone major changes since its establishment as a separate entity - although voices for its reformation were already present for years - until the term 2015/2016. Already in the Supporting Area Meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, in September 2015 a separate workshop was designed to identify EDF’s most pressing issues multilaterally with the national Treasurers, and to provide substance for the Working Group on EDF’s Reformation. In addition, further analysis of past financial statements, as well as other documents (e.g. yearly summaries of grant disbursements) were utilized during this initial phase. The first milestone came in form of a proposal crafted by the Working Group and presented to the Council of ELSA at the International Council Meeting (ICM) in Batumi, Georgia, in October 2015. This proposal introduced (among other) a new, formalized “exception” system for late applications. Although instances of accepted late applications were present in the past, this policy was not observed to be consistent. The situation was clarified by enabling the EDF Board of Directors to accept a late application, while reducing the granted amount. After the ICM Batumi, the Working Group began to build the final picture of the desired state of the EDF 30
using the information gathered from the workshops, by undertaking comparative work with known grant structures and schemes, and by reviewing its previous conclusions regarding past financial statements and grant distribution analyses. Hence, several inefficiencies were identified. The most troubling issue can be summarized as sub-optimality of the EDF funds’ disbursement – during none of the recent financial years did the foundation’s crediting (i.e. grant money factually paid out to the applicants) exceed 75% of the funds received in the given financial year. The essence of the phenomenon, among other, laid in quality of the applications (improper
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The revolutionary change also lays in the possibilities to apply for funding after the project has been concluded or late submissions, lack of proper reasoning why the applicants require funding, no clear goals of activities, or their benefit being reserved only to a very narrow group of individuals, etc.). In addition, the chosen awareness-raising methods about the EDF had shown to be inefficient. These, and other drawbacks of the EDF system resulted in a rather low amount of average applications, which at certain instances were even awarded funding due to excessive leftovers, rather ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
than their quality (apart from the exceptional, and well-deserved grant applications). The Working Group thus devised a second, main proposal, the fundamental change of which lays in a major extension of the application period’s scope and length - from “no later than three weeks before the project’s opening” to a harmonized period of one year, which also covers a period after the conclusion of the project itself. It does so by cancelling the “pre-project” application structure, and introducing a new, cyclebased, quarterly application system. The source of inspiration were the good practices available from the STEP-cycle application system. As the Council at ICM Malta favorably accepted this new structure in March 2016, the implications can therefore not only be summarized as a decreased administrative burden for the Chairman and the Board of Directors of the EDF, but the revolutionary change also lays in the possibilities to apply for funding after the project has been concluded. Therefore, the Board of Directors may now be provided with final financial statements, thus significantly increasing their underANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
standing of the project’s financial state of affairs. In addition, this change brings forth a powerful promotion potential - the officers should now be well informed about the cycles and the application periods for funding, as these will be disseminated via official ELSA International channels. How will this major change influence future applications and supported projects alike? As the first cycle under the new procedure is slowly drawing to close, it will be exciting to observe, whether the new EDF system will fulfill all of the expectations that the Working Group and the ELSA Network of 2015/2016 put into it. With rather limited income, one cannot expect miracles from the EDF. Yet, if the reformation is to be proven a major success, then after optimizing the EDF’s expense side, the income side should logically become the new priority for the future.
Marek Škultéty
Treasurer ELSA International 2015/2016
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Legal Publications
Developing ELSA’s academic business card A landmark year for legal publications The area of Academic Activities is broad and any project that is capable of giving the chance to law students to exercise their legal skills can fall under this category. This is the reason why there is big project diversity throughout the network. However, after long discussions, the winners of the game proved to be legal writing related activities and academic competitions, and, thus, the network is encouraged to focus on these projects. The highlights this year regarding the general establishment of these projects in the network were firstly the big focus on and the creation of analytic materials for the organization and branding of Legal Research Groups - a flourishing project in the whole network, and, secondly, the unification of the negotiation competitions concept - another project growing very quickly in the ELSA groups which was realized with the creation of the ELSA Negotiation Competition Package, namely a series of all the necessary materials to set up and ‘sell’ the project. Following the Flagship Projects strategy on the international level, the main attention was paid to a successful coordination and enhancement of the quality of Legal Research Groups (LRGs). Finally, for the first time two international LRGs were launched in the same term, involving hundreds of people. In addition, a project from the past, the ELSA Law Review, officially confirmed its revival with the two first editions published. When speaking about quantity it is of course natural to be proud about this number of projects, but what actually matters is all the improvements that took place. The area of Academic Activities had many periods of glory in the past. We managed to overcome some of the challenges and to allow the activities to shine again.
Legal Research Group on Freedom of Expression The Protection of Journalistic Sources This was the topic of the first LRG launched this year. It was organised in cooperation with the Council of Europe and received academic support from its Media and Internet Division. The safety of journalists is one of the hottest topics for the Council of Europe, since a big number of journalists are being fired, arrested or killed and the threat in Europe is still quite high. The national ELSA groups, which participated in the LRG, had to answer a list of questions in order to investigate to what extent the national jurisdictions take measures on the issue and how effectively the phenomenon is addressed. An impressive number of 35 national ELSA groups applied for the project. However, this year the academic requirements for being published were increased: we added the requirement of academic methodology, the participants had to follow very specific academic guidelines and to provide us with translations of all the relevant parts of the references and legislation they were using, so that our larger academic coordinating team could double-check the validity of the findings. As a result, 28 national ELSA groups with approximately 300 participants in total managed to make it to the end and finally publish a Final Report1 of 1,740 pages. The result was also officially published by the Council of Europe. The report is about to receive further follow-up and become accessible for all the interested readers. Legal Research Group on Labour Law - Occupational Safety and Health Legislation The second big success came during the second half 1. http://legalresearch.elsa.org/2016/07/30/lrg-on-freedom-of-expression
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ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
of the term with the proposal of a different institution this time: the International Labour Organization (ILO). This UN agency approached us with a wish to co-organize an LRG on labour law with a very specific outcome: to expand the respective database on occupational safety and health legislation, allowing our researchers to actually become the creators of parts of the database’s content. This LRG addressed a specific group of countries from the ELSA network, which were not yet represented in the database; however, other coordinating positions were covered by people from the whole network. Within a short application period, we received a very satisfactory number of applications and, fortunately, the majority of the profiles were students and young lawyers fairly specialized in the field of labour law, which was very promising for the final result. The highlights of this project are many. Due to its initiation in the middle of the year, we had to begin reconstructing the human resources and the application process, which proved to be quite organic. In addition, the change in the classic human rights related LRG agenda into something more technical also caught the attention of another target group of more experienced students, and the project got very well promoted in many of the network’s channels. Cooperating with big institutions of course brings assets to our association - this LRG became the first ever financially self-sustainable LRG in ELSA. Moreover, the contributions of the participants will be acknowledged on the official website of ILO. Our frequent meetings with ILO officers also guaranteed a tighter cooperation in the future. However, what counts the most at the moment is that the purpose of the LRG to create a very concrete outcome for the legal community's further use is finally realized, which allows the project to head towards a very rewarding direction.
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The purpose of the LRG to create a concrete outcome for the legal community's further use is finally realized
The ELSA Law Review The ELSA Law Review (ELR) is not something completely new in ELSA’s agenda. It was the most successful publication in the past with many recognised personalities on board, as well as professional publishing and distribution all over Europe. However, due to an overload in the area, some other projects were prioritised and the ELR got paused for many years. The idea to bring it back arose in 2013, when the call for submissions was launched again, gathering 43 articles with 11 of them being published. Reviving something from the scratch can be indeed demanding, especially when the knowledge from the past is partially lost. Nevertheless, the first edition of the revived ELR was published during our term2, with a simultaneous call for submissions for the se2. In November 2015.
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
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cond edition. After that moment, the concept of ELR rapidly spread throughout the network. Our Officers already began speaking about the project with a tendency to consider it as the new flagship project. The editorial board worked a lot on its promotion and within a relatively short time for submissions, we received a surprising doubled number of articles, namely 85. The milestone for the continuation of this legal publication was actually the construction of a stable basis. This began with a proper use of the ELSA archive and other information from the past. Having a legal publisher on board was the key of professionalism and success. Therefore, we initiated a cooperation with Wolf Legal Publishers, who undertook the technical supervision of the journal, bringing us in contact with agents abroad for further promotion of the ELR and generally consulting us on matters regarding the future of the publication. At the same time, the publication would not have had the same quality, if it were not properly academically reviewed. The second call gathered a very big number of quality submissions, mostly by master students, but the final selection and provision of academic feedback was done by Católica Global School of Law, ELSA’s LL.M. Partner and also Academic Partner of the ELR. By having these two names on board and having again the ELR registered with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), the journal immediately got a higher value. Of course, additional prestige was given thanks to the fact that Thørbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and José Manuel Barroso, ormer President of the European Commission, wrote forewords for each edition respectively. Finally, the whole effort did not stay only in Europe, but we also reached a bigger audience overseas by collaborating with the Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA). The academic exchange was realized during the second edition of the project by sharing the best articles of our law reviews with each other. The result of all these numerous successes highlights both the potential of the publication and the stable cornerstones that were set for further construction of a promising skyscraper.
that a law student can be involved in, but unfortunately, mentioning that you have participated in e.g. a big conference is not a proof that you necessarily acquired legal knowledge. It is impossible to crosscheck that you indeed paid attention. In contrast, having participated in a legal publication is one of the few real pieces of proof that you can use the specific knowledge that you acquired when conducting a legal research. Having a legal research in your CV is a point of reference for academics, employers and other colleagues. It helps them realize that you indeed worked on the topic and also find out whether you developed an important legal opinion that can be further discussed, therefore also evolving the scientific sphere of law.
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ELSA gives our members the chance to get published internationally in real publications, in reports of comparative analysis that are widely spread By mentioning all the previous achievements related to ELSA’s legal publications, I would like to underline the importance that we try to equip them with. Clearly, the legal publications should constitute the academic business card for an organisation - a source of information that an external stakeholder can use to find us. And when it comes to the authors and participants, ELSA gives our members the chance to get published internationally, not only in a single document on our website, but in real publications, in reports of comparative analysis that are widely spread. Since we are in law school, let’s try to apply our knowledge already from the student years in order to be ready for the competitive future that is awaiting us.
The future of legal publications Nowadays, the competition in the job market is getting more and more demanding. A smallest detail in your CV will differentiate you from the other candidates. There are many attractive projects and activities 34
Antonia Markoviti
Vice President for Academic Activities ELSA International 2015/2016 ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Coaching System
The Coaching System
Bringing the International Board and the ELSA Network closer The continuous quantity expansion of the ELSA Network has been an important goal for the International Board of ELSA since the very establishment of the association, aiming at promoting our vision, objectives and principles to the widest possible extent on the European continent. However, this continuous enlargement of our Network has rendered the contact between the International Board and the various National Groups around Europe a big challenge for the association. Bearing that in mind as well as willing to provide a method which would ensure the close relations and interaction between the international and the national levels, the International Board unofficially established the Coaching System some years ago. The objective of the Coaching System on the international level is the achievement of more stable communication between the International Board and the ELSA Network, thus facilitating the flow of information and more effective and productive proximity among the three levels of the association. The system requires that each National Group is entitled to have a member of the International Board as its coach. The coaches are appointed with a decision of the International Board at the beginning of every new term in office and, from that point on, they keep in touch with the National Groups they have been assigned to coach. The role of the coaches is dual. They make sure that the ELSA Network is aware of the work and efforts of the International Board and that they successfully receive information about any updates and developments taking place. In this way, the National Groups achieve their deeper and more constructive involvement on the International level and have the opportunity to give their inputs. The coaches also attempt to establish a closer connection to each National Board, ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
which allows them to follow their progress and successes, learn about the projects and events organised, understand their needs and provide advice, solutions and useful contacts to them. During our year, we divided the current 43 National ELSA Groups among the eight members of the International Board, who functioned as coaches from the beginning until the end of our term in office. We managed to have contact with all of the National Groups, bridge the natural gap between the international and national level and understand how each of them works in their respective countries. We were communicating with them via all possible channels that we were using, such as email, Facebook and Skype, we arranged meetings with them during our international internal meetings, and we managed to visit 27 of them either during their decision-making meetings, a key event they organized, or a coaching visit planned for this purpose. That number confirms the record-breaking percentage of 63% of ELSA’s National Groups having been visited by their coaches. Receiving the positive feedback from the National ELSA Groups, which felt more informed, more engaged and more comfortable in sharing with us their successes and concerns, led us to the decision of making the Coaching System official and, therefore, incorporating it in our internal regulations. In this way, the continuity of the Coaching System and its contribution to the quality expansion of our Network was ensured. Besides, it is our firm belief that together we can indeed do it better!
Hector Tsamis
Secretary General ELSA International 2015/2016
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International Moot Court Competitions
Where students become experts
International Moot Court Competitions of ELSA
The 14th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law (EMC2) and the 4th European Human Rights Moot Court Competition (EHRMCC) mark an important milestone in the progress of the two flagship projects of ELSA. Organising an international moot court competition was only a dream a few years ago. Today, ELSA’s two international moot court competitions, recognised worldwide, are a true source of legal knowledge and education to thousands of students. 14 years of EMC2 EMC2, which is a simulated hearing of the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system, started in 2002, and since then it has become one of the most important Moot Court Competitions in the world. This year, the fictive case was written by Professor of Law in the Law Department of the London School of Economics – Andrew Lang. In the end of February, throughout March, and the beginning of April 2016, the Regional Rounds took place all over the world: two European Regional Rounds in Brno, Czech Republic and Passau, Germany; All-American Round in Kingston, Canada; AsiaPacific Round in Singapore, Singapore; and the African Regional Round in Grahamstown, South Africa. 75 teams from 39 countries took part in that stage of the Competition. One of the biggest accomplishments of the 14th edition of the Competition was the establishment of cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in regards to the African 36
Regional Round. It is the first time in ELSA’s history that a UN body financially supported our project. Thanks to the UNECA contribution all of the teams participating in the African Regional Round had their flights and accommodation covered. Without that support, it would be impossible for the African students to take part in the Competition, because of the financial barriers. This year, not only were we able to support the African teams, but also teams in need that applied for the financial assistance for the participation in the Final Oral Round. Thanks to an especially established fund where individual donors can donate their personal money, seven teams participating in the Finals had their costs partly covered. The long-term aim of the ELSA Moot Court Competition is to make the participation more affordable to students by lowering the fees and providing teams with financial assistance. The first step was taken as participation fees were lowered once again; which would not have been possible without our long-term supporters and sponsors. We are grateful to have law firms that believe in what we are doing on board. This year, we created a special sponsorship structure that helped us to treat out sponsors equally and to be more transparent in regards to their benefits. ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
The last part of the global challenge was concluded at the Final Oral Round of the 14th ELSA Moot Court Competition that took place between the 7th and 12th of June 2016. For the first time, the Final Oral Round took place at the same time as the BIICL Annual WTO Conference. Students and team coaches had the opportunity to expand their legal knowledge and attend all the conference panels. During the Tribute to John Jackson and Julio Lacarte-Muró the ELSA Moot Court participants were addressed by the Director General of the WTO – Roberto Azevêdo. This highlighted the fact that students participating in the ELSA Moot Court Competition are officially welcome in the trade law family. Once again, the EMC2 brought teams from across the globe to Geneva for one week and contributed to the future of international trade law.
4 years of EHRMCC The fourth edition of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition (EHRMCC) – a competition that simulates the procedure of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights – was launched on the 18th of August 2015. The Case, written by Ana-Maria Telbis from the European Human Rights Association, dealt with environmental aspects of human rights protection. Even though the case always is fictive, the core of this year’s case was based on real cases happening all over the world. The 4th edition of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition resulted in almost 80 teams from 26 different countries registered for the Competition. The Final took place between the 15th and the 18th of February 2016, with more than 70 participants from 12 different countries in total. We were honoured to have with us members of the real Jury from the European Court of Human Rights, alongside members of EHRA, lawyers from the Court, Council of Europe and representatives of the Permanent Representations to the Council of Europe, serving as Judges during the Competition. The Final Oral Round commenced with an Opening ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Ceremony at the residence of the Greek Ambassador of the Permanent Representation of Greece to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. This year, for the first time in the history of the Competition, quarterfinals were held, where the best eight teams competed for a spot in the semi-finals. The quarterfinalists were announced during the Reception generously hosted by the City of Strasbourg in the breath-taking venue of Hôtel de Ville. On the 17th of February, the participants attended a panel discussion on careers in human rights law. The Grand Final between 2 teams took place in the Salle d’Audience, the biggest court room in the European Court of Human Rights building. The winners were announced by a Former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights and the Chairman of the EHRMCC Jury, Mark Villiger, and awarded prizes by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, among others. An Award Reception was hosted by the Bulgarian Permanent Representation to conclude the Final Oral Round. Once again, EHRMCC helped to educate young lawyers in this particular field of law and had an impact on the way future lawyers understand and apply the European Convention on Human Rights.
EMC2 and EHRMCC will continue to be the flagship projects of ELSA, with the ability to build legal capacity among law students worldwide. With these competitions, ELSA is making an actual impact in the life of students and young lawyers by providing them with legal knowledge and real skills. Our moot courts’ cases and other materials are becoming invaluable source of knowledge for not only participants, but also researchers. The biggest strength of both projects is the fact that they are bringing together theory and practice. By doing this, ELSA is able to contribute to the education of future lawyers.
Ada Gawrysiak
Vice President for Moot Court Competitions ELSA International 2015/2016
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ELSA's new website
Cracking the code The new website of ELSA
Our current Strategic Goals, adopted by the Council of ELSA in 2013 and running until 2018, stipulate:
a potential member.
“The websites of ELSA must give a clear overview of the Network’s activities. […] ELSA shall review and update its corporate identity and websites.”
iv) Face of the project is explained through the benefits of participation.
However, this is surely not the only reason why we decided to give our association a concrete visual update online. The European Law Students' Association is not only the biggest association of law students and young lawyers in the world. The European Law Students' Association is an organisation, which seeks for perfection of its members’ legal skills. In other words, our main purpose is not only to network. The goal is to enhance our legal knowledge and to improve our legal skills in order to be the next generation of leading lawyers. This led us to the decision that we need to give the association a different face - one that could reflect the fact that ELSA is a modern and professional students’ association. The first concrete task was the modernisation of ELSA’s websites. The focus was to give a bigger visibility to our projects and to make them more easily accessible to both members and non-members of ELSA. The most important points of our work: i) Relevant introductory facts at the front page create quickly a concrete explanation of the association. ii) Simple content without heavy texts is the most important rule of the websites, providing a better overview of the opportunities for 38
iii) Implementation of the Flagship Projects strategy through individual sites dedicated to each of our six core projects.
v) Events calendar provides an opportunity to have a clear overview of the events in the Network, their dates and times. vi) Automatic application forms provide a simple tool for the management of our participants. All these points are reflected in the website traffic, which is gradually increasing. The easiest is just to compare some numbers. The aggregated daily average since the beginning of this calendar year is 1,342 views and since the end of this year, it is already 3,820 views. In addition to that, the aggregated monthly average since the beginning of this calendar year is 40,461 views and since the end of this year, it is already 114,615 views. These numbers go hand in hand with the number of applications for our projects and with the number of our active members. This strategy is based on the idea that easily accessible description of benefits is connected with a higher interest.
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The first concrete task was the modernisation of ELSA’s websites. The focus was to give a bigger visibility to our projects and to make them more easily accessible ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
February 2016
July 2016
Visit duration
3 min 30 s
5 min 06 s
Pages viewed/visited per user
5
8
Monthly average of pages viewed
184,571
1,450,000
Aggregated daily average
1,342
3,820
Aggregated monthly average
40,461
114,615
The numbers speak for themselves. For comparison, we can see that the aggregated average number of page views between the 1st of January 2015 and the 31st of July 2015 during the term 2014/2015 was 215,360 visits per month, which is more than 1,000,000 views less than during this period of time in the term 2015/2016. One year ago, the average duration of a visit was, as in the beginning of our year, only 3 minutes and 30 seconds, whereas it has now increased to over 5 minutes. Less than 5 pages were visited during the period January-July 2015, whereas the number of pages visited now is 8, on an average.
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These numbers go hand in hand with the number of applications for our projects and with the number of our active members Creating a completely new website proved to be a challenging task, but no matter the difficulties, this challenge needed to be overcome. The improvement in the numbers clearly shows that the new website for ELSA, together with our new Flagship Project promotion strategy, were steps in the right direction. The creation of the new elsa.org was coordinated by Matej Sadloň, Vice President for Seminars and Conferences of ELSA International 2015/2016, but it required a lot of efforts from each member of the InterANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Monthly average / website
Daily average / website
elsa.org
32,429
1,414
delegations.elsa.org
4,919
295
ehrmcc.elsa.org
1,111
171
emc2.elsa.org
2,625
232
lawschools.elsa.org
38,247
867
legalresearch.elsa.org
1,065
191
step.elsa.org
34,219
650
national Board, as well as hard and persistent work by the members of the ELSA International Team 2015/2016, especially the IT Team, that deserve a lot of credits for their initiatives. Besides improving ELSA’s visual appearance online, making it more modern, highlighting the Flagship Projects better, improving the technical aspects of elsa.org and increasing the visibility of our association online, we also managed to accomplish one of ELSA’s strategically important goals and therefore to also better reflect our association online.
Matej Sadloň
Vice President for Seminars & Conferences ELSA International 2015/2016
Dagne Sabockyte
Vice President for Marketing ELSA International 2015/2016
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Strategic communication
Spreading our values in the digital world
About the power of engaged audience and unwritten rules
ELSA has been around for 35 years. Born in the age of the iron curtain, the association has been developing, expanding and advancing throughout more than three decades now. However, our core has remained the same – we provide extracurricular legal education and make our members more competitive on the tough job market, promoting cultural diversity and mutual understanding among European law students and young lawyers at the same time. What is different, though, is how we reach out to them. This year, we put an emphasis on more effective presence on our social media channels. By the end of the term 2015/2016, ELSA International was present on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn and Instagram - the two latter ones being the newest additions. However, the quality, and not the quantity, that was our focus. A more effective Facebook tagging strategy was introduced this year, which resulted in an increased visibility for ELSA on our partners’ pages, as well as reaching 50 000 followers, with an increase of more than 10 000 new followers only this year. An official ELSA LinkedIn account was finally established – a social media channel that proved to be very successful when targeting current and potential stakeholders for our Flagship Projects, especially the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law (EMC2) and STEP. The EMC2 also received its first 300 followers on Instagram, which we hope will serve as a good starting basis for the channel to develop further in the future. However, the two largest achievements this year were the successful mobilisation of the ELSA Network in the promotion of our projects and a better use of the PR potential of our two moot court competitions. 40
Thanks to our investments in PR and high presence on Twitter during the rounds of the moot courts, ELSA’s name was mentioned all around the world, reaching target groups of strategic importance. Because of this, ELSA was adequately mentioned on several leading human rights and trade law related platforms, such as the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organisation, the WTO Law Conference of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the Fifth Biennial Global Conference of the Society of International Economic Law, to only name a few. In addition to this, Belgian, Polish and UK Delegations to the Council of Europe were tweeting about ELSA;
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ELSA’s name was mentioned all around the world, reaching target groups of strategic importance universities in Africa, Asia and the Americas were sharing information about the EMC2 with their students, a South African radio channel broadcasted an interview with Ada Gawrysiak, the Head Organiser and a member of our Board. The list could be made even longer. The successful mobilisation of the ELSA Network allowed other projects to shine as well, especially the Summer ELSA Law Schools and STEP. With the unification of the Law Schools’ application periods, it became possible to make a clear promotion, resulting in around 25 000 people reached per one Facebook post. As for STEP, the numbers exceeded everything we had ever seen before and culminated in a new allANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
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time-high - more than 100 000 people reached for the launching post in November 2015 - thanks to ELSA Officers’ engagement and active sharing.
As for STEP, the numbers exceeded everything we had ever seen before and culminated in a new all-timehigh thanks to ELSA Officers’ engagement and active sharing
To be able to grow and keep providing law students with opportunities to develop, we need to keep up with the development of the society. We don’t only need to be familiar with new communication platforms and solutions but, being world’s largest independent association for law students, we also need to master all the written and unwritten online communication rules quickly. I am very happy to say that this year, we took one strong and confident step to the right direction.
Dagne Sabockyte
Vice President for Marketing ELSA International 2015/2016
ELSA's Intranet
Intranet - connecting every ELSA member ELSA has an intranet without any costs. Now it is a reality. The last part of the project is its actual use. I thought that I knew this association really well even before I became a member of the International Board. However, the reality was that by being active in the national or local level you have no chances to see all the issues and bureaucratic complications connected with the work of the network. This convinced me and the rest of the IB to focus on the long-term development and systematic solutions. The area in the biggest need of improvement is, according to me, the Internal Management and its automatization, which nowadays cannot be done without IT. Due to this reason, in addition to my S&C work and webpages, I also focused on the research of potential intranet options, not only for the IB, but also for the ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
whole ELSA network. My focus here was well-established programs provided by big international companies. The reasons are simple. It is of a crucial importance to have the program constantly maintained, constantly updated and managed without any need of special IT skills. Thus, the winner of my research was the Google Apps. Moreover, after many consultations with Google's partners, we found the easiest and cheapest implementation method, which is now being implemented, already since May 2016. As the creation of network of accounts, mailing lists and various administrative powers for more than 350 Local Groups takes a lot of time, the beginning of the overall use of the program 41
could not start during our term. However, I believe that after the transition, the IB 2016/2017 will take over and finish one of the most important procedures in ELSA' history. The benefits of the implementation of this product, which is granted to the ELSA network for free by Google, are tremendous. I will try to sum up the most important features here: - Google Docs became a must have for me during this year. It provides an opportunity to create, edit and share files online, to work with other colleagues on the same document in real time and to see their activity. - Unlimited Drive for each member of our network with possibilities of accessing all the relevant internal documents within different levels of permissions, based on the fact whether the user is an officer and if so, on what level. This basically means an unlimited online archive for all the Local, National and International boards accessible anytime, by any kind of device. No more sending attachments or merging different versions. - Admin console, which finally provides the International Board with all the relevant information about all the members and officers, easy way of finding and contacting any individual member of ELSA, and much more. To sum up, it will make the administrative work of the Secretary General 42
much easier and much more transparent. - Intranet sites for each Local and National Group, where their members would be able to see all the internal information, all the internal documents, the internal calendar of the Group, etc. This means that teams don’t have to rely on IT specialists or web developers. - Google app products will be available for each single member of each single Local Group without any limitations. To sum up, our aim is to grant Google Apps to each single individual member, to create a structure of permissions for access on each level, to create an online archive accessible as an intranet and to have each member of an ELSA Local Group registered within this intranet. This would allow us to easily find all the information on one place, would not cost a single euro and would be very simple to manage and update. Most of the aforementioned tasks are already done. The last part of the project is its actual use. Thus, I believe that year 2016/2017 will be the first year of ELSA’s intranet.
Matej Sadloň
Vice President for Seminars & Conferences ELSA International 2015/2016
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Financial Strategy
To stability and beyond Implementing a new financial strategy in ELSA Nearly every major challenge, which officers in ELSA face, is either to a smaller, or to a bigger extent connected with the (in most cases) one-year term limitation. With the budget of ELSA International steadily increasing for the past years by about 5-10% p.a., yet another threat of inconsistency rises, and puts pressure on the Treasurer of the International Board further. Regardless of this one-year limitation, however, it is essential not to be too focused on the present in terms of finances – every financial action, purchase, budgetary allocation or a fundraising action will eventually have impact, in a smaller or bigger way on the financial sustainability of the association in the long run, and as such, is most likely connected to another plan, action or purchase from the past. In other words, the financial decisions overcome the boundaries of time, and often extend over several terms. As such, they have to follow a firm pattern, a guide – a strategy. The Financial Strategy presents such process and means, by which the longterm goals (Strategic Goals of ELSA) may be achieved in the area of financial management. The process of its implementation spanned over two International Council Meetings (ICM) and was, after the first one, overseen also by the Working Group on Financial Strategy. For the core idea, a thorough financial strategy implementation proposal was presented and passed at the ICM Batumi, in October 2015. This proposal was, in fact, a mere procedural regulation, which laid forth the implementation process, and defined basic aspects such as drafting, approval and revision roles of the Working Group, and internal structure of the Financial Strategy. In addition, the proposal also defined the roles of the President and the Treasurer in the financial process – using a simple sailing metaphor, it defined the President as the “captain” of the ship, proposing the focuses of spending and fundraising, and the Treasurer as the “navigator”, deciding on the practicalities of the route. During the second, post-ICM phase, the Working ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
Group undertook a more practical task – a thorough financial analysis of several past terms, mapping sources and compositions of income and expenditures, their amounts, and, most importantly, their yearly changes and offsets from average values. The outcome of the analysis was then presented to the National and Local ELSA Presidents at the International President’s Meeting in Brno, Czech Republic, in February 2016, along with the key findings and conclusions in terms of the strategy’s execution part – i.e. the recommendations for “safe” binding ranges, in which certain income and expense budget posts should remain for the upcoming three years. In the last phase before passing of the financial strategy 2016-2019, inputs from externals, as well as past Treasurers of the International Board were collected. The final document was then presented, amended and introduced at the ICM Malta, in March 2015 during which it was also successfully approved and passed by the Council. Thus, by introducing general guidelines for the future International Boards, the Working Group firmly believes that effort can now be saved by mere adherence to the agreed plan (especially during the early phase of the term), and energy shifted to more concrete, operational goals, or evaluation of the adherence to the plan. By continuously monitoring the financial performance and comparing it to the strategy, the International Board will gain a valuable tool to support their decisions, or a source of inspiration for further financial actions, should they need any. Needless to say, the Financial Strategy’s main aim is simple: to utilize the knowledge of the past in order to guide the financial decisions of the future.
Marek Škultéty
Treasurer ELSA International 2015/2016
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Internal Management
Internal Management in ELSA The cornerstone of structural development
Internal Management in ELSA covers a wide scope of areas that aim at providing an organised and functional administration, a stronger and structured Network, as well as trained and efficient human resources. As the Secretary General of the International Board, I – along with my Directors, Assistants and Teams – was responsible for making sure that internal progress is achieved and further necessary improvements take place. Besides, a smoothly running association management provides a more fertile ground for projects to flourish and new ideas to be born.
Internal Regulations As law students, we are all very interested in our association’s regulatory frameworks in regards to both their implementation and their clear phrasing. However, the latter one has many times stalled discussions on other topics and redirected our focus away from strategic decisions for further development. Bearing that in mind, a proposal of great significance to introduce new Statutes and Standing Orders was submitted by the International Board to the International Council of ELSA. Comprised of all National Groups, which offered their input, made further suggestions and gave an overwhelming positive feedback, the International Council welcomed our efforts to clear out our main internal regulations and provide clarifications on issues which had been concerning the ELSA Network. The only step left at the end of our term for the next International Board was the ratification of the new Statutes and Standing Orders by the International Council.
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Quality Management The constant quantity enlargement of ELSA has unraveled the need for structured quality management. In order to make this possible, a review of the quality principles was conducted and, on the basis of the results, a Quality Management System was introduced establishing general quality standards regarding knowledge transfer, information dissemination, Network support and project management. These general rules are expected to work as a foundation for the establishment of quality standards in every area of activity in ELSA. Through the Quality Management System, we aim at more effective quality control and higher quality assurance around the ELSA Network. Network Support One of the focus points of the Quality Management System of ELSA is Network Support. The removal of the old Network Support System opened the door to new methods of ensuring interaction, cooperation and mutual assistance within the ELSA Network. All National and Local Groups are now expected to submit an inquiry by filling in their areas of good and limited knowledge. The results will then be processed and compiled in the annual Network Support Report which serves as a tool bringing ELSA Groups together to confirm their mutual support and sharing of expertise. Human Resources The introduction of the new Human Resources Strategy of ELSA last year required the first attempt of im-
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
plementation to take place during my term in office. Raising awareness and creating the first useful materials were my main focus points, which were concluded with the issuing of the Human Resources Manual, a two-year-long work product. The first annual evaluation of the Human Resources Strategy bared positive feedback and optimistic results for the future. Human Resources is an indispensable asset for our association and our belief is that structured recruitment, interaction, maintenance, development and alumni involvement will ensure the continuity and further advancement of ELSA. ELSA Training ELSA Training is a project through which ELSA contributes to the personal and professional development of law students and young lawyers. The aim is that the participants acquire new skills or further practice the ones they already have obtained. Through a training session and with the guidance of our trainers, our members can developm their self-awareness, improve their intrapersonal and interpersonal competences, as well as gain useful knowledge and expertise for life. This year, my focus was mostly drawn on administrative improvements, such as the updating of the International Trainers’ Pool database, the reform of the ITP training request as well as the creation of a comprehensive ELSA Training webpage. Moreover, the completion of the National Trainers’ Pool Manual, which started during my predecessor’s term, provides key
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information and know-how regarding the establishment of pools of trainers on the national level, with the purpose of overcoming potential language barriers and ensuring practical proximity. Last but not least, ELSA introduced a new training publication, called Agility, this year. Agility incorporates information on ELSA Training, articles from the Trainers of the International Trainers’ Pool and externals, testimonials from people having organised or participated in an ELSA Training session or event. What makes Agility special is that it also includes practical advice and tips on various topics, much like a short but concrete training on paper. Concluding, ELSA Training is a key implementation tool of the Human Resources Strategy, which shapes our members and executive officers. The wide scope of Internal Management in ELSA along with all its procedures and rules shall be secured by the creation of the new Internal Management Manual, which provides all necessary information and useful inputs to the future generations of the ELSA Network for a more efficient internal structure and a more productive association management. When internally organised, then externally strong whatsoever!
Hector Tsamis
Secretary General ELSA International 2015/2016
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ELSA Delegations
ELSA Delegations
One more year of progress
2015/2016 was a very successful year for ELSA Delegations in ELSA International. We kept the success from last year and developed a common interest for ELSA Delegations in the whole Network. We are very happy to say that this term we succeeded in securing a new cooperation with the World Bank in Washington, D.C. and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. The World Bank aims to end extreme poverty and promote the shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country. It supports the developing countries through policy advice, research and analysis, and technical assistance. Established in 1944, the World Bank is headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA. Cooperation between the World Bank and ELSA started with the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development, which will be held in December 2016. Four ELSA Delegates will represent ELSA in Washington, D.C. during the Forum. The mission of OECD is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. It provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. It was established in 1961 and has its headquarters in Paris. Our cooperation started with the Annual Forum, which
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was attended by 13 ELSA Delegates. A Delegation of 5 people attended the Global Forum of Responsible Conduct later. Finally, another achievement of the International ELSA Delegations Team this year was a good presence on the international level of the association. We travelled to the International Council Meetings to Batumi, Georgia, in October 2015 and to Malta in 2016, to the International Presidents’ Meeting in Brno, Czech Republic, in February 2016, and among others, to the German, Finnish and Czech National Council Meetings, where we gave presentations about ELSA Delegations as well as promoted the idea of Delegations in the ELSA Network, which resulted in a greater overall knowledge about this flagship project and an increased capacity to attract members to participate, thus increasing the level of the applications.
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We kept the success from last year and developed a common interest for ELSA Delegations in the whole Network Evgenia Podgorbunskikh Director for Delegations ELSA International 2015/2016
ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016
ELSA Delegations 2015/2016
1,118 applications received 250 Delegates appointed 55 different sessions attended by ELSA Delegates
(UN Human Rights Bodies, ICC, OECD, UNCITRAL, UN ECOSOC, UNODC, WIPO, World Bank)
Applications from 35 countries (out of 43 possible ELSA countries)
Delegates sent to 8 cities:
Geneva, The Hague, New York, Paris, Rome, Strasbourg, Vienna and Washington, D.C.
15% more likes on ELSA Delegations Facebook page Selection Criteria updated Two new cooperations: OECD and World Bank
ELSA International 239 Boulevard Général Jacques B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 E-mail: elsa@elsa.org Website: www.elsa.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/elsa.org Twitter: www.twitter.com/elsainfo
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ANNUAL REPORT | 2015/2016