Synergy Magazine 53

Magazine of The European Law Students’ Association

No.53 · I-2013

SYNERGY

magazine

Human Rights and Integration

Citizenship and integration

What is Hate Speech?

Nils Muižnieks, The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, p. 7

Citizenship as a human rights instrument of integration, p. 10

"There is no clear or unique understanding", p. 28

Human Rights and Integration:

“All different, all together”

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ABOUT ELSA

ELSA International Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 Fax: + 32 2 646 29 23 E-mail: elsa@elsa.org

The Association

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The European Law Students’ Association, ELSA, is an international, independent, non-political and non-profit-making organisation comprised and run by and for law students and young lawyers.

Founded in 1981 by law students from Austria, Hungary, Poland and West Germany, ELSA is today the world’s largest independent law students’ association.

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Synergy Magazine

Synergy Magazine is ELSA's members' magazine, which is printed in 10 000 copies and distributed all over the ELSA Network.

The articles are contributions from students, young and experienced lawyers as well as academics.

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"A JUST WORLD IN WHICH THERE IS RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY"

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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.

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Editor’s letter Dear ELSA friends,

In 1992, ELSA decided to express its commitment to raising awareness of Human Rights into the ELSA Vision and the Philosophy Statement.

Today, 21 years later, the Association is taking further steps towards this goal.

The ELSA Day is an important factor to the increased awareness of Human Rights, but ELSA has also other projects that aim to stress the importance of human dignity and cultural diversity.

To bring up examples; the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition and the Essay Competition on Online Hate Speech, both organised in close cooperation with the Council of Europe.

A lot will happen and develop in ELSA during 2013. Two Moot Court Vice President Competitions will take place, a new for Marketing ELSA International Strategic Plan will be adopted and several International Conferences and Summer Law Schools will take place all around the ELSA Network. Not to forget the ELSA Day with Human Rights related events in many law faculties, of course on the same day!

This edition of Synergy Magazine covers two main topics; Integration and Hate speech. On the following pages, you can read a lot of interesting articles on these topics. Do not miss the articles from Council of Europe, UNHCR and Católica Global School of Law! You can of course also read about activities and projects organised in the ELSA Network.

Anders Liljeberg

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Enjoy!

SYNERGY magazine

Contents

Editor's Letter

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Integration and Human Rights

Integration strategies Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe, p. 7

The ELSA Day – “all different, all together”

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“We need human rights compliant integration strategies”

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Citizenship as a human rights instrument of integration

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European Union's integration with IE Law School

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Delving Into the Constitutional History of Minority Rights

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With focus on Human Rights and Integration: Council of Europe and UNHCR

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Hate Speeh - A new focus in cooperation with the Council of Europe

Human Rights and Integration UNHCR & the Council of Europe, p.18

What is Hate Speech?

Jan Malinowski, the Council of Europe, p.28

SYNERGY magazine

ELSA goes online - also in the field of law

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The Importance of Maintaining Hate Speech Bans: A Republican Approach

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ELSA Events Calendar 2013

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Jan Malinowski, the Council of Europe: What is Hate Speech?

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Eric Heinze: Time to abolish hate speech bans

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The ELSA Network Interview with Wojciech Kostrzewa, founding father of ELSA

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Participation in an ELSA Moot Court: “An excellent experience!”

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“21 years of creating opportunities for encounter and exchange”

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International Focus Programme: Final Conference in Gdansk, Poland

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ELSA Malta and legal writing opportunities

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International Council Meeting: “Our evergreen memories”

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26 years of organising Human Rights events

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ELSA for Children Legal Research Group

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The ELSA Day 2013

The ELSA Day, a new concept in the ELSA Network

All different, all together!

When groups of ELSA members come to visit the ELSA House in Brussels, the International Board always gives a presentation of our main projects and core values, and I love to start it with one question: What makes ELSA special?

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have always had the feeling to be part of something special since I joined my local ELSA group in Ferrara, Italy. However, I got a better picture after my first interFederica Toscano national event and it became even cleaVice President for rer after my first International Council Seminar & Conferences ELSA International Meeting of ELSA. 38 000 law students in 41 different countries, from Ireland to Azerbaijan, from Estonia to Portugal, are willing to challenge the status quo of legal education. Hungry of knowledge and experiences, colleagues from all over Europe are eager to work together sharing the same core values. We want to contribute to realise a just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

This is what makes us special. This is what makes the difference between us and other youth associations, other NGOs and other law students. This Network is our strength - belonging to a crew of creative and hardworking students is what motivates us the most.

However, considering my personal experience and talking to our members made me realise that it is not to be assumed that ELSAnians all over Europe are aware of this strength, of this resource. This is why we needed something that could make us feel all different, but all together.

The ELSA Day is the first time in the ELSA history when the entire ELSA Network, 41 countries and 226 local groups, will work together to realise this unique Human

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“

This is why we needed something that could make us feel all different, but all together.

Rights event. On the 20 th of March 2013, officers from all over Europe will promote our vision and our core values, and will show universities, media, partners that there is a strong group of internationally minded and professionally skilled students behind the name ELSA. Among the events taking place on the ELSA Day, we have a good number of Seminars, Panel Discussions, Moot Court Competitions and Institutional Visits, but there are also be possibilities to participate in film screenings, concerts and art exhibitions.

The enthusiasm from the ELSA Network is incredible since the very first moment in which the Association has started to work on the idea of the ELSA Day. I am convinced that on the 20 th of March we will all realise that borders don‘t exist when you share the same hunger and the same values.

Integration

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

“We need human rights compliant integration strategies” Nils Muižnieks is the Commissioner for Human Rights, an independent, non-judicial institution of the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of, and respect for, human rights in the 47 member States

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he challenge of creating integrated societies in Europe is increasingly urgent, Nils Muižnieks as “older” minorities have demanCouncil of Europe ded recognition and rights and Commissioner for “new” minorities have emerged as Human Rights a result of migration. These changes have disrupted old understandings of national identity and generated both new opportunities and tensions. Human rights compliant integration strategies can be an essential element for maximizing the gains of diversity and managing its inherent strains. Human rights based integration is all the more necessary in the context of the current economic crisis, which appears to have led to increased intolerance throughout our continent.

Integration can be seen as a two-way process involving mutual recognition and interaction between persons belonging to minority groups and the majority. Integration should not be confused with forcible assimilation, which is prohibited under international human rights law. The human rights aspects of integration include fostering democratic participation, protecting minority identities, strengthening freedom of religion, ensuring non-discrimination, and combatting racism and intolerance.

SYNERGY magazine

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Respect for human rights is a concept which goes beyond the statutory texts and requires a human rights culture in our societies.

The Council of Europe provides a wealth of human rights standards which in one way or another contribute to the building of integrated societies through the inclusion of all members regardless of ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious origin. The European Convention on Human Rights establishes, in its article 14, that the rights and freedoms which are recognised should be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion etc. Protocol 12 to the Convention generalises this non-discrimination clause. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities specifies in its first article that the protection of national minorities is an integral part of the international protection of human rights. The Framework Convention’s ultimate goal is the establishment of integrated and cohesive societies, and this can only be achieved through respecting the rights of minorities. The Council of Europe’s independent anti-racism monitoring body, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), has produced in-depth monitoring reports on all European countries and developed General Policy Recommendations that illustrate best practices in this area.

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Integration However, respect for human rights is a concept which goes beyond the statutory texts and requires a human rights culture in our societies. Our democratic European societies, as the European Court of Human Rights itself has noted, should be characterised by “pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness.” States have still to realise that the creation of a climate of tolerance and dialogue is necessary in order to allow ethnic and cultural diversity to be factors of cohesion and not of division for European societies. The following two examples illustrate particularly well the paradoxes of current so-called integration policies.

First of all, let me take the example of Roma and integration – a topic that my Office has often addressed in country reports and thematic work. Decades of “integration policies” aiming to reduce poverty and marginalisation among Roma have been largely ineffective, because they did not sufficiently (and often not at all) take into account the fact that their basis should have been to combat racism and discrimination against Roma. In this case, respect for human rights and the effective implementation of the principle of non-discrimination are prerequisites for the success of strategies to improve the situation of Roma. Another example showing that the non-respect of human rights prevents societies from advancing towards integration is statelessness.

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It is high time to promote a dynamic vision of the future of our societies and to make human rights the cornerstone of all integration policies in Europe.

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I would like to stress the problematic nature of approaching integration as an imposed obligation and the tone of public debate on this subject.

Thousands of de facto stateless Roma in Europe do not have access to housing, education, healthcare, justice, etc. Statelessness reinforces and feeds marginalisation and social exclusion.

It is an extreme form of refusal of integration because the authorities do not even recognise the legal existence of these persons or their citizenship.

Secondly, I would like to stress the problematic nature of approaching integration as an imposed obligation and the tone of public debate on this subject. ECRI, in which I previously served as a member and chair, has examined this issue in numerous country reports. In the last few years, a new tendency has emerged in which integration is often considered the unique responsibility of members of minorities. This flawed approach alleges that the so-called “integration deficit” of minorities presents a danger for the majority society, not for members of minorities. Sometimes subscribers of this school of thought go further by justifying the existence of sanctions against a person belonging to a minority in the case of a perceived lack of will on their part to integrate. These “obligatory integration measures” can be defined as controlling access to rights via the fulfilment of certain requirements in the field of integration. The sanctions in case of non-satisfaction of the requirements in question can take different forms and go as far as refusal of nationality. In terms of the requirements to be fulfilled, they have most often to do with knowledge of the language, culture, history and society of the host country.

Most of these measures can pose problems in terms of their compatibility with non-discrimination standards.

The climate of hostility which accompanies the application of these measures is another cause for concern.

Public debate on integration does not always take place within a constructive climate. On the contrary, in some countries the debate has even assumed a xenophobic tone. In fact, the political and media debates around the question of integration have progressively turned into a more general debate on “cultures” and “values” which in some countries has led to stigmatisation, which in turn only reinforces stereotypes and prejudices towards minorities.

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Integration In the end, what is needed above all is a strong political will to defend pluralistic societies. All of these issues represent a very real challenge for national human rights policies. States should implement measures aiming at the full integration into society of different groups. Greater priority should be given to the school system and to inclusive primary and secondary education. Comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation should be adopted and monitoring bodies established to guarantee equality for all. Further measures should address discrimination in public and private employment policies.

Critical to the success of integration is combatting both hate speech and hate crimes. Hate speech in political and media discourse can poison the atmosphere, setting the stage for acts of discrimination and violence against persons belonging to various vulnerable groups, particularly minorities and migrants. Hate crimes, in turn, affect not only the individuals targeted, but the entire group to which the target belongs and the broader fabric of society. What are urgently needed are political leadership and a human rights oriented debate on diversity and migration which is open and forward–looking, not based on fear and imagined conceptions of a homogeneity that never existed and cannot be created in modern democratic societies.

It is high time to promote a dynamic vision of the future of our societies and to make human rights the cornerstone of all integration policies in Europe.

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In the end, what is needed above all is a strong political will to defend pluralistic societies.

SYNERGY magazine

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Citizenship and integration

Gonçalo Matias, Católica Global School of Law

Citizenship as a human rights instrument of integration Immigration represents an important challenge to the internal laws of the States. The need for integration of foreigners, the definition of their rights and obligations, and the relationship between immigration and citizenship rules are some of the aspects that concern lawmakers and judicial actors all over the world.

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n this context it is particularly important to define the rights Gonçalo Matias of so-called ‘Migrant workers’.

Associate Dean for In fact, the increased mobility resulting International Affairs Católica Global School of Law from the travel simplification, globalization, and a greater awareness of national disparities led to major movements of people seeking for work in other countries than the ones of their origin.

It is therefore very important to assess the international legal rights and protection of migrants and migrant workers and their families so that these persons are not exposed to the exploitation of all sorts of illegal activities. Recent examples show that migrants are particularly vulnerable to the action of clandestine immigration networks of which they come out to be, unfortunately, the main victims.

The cornerstone of protection of rights has become the universalization of human rights and human dignity. For that purpose, personhood replaced citizenship. Even at the internal level, Constitutions have been placing human dignity at the maximum level of the consecration of fundamental rights, which entails that they cannot deny these rights to foreigners simply because they lack the quality of citizens.

Citizenship rights as such are thus reduced to those rights that have an inseparable link to the status of citizen. Being the human dignity the cornerstone of fundamental rights, one should conclude that most fundamental rights

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are inextricably linked to the human person regardless of the citizenship status.

The mass movements of people that we have recently witnessed are based on very different motivations. Seeking for a better job and overall living conditions still can be identified as the major reason why people migrate.

The migratory movements, which led to these changes, resulted from several factors. Salary differences and job opportunities turned the developed increasingly attractive as a destination for migrants from developing countries; especially when other links already exist such as family ties or national origin networks. It is often the case that a particular national minority is known for a certain profession in a Country.

Having in mind these very important data and facts, one crucial concern regarding the regulation of the migration stock rights and legal protection has to do with the migrant’s full integration in the host society. In one word I am concerned here with the acquisition of citizenship by migrants and its importance in the integration of the migrant in the host country.

The OECD International Migration Outlook 2012 shows a steady increase of naturalization rates at the level of the member states. The survey not only includes EU member states but also the United States, Russia, Korea, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, Chile, Canada and Australia. This survey shows the

Citizenship and integration

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naturalization rate evolution by country from 2000 to 2010.

Not all the countries show an increase in the naturalization rate but the general trend is clearly of a steady increase in the numbers1.

So unlike the theorists of the citizenship devaluation, reality shows that citizenship is still a desired status and migrants see in it their way into full integration and political participation in the host country.

In fact, there is a trend for the devaluation of the citizenship concept. It was perceived for many years as a key instrument of internal sovereignty. Once States become transparent as consequence of globalization and of global governance, internal instruments of sovereignty become less powerful.Although this may sound as a way to guarantee political rights and effective participation of migrants in the community, I don’t think it is the best way of integrating migrants in the polity.

1 OECD International Migration Outlook 2012, Statistical Annex, Acquisition of nationality available at: http://www. oecd.org/els/internationalmigrationpoliciesanddata/keystatisticsonmigrationinoecdcountries.htm

SYNERGY magazine

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Scholars developed several theories on the changing phenomena of citizenship. Some declared de devaluation of citizenship, others recognized the pulverization of its elements and other proposes to slice the concept and extend some of its elements to migrants. These theories are generally qualified as transnational or global citizenship.

There is room, although, for a different proposal of revaluation of citizenship and interconnection of the concept both with the global arena and internal democratic polities. In fact, when migrants move to live in another country they become, in the expression of Motomura2, citizens in waiting. This means that a certain level of expectations are raised in what concerns obtaining the citizenship of the country wherein they are living and whose economic, social and political growth they contribute for.

It would be a democratic paradox to exclude these people permanently from the citizenship status. Of course we can claim de irrelevance of the concept or even slice it, 2 Hiroshi Motomura, Americans in Waiting. The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2006)

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Citizenship and integration

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So unlike the theorists of the citizenship devaluation, reality shows that citizenship is still a desired status and migrants see in it their way into full integration and political participation in the host country.

them to migrants will not achieve the ultimate inclusive target as the status will always be lacking.

If we study naturalization policies around the world, a certain pattern can be found. There are also international legal instruments – as the European Convention on Nationality – that impose duties on States related to the granting of citizenship and with the said naturalization policies.

give it away, and then claim the irrelevance of the status. But it will always be a mater of discrimination and ultimately of democratic deficit to admit that, according to a certain perception of sovereignty, the member of the “club” – in the words of Walzer1 – can permanently exclude the others from the exercise of political rights.

It is necessary to reinterpret the right to citizenship inscribed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For many years it was interpreted as prohibiting policies that created or contributed to a situation of Statelessness. For that purpose, international legal instruments were created and judicial decisions were proclaimed. The right to citizenship was perceived as a negative limit to State sovereignty. A State could deny or overpass another State decision on citizenship if that decision was arbitrary (with no effective link) or contributes to the situation of Statelessness.

Seen from this perspective we need to acknowledge the power of citizenship as an instrument of inclusion – and deny the theory of the decline of citizenship – and also acknowledge that diffusing elements of citizenship and granting

It is now necessary to reinterpret that reading of the Declaration. In a globalized world where even citizenship – the last bastion of sovereignty (Legomsky)2 – went global – it is not enough to consider citizenship as a negative limit to state

1 Walzer Michael, Spheres of Justice, A defense of pluralism end equality, Basic Books, New York (1983)

2 Spephen Legomsky, The Last Bastions of State Sovereignty: Immigration and Nationality Go Global, in Andrew C. Sobel (ed.), Challenges of Globalization, chap.

3 (pp. 43-57) (Routledge Press, 2009)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55902087@N05/6987833402

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Citizenship and integration sovereignty. It is probably necessary to consider it as a positive imposition on States. That means that if we consider the right to citizenship as a natural consequence of a path, down the road, that someone initiated the moment that set foot as a migrant in a country, one should probably recognize that the right to citizenship nowadays is no longer the right to have one citizenship but the right to have access to a certain citizenship.

Based on the democratic principle and on the naturalization pattern around the world, it would be possible to determine that no citizen in waiting should be permanently excluded from citizenship. Although the said proposition might sound quite consensual – especially within western countries with standard naturalization policies – the simple affirmation of what has been said is very controversial. It not only imposes a positive duty overriding an important dimension of sovereignty – the symbolic definition of the people – but it also brings up the discussion about undocumented migration. The western pattern on naturalization policies certainly does not include undocumented migrants.

In any event, it should be acknowledged that citizenship is a powerful integration tool and that, despite what we might think, it is valued and perceived as an important good by the migrants that choose a country other than the one where they are nationals to live and work.

Even when personhood replaced citizenship as the main criteria for the protection of human rights – thus allowing for a first interpretation on citizenship devaluation – data shows that citizenship is still desired by migrants The full status, the free relationship with the territory and the ability to exercise political rights, along with its

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symbolic meaning, gives citizenship its very important inclusion feature. That is why while discussing inclusion and human rights, citizenship must be included in this discussion as a cornerstone.

In sum, the human right to citizenship is chief among the rights identifiable as crucial in the inclusion of human beings in a given community.

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European Integration

European Union's integration

How do we define the European identity?

IE Law School and IE Master International Relations’ experts on the European Union, Marie-José Garot, and Ignacio Molina, discuss about the European Union’s integration.

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E Law School and IE Master International Relations’ experts on the European Union, Marie-José Garot, and Ignacio Molina, discuss about the European Union’s integration.

risk of leaving the EU has grown in the last years.

Ignacio Molina PhD in Political Science IE School of Arts and Humanities

How do you foresee the future of the European Union after the Euro crisis?

Ignacio Molina: The European Union sees now the light at the end of the tunnel of the economic and political crisis despite pessimist forecasts about the sustainability of the euro.

With realism, but also with vision, the EU institutions and most member states have renewed their hope in the integration process as part of the solution and not as the problem. If the ambitious project to reinforce the Economic and Monetary Union (with the building blocks of a banking union, an integrated fiscal framework, more coordination of economic structural reforms and the strengthening of the democratic legitimacy) is successful, then the single currency will be an irreversible outcome and the EU will send a strong signal of credibility to other global actors and investors. However, a parallel challenge is to recover as well the credibility before the European citizens, many of them unhappy with the management of the crisis. It will not be an easy task since this dissatisfaction has different reasons at the core or the Eurozone, at the periphery, and even in some countries which are not part of the EMU; and particularly the United Kingdom, where the

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Marie-José Garot

Marie-José Garot: I totally agree with you, Ignacio. I think moreover, that IE Law School apart from these crucial questions regarding the economic integration process and its democratic legitimacy and the need of a clear European discourse, the European Union has also to face other challenges, as for example, the limits of its territory, its demographic deficit (and the correlative question of immigration) or its energy dependency.

Professor of European Union Law

What is the European external strategy in a globalized world and in particular in relation to its southern neighbours in view of the Arab Spring?

Ignacio Molina: The Common Foreign and Security Policy suffers several political and material constraints. Actually, it does not deserve yet the name of “common” or “policy”.

However, the launching of the European External Action Service in 2010, the globalization process and the crisis itself (demonstrating the need of economies of scale to shape a world in which the European and Western power is declining) are good reasons to be much more ambitious. The Arab Spring (with its great potentials and risks) is a great opportunity to rethink European role in the world. The EU has relevant economic and political tools which can be used efficiently in its vicinity, demonstrating a capacity to defend at the same time

European Integration MEDIO_95x130_lawschool copia.pdf 1 11/01/2013 14:01:10

their internal interests (security, or supply of energy), the ambitions of their neighbours (stability, prosperity) and general values (rule of law, pluralism, or fight against climate change).

Marie-José Garot: Referring to the tools the EU could use, let’s remember that last December the Nobel Committee awarded the EU the Nobel Peace Prize 2012 which "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe". Europe has to be able now to “export” this model and to talk with a single voice in the international scene. Indeed, it seems obvious that the European Union will not be able to overcome the current economic crisis and to guarantee the economic welfare of its citizens, without becoming a strong international actor, even if it is much more demanding in terms of political integration.

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Is the idea of a European identity compatible with the enlargement of the European Union, which is one of its major challenges?

Ignacio Molina: The European identity is not cultural or civilizational. It is actually defined by the contents of the political, economic and legal conditions that a state must assume to be a member of the European Union. These three conditions (the socalled “Copenhagen criteria” because they were delineated in the Danish capital in 1993 as a guide for the new Eastern candidates) refer to: (a) stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law and respect for individual rights, (b) the existence of a market economy and the capacity to cope with the competitive pressure within the internal market, and (c) the ability to take on all the legal obligations of membership and the adherence to the aim of an ever

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closer economic and political integration among the peoples of Europe. Therefore, the European identity is by definition compatible with the enlargement, since a country can only become a new member state when it is able to demonstrate that fulfills all these criteria.

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Marie-José Garot: Jurgen Habermas explained that a national identity does not necessarily need to be cultural. It can be based on the adhesion to constitutional values (what he called the “constitutional patriotism”), as it is the case of the United States with a population of so diverse origins. It is also, to a certain extent, the idea behind the development of the European Citizenship, as originally proclaimed in the Maastricht Treaty.

Therefore, ideally, the enlargement of the European Union to new countries (currently, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Iceland and Turkey are official candidate countries) should not “jeopardize” the feeling of belonging to the European Union of the 500 million European citizens. Another question is whether the enlargement is relevant, from other points of view (moral, institutional, political, and economical).

SYNERGY magazine

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The European identity is not cultural or civilizational. It is actually defined by the contents of the political, economic and legal conditions that a state must assume to be a member of the European Union.

Minority Rights

Reflections on constitutional cultures

Delving Into the Constitutional History of Minority Rights Anny Stoikova, a doctoral student in the Department of Legal Studies at Central European University in Budapest, is examining how the constitutional cultures of Bulgaria, Canada and Belgium have viewed ethnic and religious minorities over the course of history.

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nation’s constitution, which naturally reflects its Doctoral Student historical relationships with Department of Legal Studies other nations, is often an imperfect Central European University document when it comes to protecting human rights. Bulgaria has a Turkish minority that today accounts for about 12 percent of the population, making it the country’s biggest ethnic and religious minority. The legacy of the Ottoman Empire weighs heavily, Stoikova says.

Anny Stoikova

“Although Bulgaria’s first constitution, promulgated in the 19th century, created guarantees for individual rights and religious freedom, the state subsequently created Muslim community councils, which became a way to control the minority,” she explains.

The national ideology shifted again with the coming of the communist regime, and again as it began to crumble. “At the beginning of the socialist era, there was a degree of tolerance. But as the socialist regime entered a legitimacy crisis, it began a new emphasis on homogeneity. The Ottoman legacy forced society to continually ask the question, “Are these ethnic Turks, or Bulgarians who were forced to convert to Islam?” “Stoikova says.

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The communist regime chose the latter interpretation.

In 1988-89, it prohibited the use of the Turkish language and observation of holidays and customs, and forced citizens who identified as Turkish to change their names to Bulgarian ones.

This caused a significant migration to Turkey, which welcomed the émigrés. When the communist regime fell, and a new democratic government showed a commitment to human rights, many returned to Bulgaria.

Stoikova, who completed an LL.M. degree at CEU in Budapest in 2010 with a focus on Comparative Constitutional Law, says Bulgaria was then proud of the changes it introduced. “Not long after the regime change, the Turkish minority’s coexistence with Bulgarians was lauded as a model,” Stoikova says. “During the Yugoslav crisis, and negotiations to join the European Union, Bulgaria used its tolerance as a way to stand out, a bargaining chip.” That doesn’t mean it was the end of the Ottoman legacy. As a result of the historical fear of a push for autonomy by the Turkish minority, Bulgaria’s new democratic constitution put an unusually high priority on individual rights. For example, the constitution prohibits creation of political groups on ethnic or religious grounds, Stoikova explains.

Minority Rights

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Nevertheless, the Turkish population is represented by such a party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and despite the constitutional prohibition on ethnic parties, Bulgaria’s constitutional court upheld the constitutionality of the newly formed Turkish party. “There’s a tension between individual rights and the treatment of ethnic and religious groups in every constitution, every nation,” Stoikova says. Today that tension is evident in relations with Bulgaria’s Roma minority, and the effort to uphold EU directives on Roma rights.

“Today, Roma identity is conceptualized in the EU too bluntly, since there is a great ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity among Roma in Europe, meaning a focus on individual rights may often be a more useful tool,” Stoikova says. The Roma population in Bulgaria is not likely to become a coherent group that would seek representation via a single political party, she adds.

These tensions have a long historical lineage. For example, the treatment of Bulgaria’s Roma population in SYNERGY magazine

the 19th century reproduced elements of the Ottoman system, in which the multicultural character of Muslim minorities was not recognized, and Muslim Roma were under the dominance of the ethnic Turks’ community councils. Given the diversity of the Roma, the minority is perhaps better served by an approach based on individual rights such as that of the current Bulgarian constitution, which however proves difficult to implement.

The tension between individual rights and minority rights is also evident in Canada, Stoikova says. Canada is often praised for its “mosaic” concept, in which ethnic minorities are encouraged to preserve their languages and traditions while adopting a Canadian identity as well. However, interpretations of the Constitution of 1982, and 18th and 19thcentury common law often favored the federal state, in the interest of nation-building, to such an extent that aboriginal rights were ignored, downplayed, or revoked. The country’s legal system is now trying to trace aboriginal land claims with an eye to human rights as well as adhering to legal precedent, a difficult balancing act.

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Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg

With focus on Human Rights and Integration

The Cooperation between the Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Olivier Beer (UNHCR) was established on UNHCR Representative to 14 December 1950 by the United the European Institutions Nations General Assembly.

Its in Strasbourg mandate is to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide.1 It has a Bureau in Europe which covers 48 countries of the continent.

persons of concern to UNHCR, such as stateless persons, asylum-seekers or internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Such protection is increasingly needed; Diane Bonifaix we are all witnessing a shrinking asylum Intern, UNHCR Representaspace and the rise of intolerance and tive to the European Institutions in Strasbourg xenophobia across Europe. Last year has not been an exception, with more than 875,000 people forced to flee their countries of origin to seek refuge abroad and hundreds of thousands more internally displaced.

The UNHCR Representation to the European Institutions in Strasbourg was created in 1996 in order to ensure that the standard-setting instruments and human rights monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe (CoE) institutions continue to protect the human rights of refugees and other

Protecting refugees in Europe can only be achieved if there is a commitment of host countries to the protection of refugees and if the principle of non-refoulement is respected, irrespective of the significant social and economic constraints that States are facing due to the global economic turmoil.

Protecting refugees in Europe can only be achieved if there is a commitment of host countries to the protection of refugees and if the principle of nonrefoulement is respected.

The number of asylum-seekers and refugees in Europe is limited and manageable in comparison with the number of refugees in the developing world. However, there is still need for a better harmonisation of asylum procedures in Europe and the adoption of a more concerted and consistent protection response, in conformity with the fulfillment of the protection promise enshrined in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.2 In order to respond to acute emergencies taking place in several parts of the world

1. Background Information

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1

18

UNHCR’s website: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home.

2

As of 31 January 2012, all Council of Europe Member States have rati fied the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, except Andorra and San Marino, cf. http://treaties.un.org/.

Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg (e.g. Mali, South Sudan, Syria or the Democratic Republic of Congo), more solidarity and responsibility-sharing between CoE Member States is necessary.3 The Council of Europe, not to be confused with the European Union (EU), is based in Strasbourg (France) and covers almost the entire European continent, with its 47 Member States. Its mission is to promote respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe.4 It is composed of several bodies such as the Secretary General heading the Secretariat of the CoE,5 the Committee of Ministers (CM),6 the CoE decision-making body, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).7 The best known body of the CoE is the European

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Court of Human Rights (ECtHR),8 its judicial organ, which enforces the European Concention on Human Rights (ECHR). UNHCR in Strasbourg also cooperates with the European Parliament when sessions take place in the city.

2. UNHCR’s Cooperation with the Council of Europe UNHCR’s cooperation with the CoE was formalised by the 1999 Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations and strengthened by the 2008 United Nations General Assembly resolution on Cooperation between the United Nations and the CoE.9

UNHCR’s cooperation with the Council of Europe was formalised by the 1999 Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations.

The UNHCR Representation deals with very diverse interlocutors such as ambassadors, directors, heads of secretariat, judges, advisers, heads of intergovernmental committees, and parliamentarians. Moreover, UNHCR covers a wide range of topics addressed by the CoE, such as, inter alia, access to territory and to fair and efficient asylum procedures, trafficking, counter-terrorism measures, children’s rights, violence against women, forced returns and refoulement, detention of asylum-seekers, rights of Roma and LGBTI10

3

4 5 6 7

8 9

10

On 31 December, UNHCR issued its recommendations to Ireland for its EU Presidency (1 January to 30 June 2013), which is now public and available on the Internet at:http://www.unhcr.org/50e40d9f6.html.

Council of Europe’s website: http://www.coe.int/.

Secretary General’s website: http://www.unhcr.org/50e40d9f6.html.

CM’s website: http://www.coe.int/t/cm/home_en.asp.

PACE’s website: http://assembly.coe.int/DefaultE.asp.

SYNERGY magazine

ECtHR’s website: http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/homepage_en.

Link to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/ RES/63/14: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/ RES/63/14&Lang=E. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex persons.

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Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg

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Protecting refugees in Europe can only be achieved if there is a commitment of host countries to the protection of refugees and if the principle of non-refoulement is respected. asylum-seekers, integration of persons of concern, and the fight against racism, intolerance and discrimination.

The goals and objectives of the UNHCR Bureau for Europe fall under three main headings, namely: (1) preserving asylum space and ensuring standards of protection in Europe; (2) promoting durable solutions for refugees, IDPs and other persons of concern to UNHCR; (3) and developing and strengthening partnerships to increase support for UNHCR’s concerns in Europe and worldwide, in particular with the Office of the Secretary General of the CoE, the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DG I),11 the Directorate General of Democracy (DG II),12 ECtHR, and PACE. UNHCR also maintains a close cooperation with other bodies of the Council of Europe, such as the Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, the Children’s Rights Unit and other monitoring bodies, providing regular assistance in the preparation of their country visits and reports with country of origin information on issues of common concern.

A close relationship between both organisations means that UNHCR Strasbourg is in the position to exercise its dual mandate of providing information to the Counil of Europe institutions and advocating for better protection of persons of concern in Europe.

UNHCR Strasbourg provides refugee law expertise and organises events aimed at increasing UNHCR’s visibility and raising awareness on the situation and challenges that refugees and other persons of concern in Europe and beyond are facing.

11 12

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DG I’s website: http://www.coe.int/t/dgi/welcome_en.asp.

DG II’s website: http://www.coe.int/t/democracy/default_en.asp.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/akc77/3370167184

2.1. Legal expertise in refugee-related matters The most direct way in which UNHCR interacts with the ECtHR is by submitting third party interventions on issues pertaining to its mandate. UNHCR submitted crucial third party interventions such as in M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece,13 I.M v. France,14 Hirsi Jamaa and others v. Italy,15 or Al-Tayyar Abdelhakim v. Hungary.16 It also submitted for the first time its observations on refugee children’s social rights to the European Committee of Social Rights in the collective complaint D.C.I. v. Belgium.17 In addition, UNHCR regularly provides guidance to practitioners on the use of Rule 39 interim measures to prevent refoulement. It also provides analytical notes on key ECtHR judgments18 and summaries of relevant judgments 13

14

15

16

17

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ECtHR, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Appl. No. 30696/09, Judgment [GC] of 21 January 2011.

ECtHR, I.M. v. France, Appl. No. 9152/09, Judgment of 2 February 2012.

ECtHR, Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy, Appl. No. 27765/09, Judgment [GC] of 23 February 2012.

ECtHR, Al-Tayyar Abdelhakim v. Hungary, Appl. No. 13058/11, Judg ment of 23 October 2012.

ECSR, DCI v. Belgium, complaint No. 69/2011, decision of 7 Decem ber 2012.

ECtHR, Othman v. the United Kingdom, Appl. No. 8139/09, Judgment of 17 January 2012.

Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg to allow for potential use in UNHCR’s advocacy. Finally, UNHCR Strasbourg is drafting a Manual on the case-law of the European Regional Courts in the asylum field that will mainly target lawyers but also refugees and academics.

challenge for the Council of Europe,”21 “The situation of IDPs and returnees in the North Caucasus region,”22 “Lives lost in the Mediterranean Sea: who is responsible?”23 or “The European response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.”24

2.2. UNHCR’s advocacy

2.3. Awareness-raising events

Last year, the UNHCR Representation advocated for the adoption of statements encouraging donation pledges for the International Donors Conference on durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons in the Western Balkans, held under the auspices of UNHCR in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also addressed the CM in drafting the Council of Europe Guidelines on human rights protection in the context of accelerated asylum procedures in 2009.19

Events are organised every year on the occasion of World Refugee Day (on June 20). For example, in 2012, with the House of Europe, UNHCR organised a debate on “How

UNHCR was also involved in the preparatory work of Council of Europe standard-setting instruments affecting persons of concern in the 47 Council of Europe Member States, such as the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).

Throughout 2012, UNHCR Strasbourg advocated for the protection of Syrian refugees who are fleeing war and seeking asylum on the continent, providing the latest information on the number of refugees in the neighbouring countries and recommendations to Council of Europe Member States.

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UNHCR was also involved in the preparatory work of Council of Europe standardsetting instruments affecting persons of concern in the 47 Council of Europe Member States.

UNHCR also contributes to resolutions, recommendations and opinions adopted by PACE. Some recent examples include reports entitled “The detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Europe,”20 “Migrants and refugees: a continuing 19

20

Human rights protection in the context of accelerated asylum procedures, Guidelines adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 1 July 2009 at the 1062nd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies, https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDocjsp?id=1469829&Site=CM. PACE’s report doc. 12105, adopted on 11 January 2010.

SYNERGY magazine

to ensure respect for refugees’ human rights in Europe?” as well as a screening of the movie “Eden à l’Ouest” in a cinema followed by a debate on refugee issues in Europe and migration. In 2010, UNHCR organised a “Living Library”, which allowed for a direct dialogue between refugees and parliamentarians.

UNHCR and the CoE also held round tables to raise awareness on issues of interest to both organisations. On 23 January 2012, the PACE Network of Parliamentarians “Women Safe from Violence” and the Representation will organise a Hearing aimed at sensitising parliamentarians on Articles 60 and 61 of the Istanbul Convention.

In 2011, UNHCR and the Counil of Europe jointly organised a colloquium on “The Role of Regional Human Rights Courts in Interpreting and Enforcing Legal Standards for Protection of Forcibly Displaced Persons,”25 with the participation of judges from three human rights regional courts in Africa, the Americas and Europe.

2.4. Capacity-building of staff, lawyers, judges, representatives of national asylum authorities and NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) UNHCR organised and contributed to the UNHCR/ International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) workshop on “Protection from refoulement and the right to an effective remedy under the ECHR: from theory to practice.” The importance of the visibility of the Strasbourg office is crucial, and this is why it launched a leaflet in 2009 outlining its objectives and activities and published with the CoE an information pack

21 22 23 24 25

PACE’s report, doc. 12201, adopted on 12 April 2010.

PACE’s report, doc. 12882, adopted on 5 March 2012.

PACE’s report, doc. 12895, adopted on 5 April 2012.

PACE’s report, doc. 13045, adopted on 2 October 2012.

Information on the colloquium: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/ docid/4ee0bb942.html.

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Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg on refugees in December 2010.26 Furthermore, the UNHCR Representation published a toolkit in 2012 in order to inform legal practitioners on how to submit a Rule 39 request for interim measures to the ECtHR.27 The UNHCR Representation directly provides or facilitates training and presentations on refugee law and European human rights law to colleagues, lawyers and judges.

3. Cooperation in the search of durable solutions, mainly integration UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres, when addressing the conference celebrating the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, said: “Let us recommit ourselves to seeking lasting solutions to conflicts.

Let us see refugees as part of the solution, not part of the problem. Let us involve refugees in peace processes.”

An increasing proportion of refugees choose to live in urban areas in Europe, moving there with the expectation of finding greater security and broader choices as regards education, job opportunities and housing. The reality is often disappointing, as most refugees have lost all personal documents, cannot rely on any social network and do not speak the language of the host country. Furthermore, they often have limited or no access to work and suffer from discrimination.

This being said, local integration is the preferred and natural durable solution for many refugees in Europe.28 There is no unified understanding of what integration means, but it is widely accepted that it includes socio-economic, legal and cultural aspects. The Executive Committee Conclusion No. 104 defines integration as a “dynamic and multifaceted twoway process leading to full and equal membership in society.”

29 This includes, on the one hand, preparedness by refugee communities to adapt to host societies without giving-up their cultural identity and on the other hand, receiving communities and institutions should be equally ready to welcome refugees and meet the needs of a diverse and multicultural population.

The process is complex and gradual but is of benefit to the 26

27

28

29

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For more information: http://human-rights-convention. org/2010/12/08/launch-of-the-coeunhcr-protecting-refugees-informa tion-pack/.

Link to the Rule 39 toolkit: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/ pdfid/4f8e8f982.pdf.

There are three durable solutions: Voluntary repatriation to the country of origin, Local integration in the asylum country, and Resettlement to a third country.

Link to the ExCom Conclusion No. 104: http://www.unhcr. org/4357a91b2.html.

host society because refugees have skills which can be used effectively, if they are given the chance to contribute.

Because of the increased importance of integration in Europe, UNHCR agreed to consider integration as a policy and advocacy priority, identifying key areas of concern such as timely family reunification, facilitated naturalization, access to secure residence status, reception conditions’ impact on integration as well as access and support from mainstream services.

In order to fulfill its objectives of integration, UNHCR develops partnerships such as the one with the CoE Youth Department. The latter agreed that the integration and inclusion of young refugees was important for social cohesion and intercultural dialogue. The youth is the future of Europe and this includes young refugees. In March 2010, UNHCR and the CoE Directorate of Youth and Sport organised a consultative meeting on the future work with young refugees aimed at developing concrete strategies and recommendations to the CM of the CoE.30 Achievements were threefold and fostered the creation of a network for young refugees (VYRE - Voice of Young Refugees in Europe), recommendations

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The latter agreed that the integration and inclusion of young refugees was important for social cohesion and intercultural dialogue. The youth is the future of Europe and this includes young refugees. which will be presented by young refugees to the CM, and a PACE draft report on the situation of refugee children once they turn 18.

On 27 September 2012, UNHCR organised, with the Department of the European Social Charter and Security Code (ESC), a joint colloquium on “The Right to Work for Refugees.”31 This colloquium provided an overview of 30

31

Link to the report of the consultative meeting: http://www.coe.int/t/ dg4/youth/Source/Resources/Documents/2010_Consultative_mtg_ Young_Refugees.pdf.

Colloquium programme: http://www.coe.int/T/DGHL/Monitoring/ SocialCharter/Activities/UNHCRProgRightToWork_en.pdf.

Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasbourg refugee law on the right to work (Articles 17 to 19 of the 1951 Refugee Convention), and raised awareness on the need for refugees to have a job in order to begin their integration in the host country.

UNHCR also contributed to PACE’s recommendations regarding integration, such as “The large-scale arrival of irregular migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees on Europe’s southern shores,”32 in which UNHCR briefed PACE on the on-going situation in North Africa, Italy and Malta, and “Unaccompanied children in Europe: issues of arrival, stay and return.”33 The ECtHR recalled in a judgment that States had the obligation, under Article 23 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, to grant to refugees “lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals.”

It further concluded that the refusal of the authorities to award a large family allocation to the applicants solely because they were not nationals had not been reasonably justified and constituted discrimination under Article 14 of the ECHR.34

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Recalling the unique pan-European dimension of its work, the Representation continues its multifaceted cooperation with the CoE...

4. Conclusion

Recalling the unique pan-European dimension of its work, the Representation continues its multifaceted cooperation with the CoE and interacts with its relevant entities and the 47 permanent representations of the CoE Member States.

The importance of the UNHCR Representation lies not only in the advocacy it can exert on the CoE with regard

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to refugee protection but also in its role as a link between Council of Europe activity and UNHCR as a whole. In addition to obtaining contributions from UNHCR regional and country offices in Europe and Headquarters to assist Council of Europe bodies in their standard-setting, cooperation and monitoring activities, the Representation also attends EU parliamentary sessions when required, in order to relay to the Bureau for Europe in Brussels any developments of interest. It also provides training expert legal advice on the interrelation between European human rights law and international refugee law, as well as analysis of the ECtHR’s case law and other CoE legal developments.

32 PACE’s Resolution 1805, adopted on 14 April 2011.

33 PACE’s Recommendation 1969, adopted on 15 April 2011.

34 ECtHR, Fawsie v. Greece, Appl. No. 4008/07 and Saidoun v.

Greece Appl. No. 40083/07, Judgments of 28 October 2010.

SYNERGY magazine

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Hate Speech

ELSA in cooperation with the Council of Europe

ELSA goes online – also in the field of law!

The year of 2013 is going to be all about Online Hate Speech and we want you to join us!

T

wenty years ago, ELSA decided to express its commitment to raising the awaVasco Silva reness of Human Rights through Vice President for Academic Activities legal education into the Philosophy ELSA International Statement. From 1992 until today, ELSA has worked hard on organising high quality Human Rights projects in order to... that’s right – taking the association one step closer “A just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity” Once again, it is time again for ELSA to join the Council of Europe in one of its campaigns, the Online Youth Campaign. Although, the challenge will be even greater this time. ELSA will launch four new international projects that include an Essay Competition, an Online Survey, a Europeanwide Legal Research Group and an international Conference.

The year of 2013 is going to be all about Online Hate Speech and we want you to join us!

Maybe you are asking – why should ELSA join this campaign? The main goal of ELSA’s involvement is to raise awareness among law students and young lawyers about the topic of the campaign and contributing to its high quality legal academic discussion. The campaign includes all forms of online hate speech, mainly the ones that mostly affect young people, such as cyber-bullying and cyber-hate.

The Online Hate Speech Essay Competition is the project that is first out in the list of projects. The competition is focused on online hate speech and whether it is a right or a crime. With this competition, ELSA aims to develop the field of Legal Writing and the promotion of the ELSA Vision – you should know it by now!

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Do not miss the opportunity to take part in some of the most valuable projects of the year, this is your opportunity to contribute!

Before I finish this article, I would also like to tell you about the International Legal Research Group on Online Hate Speech. A Legal Research Group is a group of law students carrying out a research on a specified topic of law with the aim to make their conclusions accessible for the public society. As a part of the Online Hate Speech Campaign, a Legal Research group on this topic will be launched during 2013. Online Hate Speech as topic and we are aiming high; our goal is to have is to have one Research Group in each of the 41 National Groups in ELSA. The Legal Rresearch Group will be complemented by a Final Conference to present the resultss takin place in December 2013. You are of course more than welcome to attend – more information will be out during 2013.

Do not miss the opportunity to take part in some of the most valuable projects of the year, this is your opportunity to contribute!

For more information, visit: www.elsa.org/projects/onlinehatespeech ...or stay tuned on Facebook: www.facebook.com/elsa.org

Hate Speech

Queen Mary University, LL.M. Partner of ELSA International

The Importance of Maintaining Hate Speech Bans: A Republican Approach Tom Hannant is currently researching his doctoral dissertation on republican theory at Queen Mary University of London, under the supervision of professor Eric Heinze.

I

n political theory, the term ‘republican’ is widely used to denote an approach to democracy that Tom Hannant emphasises collective deliberation for PhD Researcher Queen Mary University the common good, as opposed to enof London tirely individual pursuit of self-interest.

From a republican perspective, hate speech, including hateful online communication, must be combatted by strong means, including bans.

The republican concept of freedom abhors domination, that is, the capacity of A to arbitrarily interfere with B’s life choices. The archetypal example is the master/slave relationship. The slave is unfree even if his master is kindly and does not interfere with his life choices. So long as the master has the capacity to interfere, the slave is unfree.

A republican state has a twofold duty to prevent domination. First, it must not dominate. Second, it must regulate individuals to prevent them from dominating one another. That aim is best ensured by requiring that the state track the common interest, which can be achieved through democracy. Citizens must be able both to propose common interest policies for implementation and to contest existing policies which do not promote the common good. That process requires political equality: each must have an equal right to participate. A right to free speech goes some way towards ensuring such equality.

Republicans promote a bounded conception of democracy. It can be restricted if it perpetuates domination.

Free speech, difference and deliberation are encouraged, but must be abridged if they hinder the overall goal of maximising freedom as non-domination.

SYNERGY magazine

It is improbable that hate speech directly causes domination. Talk, by itself, is unlikely to create a capacity for arbitrary interference. Hate speech could however lead indirectly to instances of domination. If hate speech leads to widespread perceptions of ethnic superiority, it could plausibly translate into the creation of dominating relationships.

The primary concern is that hate speech reflects an absence of civic virtue. Republican democracy requires active citizenship; civic virtue must be nurtured. Citizens must love freedom and the institutions which protect it. That ideal demands a wholehearted commitment to the values of the republic. Citizens must be dedicated to maximising non-domination as well as secondary goals such as democracy and equality.

Hate speech attacks the political equality instrumental to maximising non-domination. Hateful rhetoric demonstrates an absence of unity with fundamental republican commitments. Hate speech proposes that some are less than others and reflects beliefs that some should not enjoy nondomination. It demonstrates an absence of civic virtue, which is necessary for maximisation of non-domination.

We can justify a hate speech ban based on the maximisation of overall freedom if such a ban can demonstrably enhance overall civic virtue and political equality. Republicans support action to promote equality and tolerance. But a caveat is necessary: hate speech bans are not themselves a republican commitment. A ban is justifiable only if it can be shown to promote the primary republican commitments more effectively than any other measure.

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Website: www.elsa.lex.edu.pl Registration deadline: 21/04/2013 International Seminar on Cross-border M&A Date: 24th- 28th April 2013 Place: Tallinn, Estonia Working Language: English Contact person: Mirjam Vichmann E-mail: seminar2013@elsa.ee

For more upcoming activities, go to our website: www.elsa.org

Summer Law School: Mergers and Acquisitions Date: 14th - 21st July 2013 Place: Istanbul, Turkey Working Language: English Contact Information: Işıl Ergeç E-mail: vpsc.istanbul@elsaturkey.org Website: www.elsaturkey.org Summer Law School: Legal Challenges on Media Law Date: 21th - 28 July 2013 Place: Lisbon, Portugal Working Language: English Contact Information: Weronika Zdeb E-mail: summerschool.elsaucplisboa@gmail.com Website: www.ucplisboa.elsaportugal.org

Date: 1st - 8th September 2013 Place: Geneva, Switzerland Working Language: English Contact Information: Alisa Burkhard E-mail: g13@genevaarbitration.org Website: ww.elsa-switzerland.org Registration deadline: 31/05/2013 OCTOBER

Conference on International Trade Law Date: 9th - 13th October 2013 Place: Moscow, Russia Working Language: English Contact Information: Tatiana Gulyaeva E-mail: gulyaeva@elsa-moscow.org Registration deadline: 25/09/2013

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Summer School: Banking & Finance Law Date: 19th - 28th July 2013 Place: Bucharest, Romania Working Language: English Contact Information: Andra Carlan E-mail: bfl@bucuresti.elsa.ro Website: www.summerschool.ro

ELSA Events Calendar 2013 LXIII International Council Meeting Date: 7th - 14th April 2013 Place: Cologne, Germany Working Language: English E-mail: info@icm-germany.org

International Focus Programme Final Conference Date: 8th - 12th May 2013 Place: Gdansk, Poland Working Language: English Contact Information: Krzysztof Szulc E-mail: krzysztof.z.szulc@gmail.com Website: www.elsa.gda.pl

Summer Law School: Construction Law Date: 19th - 28th July 2013 Place: Bucharest, Romania Working Language: English Contact Information: Catalina Violeta Apostu E-mail: construction.law@bucuresti.elsa.ro Website: www.summerschool.ro

International seminar on Entertainment law, Date: 19th - 21st April 2013 Place: Kharkiv, Ukraine Working Language: English Email: golub.vpsc.elsakharkiv@gmail.com Registration deadline: 10/04/2013

ELSA Moot Court Competition: Final Oral Round Date: 8th - 12th May 2013 Place: Geneva, Switzerland Working Language: English Contact Information: Corinna M端ckeinheim E-mail: mootcourts@elsa.org Website: www.elsamootcourt.org

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Conference on Internet legislation Date: 22th - 26th April 2013 Place: Heidelberg, Germany Working Language: German Contact Information: Kristin Buhr & Marcel Kahl E-mail: hoc.conference@gmail.com Website: www.elsa-heidelberg.de

International Conference on Medical Errors: Legal Regulation of Responsibility Date: 28th June - 1st July 2013 Place: Uzhgorod, Ukraine Working Language: English Contact Information: Nika Getsko E-mail: vp.sc.elsauz@gmail.com Website: ukraine.elsa.org Registration deadline: 25/05/2013

Summer Law School: Maritime Law & Dispute resolution Date: 31st July - 4th August 2013 Place: Odessa Ukraine Working Language: English Contact Person: Olga Kuzmina E-mail: vpsc@elsaukraine.org Registration deadline: 01/05/2013

International Conference: Mitigating the impact of the Economic Crisis in Europe by law regulations Date: 26th - 27th April 2013 Place: Cracow, Poland Working Language: English Contact Information: Weronika Zdeb E-mail: weronika_zdeb@yahoo.com

Hate Speech

The Council of Europe, Human Rights Partner of ELSA

What is Hate Speech?

Jan Malinowski, Head of Information Society Department, Council of Europe.

D

espite its frequent use, there is no clear or unique Head of Information understanding of what is Society Department “hate speech”.

Some countries have Council of Europe adopted legislation banning expressions amounting to hate speech, but definitions differ.

A difficult concept

In its Recommendation 97(20), the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe agreed that: the term “hate speech” shall be understood as covering all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin.

The 1997 instrument recommends taking appropriate steps to combat hate speech both through legislation and by addressing its social, economic, political, cultural and other root causes.

However, it puts the threshold for lawful interference high by underlining the protection of freedom of expression.

Jan Malinowski

Further, in the Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime (2003), the narrower notion of racist and xenophobic material is defined as: Any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a pretext for any of these factors.

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Both Recommendation 97(20) and the Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention implicitly acknowledge the dicey nature of the notion of hate speech by placing considerable emphasis on caveats and exceptions.

Legal provisions on hate speech should thus allow authorities to reconcile in each case this freedom with respect for human dignity and the protection of the reputation or the rights of others. Those provisions should be narrowly circumscribed and lay down objective criteria. Sanctions –which always amount to an interference– have to comply with the principle of proportionality and the application of the law has to be open to judicial review.

Further, national law and practice should distinguish hate speech itself from reporting on racism, xenophobia, antisemitism or other forms of intolerance. Such reporting is fully protected by Article 10, paragraph 1, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Hate Speech The Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention requires the criminalisation of the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems. However, it offers ample possibilities to modulate the legal response, and explicitly allows for the exclusion from criminalisation “discrimination that is not associated with hatred and violence”. The boundaries are blurred.

Similar caution is displayed in a range of other Council of Europe instruments adopted to protect freedom of expression.

In its 2011 Recommendation on a new notion of media, the Committee of Ministers advanced that regulation affecting freedom of expression is in itself a form of interference and should therefore be subject to the tests of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Freedom of expression Over history, people fought –and many paid dearly– to assert or defend freedom of expression. In earlier times, it was often question of separation of church and state or the protection of religious choice or entities.

The religious link remained visible in earlier formulations of the right to free speech, for example, in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (1791) or the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789).

The latter already incorporated the notion of responsibility.

During the illustration, the emphasis moved to political speech in a drive to curb the power of the previously “absolute” rulers and, ultimately, to protect the individual against abuse.

On the wake of World War II, the global community first, followed by the European democratic leaders shortly afterwards, sought to prevent massive abuses against humanity like those recently experienced by confirming their commitment to individual human rights. As regards freedom of speech, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights bears witness. This right was rendered enforceable in Europe by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights: Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

“

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.

This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

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Hate Speech Which also recognises and circumscribes its limits: The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

An interference with freedom of expression has to be provided for in law. In order to meet Article 10 exigencies, the law has to be accessible and its application to a particular case clear and consequences easy to understand and foreseeable. Legitimate interference with freedom of expression therefore requires that a compelling case be made that it is necessary in a democratic society (understood by the European Court of Human Rights as responding to a pressing social need).

The interference also has to be proportionate in terms of the desired tangible and measurable outcome. An interference which does not deliver the intended results but has an adverse impact on freedom of expression again brings the question of necessity in a democratic society to the forefront.

So the problem remains unsolved. The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency and the Council of Europe Commission against Racism and Intolerance confirm that the phenomenon is grave, widespread and growing. The UN special rapporteur on freedom of speech explained that the Internet makes hate speech go faster and further, but warns against criminalising expression online.

The rapporteur of the Council of Europe conference on “Tackling hate speech: Living together online” (Budapest, 27 and 28 November 2012) drew the following conclusion: hate speech is a problem of indignity cast on the victims, met with mainstream indifference and, addressing it, calls for indignation against the phenomenon.

In practice The European Court of Human Rights recognises that through the exercise of freedom of speech one can “offend, shock or disturb” (the many times repeated quote from Handyside v.

The United Kingdom, 1976).

“

However, the Court also accepts that some forms of expressiHate speech has on are contrary to Article 10 of gravitated towards the Convention –racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, aggressive social media, nationalism and discrimination favoured by relative anonymity against minorities and immigand facilitated by the speed rants– if they amount to genuine and serious incitement to extreand amplifying potential of mism. By way of example, in Ledigital dissemination. roy v. France, the Court upheld a fine for a cartoon published immediately after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks with A conundrum the caption: “We have all dreamt of it... Hamas did it”.

International law and regulation is saying don’t throw the baby Hate speech has gravitated towards social media, favoured by out (freedom of expression) with the dirty water (purported relative anonymity and facilitated by the speed and amplifyneed for interference, e.g. hate speech), especially if the dirt ing potential of digital dissemination. Otherwise, anonymity stays in the tub. The dirt in the tub illustrates the lack of prois useful to the legitimate exercise of freedom of expressiportionality if interference with freedom of expression fails on and other rights. Interestingly, social media is dominated to secure the objective sought.

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Hate Speech by just a few companies (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, …).

They have often denied being media because of absence of editorial control over content. However, editorial control can be evidenced in a number of ways and social media could be asked for responsible editorial practices.

More clarity may be needed as to the legal and human rights treatment, and differentiated responsibilities for hate speech in private, public or political discourse having regard to the likelihood that such speech incites violence.

According to the 2011 Recommendation on a new notion of media, in the new communications environments editorial policies can be embedded in mission statements or in terms and conditions of use. And editorial process can involve users (for example peer review and take down requests) with ultimate decisions taken according to an internally defined process (reactive moderation). New media often resort to another form of editorial control, ex post moderation. Editorial processes may also be automated (for example in the form of algorithms processing content automatically). Social media are in an accelerated process of maturing as media.

Conclusion

Another concern relates to the introduction of a hate factor into public or political speech. Certain recent examples degenerated into prominent people calling for the killing of journalists in otherwise democratic countries. The risk of slipping toward populism is great when politicians are tempted by easy support. In his opening address at the “Tackling hate speech: Living together online” conference, the Council of Europe Secretary General made clear that “in order for us to win the battle against hate speech, political leaders must assume greater responsibility”.

SYNERGY magazine

The problem of hate speech remains unresolved. The legal response by itself does not suffice. Freedom of expression allows for speech that is unpalatable, or uncivic, but which does not reach the threshold for interference. More needs to be done in terms of education and counter narrative. The Council of Europe is running a project for training young bloggers and launching a youth campaign against hate speech online. Professionalism and self-regulation of the media have a lot to offer. Hate speech by politicians or other public figures should attract a high political price.

However, the expansive trend to include within the notion of hate speech everything that hurts sensibilities should be resisted as expressions that “offend, shock or disturb” may have to be tolerated. Because of this, a human rights sensitive response should also include building people’s resilience to speech, expressions or content that they may find hurtful. The contrary, if it involves giving in to real or alleged sensitivities, carries an even bigger risk for human rights and ultimately for democracy.

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Hate Speech

Freedom and Tolerance in Western Europe

Time to abolish hate speech bans Eric Heinze is Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London. He received his JD from Harvard Law School and his PhD from the University of Leiden.

I

n the 1980s, racist incidents on American university campuses Professor of Law sparked a flood of scholarly reQueen Mary University sponses. The phrase ‘hate speech’ deof London finitively emerged in the legal lexicon.

Countries throughout the world had known centuries of regulating one or another type of provocative speech, such as blasphemy. But the current notion of ‘hate speech’ was emerging out of post-World War II anti-racist and post-colonial politics, reflected in restrictions on speech included within the leading international human rights treaties drafted in the 1960s. After World War II, Western European memories of oppression, and of the propaganda that had fuelled it, revived values of ‘militant democracy’.

Since the 1950s, Western European jurists and scholars, increasingly aware of crystallising trans-Atlantic differences on hate speech regulation, had long dismissed US debates as irrelevant to a continent that, within European and international frameworks, seemed to achieve consensus about ‘balancing’ speakers’ individual freedoms with others’ sense of dignity. But the new century shook that consensus to the core. The attacks in the US of 11 September 2001, followed by the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, the Danish cartoon controversy, or terrorist attacks in London, Madrid or Oslo, have revived lively debates in Europe about free speech.

Much of the world joined Western Europe in approving hate speech bans, often through cynical motives.

Dictatorships relished the bans’ humanist veneer. Members of over a hundred disempowered ethnic minorities throughout the Soviet Union could be punished, with the imprimatur of highminded human rights ideals, for ‘stirring up hatred’, merely by criticising the political hegemony of ethnic-majority Russians.

Similar abuses occurred throughout the East bloc, China, and elsewhere. Hate speech bans correlated not with the enhancement, but with the degradation of minority rights. That abuse of bans continues in post-communist regimes today.

The attacks in the US of 11 September 2001, followed by the muder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, the Danish cartoon controversy, or terrorist attacks in London, Madrid or Oslo, have revived lively debates in Europe about free speech.

Eric Heinze

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“

Hate Speech Of course, some regulations of speech are barely disputed at all. Most of us agree that free speech cannot ordinarily extend to scrawling one’s views, without permission, on a neighbour’s door; or, recalling Oliver W Holmes’s famous example, to ‘falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.’ More importantly, few opponents of bans extend expressive rights so far as to protect hatred spoken in live, immediate, face-to-face encounters (so-called ‘fighting words’); or in situations of, for example, employment or primary education; or in the general provision of goods and services; or in situations of immediate and specific solicitation to commit acts of hate-motivated violence or material damage (e.g., ‘Hey Jack, go pick up that brick, and let’s go kill that faggot Maurice right now!’). Rules precisely tailored to those contexts have long existed, and, as I have argued in my previous writings, are actually fairer and more effective than hate speech bans.

Rather, the most important question in a serious debate about hate speech is whether governments can legitimately penalise hateful opinions uttered within the sphere of public discourse - within contexts serving the open and general expression of individual viewpoints on matters of political, social, cultural or indeed purely personal concern, including online communications. Every Western European state currently bans such speech.

SYNERGY magazine

Hate speech bans may play constructive roles in weaker democracies. But it is time for Western Europeans to recognise that bans have proved neither ethically legitimate nor socially effective within longstanding, stable and prosperous democracies. All three adjectives— ‘longstanding’, ‘stable’ and ‘prosperous’—might seem to present questions of judgment and of degree. However, as I argue in a new book, Debating Hate Speech (2013), courts and human rights bodies constantly employ such criteria (even if they use different words), which have acquired remarkably settled meanings over time. Under legitimately declared states of emergency, subject to European supervision, as witnessed in Northern Ireland, it may indeed be legitimate to maintain hate speech bans. However, such situations ought only to be recognised as exceptions within advanced democracies. Hate speech bans should not be the Western European norm. They should be abolished. They show no evidence of combating intolerance, and much evidence of assisting it.

Far from diminishing hatred, bans have tutored hate groups to become cleverer, to tread at the edge of legality without overstepping it. In Moderne Nazis: Der Aufstieg der NPD (2006), the journalist Toralf Staud shows how bans on neo-Nazi political parties in the early 1990s led to increased membership in the far-right German National De-

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Hate Speech moral outrage to legally binding penalties, can diminish that incentive.

Imbleau condemns France’s Jean-Marie LePen’s selfstyled image as a free-speech martyr, yet fails to notice how it is precisely the penalties for speech which allowed LePen to promote that image. Imbleau warns against the dangers of Holocaust denial disseminated through the mediatisation of anti-Semites like Robert Faurisson. He fails to observe, however, that it is precisely the French ban, as with all high-profile prosecutions of Holocaust deniers in Austria, Germany, and elsewhere, which trigger the media hype. In the US, no such bans exist, therefore no such prosecutions are brought, and negationists remain far more obscure and ineffectual.

Hence a problem with the minimalist ‘happy compromise’, popular among some British scholars, which urges that we punish only the ‘worst’ forms of hate speech. After all, if hate speakers can so easily manipulate even the broad sweep of German and French bans, the narrower ones turn out to be that much easier to subvert.

Narrow bans become not symbolic gestures of solidarity, but gold medals for hate speakers who gleefully flaunt an easy triumph over them. Symbols so easily degraded pay scant regard to human dignity.

One common ‘happy compromise’ position is that hate speech bans should protect ‘immutable characteristics’ such as ethnicity, but not such as religion, which, involving ‘ideas’, must remain open to criticism. Muslims in the West, however, often form ethnic minorities. Under bans restricted to race, sneers at Islam then become scot-free ways of waging racism without racial invective. Yet many Muslims insist that it is their faith, more than their ethnicity, which forms the more important part of their identity.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinosdoodles/2341937639/

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We cannot know how such trends would have developed had Western Europe never adopted hate speech bans.

Yet we can at least ask why a country without them not only elected an African-American President, but witnessed increasing numbers of minority faces throughout politics, the judiciary, business, and the media—earlier and in greater numbers than in Western European states with strong hate speech bans, even taking relative populations into account.

“

In a democracy, political legitimacy requires all citizens’ unqualified access to general exchanges of ideas within public discourse.

The elimination of bans would by no means require that states remain either ethically or politically neutral. To the contrary, as I observe in Debating Hate Speech, democracies have undertaken many measures, and can undertake many more, to support minorities, and to combat hatred. No simple recipe can substitute for sustained and comprehensive programmes of education, both primary and civic. States can take unequivocal positions, and actions, against intolerance at many levels. They must learn to do so without the unnecessary and counter-productive step of adopting bans. The general expression of ideas, however odious those ideas may be, forms a core condition of political legitimacy. In a democracy, political legitimacy requires all citizens’ unqualified access to general exchanges of ideas within public discourse.

20 th Anniversary of the ELSA Vision

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Wojciech Kostrzewa, one of ELSA's founding fathers

" It was certanly important for us to integrate" Kladyna Krupa, Director for Public Relations of ELSA International, met Wojciech Kostrzewa in his office in Warsaw in December 2012.

W

e are meeting in the Office of your company.

Klaudyna Krupa You achieved an enorDirector for Public Relations mous professional success. HowELSA International ever, for many people in Europe, your most important achievement and merit is establishing the European Law Students’ Association. I would like to ask you – how do you, who created the world’s largest independent law students’ association, feel about it?

I feel great pride of it, of course, but I am not the only one who does - the other Founding Fathers, my friends, feel it as well. We are especially proud when we meet every five years on the occasion of the ELSA’s round birthday party; we are still being invited (laugh). These celebrations give us the opportunity to see hundreds of new faces and new members, national and international authorities. In fact, only those moments allow us to realise what we have created.

What about the story of you travelling by train with law students from others countries and establishing the Association?

There is no history about the train. The legend is a blend of many events. It was not just that there was a sudden idea appeared and at once we carried it out - an idea had

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“

This moment has helped us understand what we managed to create twenty years earlier.

arisen and sometime later it ripened. The scene from the train in the history actually occurs one year before ELSA was born and it applies to my Austrian and Hungarian colleagues. In fact, the true story of ELSA started in Budapest in autumn 1980, right after the emergence of the Solidarnosc movement in Poland, where the Polish delegation, which I was a member of, was seen with huge interest in. It was exactly at the turn of October and November 1980. Seven months later, in May 1981 in Vienna, we managed to register the association called ELSA. ELSA as an association is a kind of a phenomenon.

No other organisation is evoking such emotions or is giving birth to such an attachment. Were you were aware that you were creating something that came to be so important for many European Law Students?

It was certainly important for us to integrate, but also - I am not ashamed to say it – to have fun, it was a part of the concept for us. We organised international events and meetings, but it was less intensely than now because of

technical issues, there was no such infrastructure as today.

Being honest, the main objective was to create opportunities to travel.

Beginnings are bringing back a lot of memories…

That is true! It happens especially when attending major events or anniversaries. I remember the picture of the 20th anniversary of The European Law Students’ Association in Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna – with the founding fathers if ELSA and almost a thousand members of the Association. This moment has helped us understand what we managed to create twenty years earlier. Even though it might be hard for you to imagine, but in those times, travelling across the Iron Curtain was not easy. Today’s travel opportunities are the best indicator to show how much that has changed since then.

Today, the association has forty-one National Groups, two hundred and forty Local Groups. All of them are different in ways of size and geographical location.

Despite this, we can cooperate all over our Network, was it something like that you wanted to create?

In fact, it was written down in the idea of ELSA, I am pleased that it came out. In 1982, ELSA was close to breakdown due to political reasons. If it was not Attila Tarkany from Hungary, we would not avoid the worst. We managed to stave off the crisis by acting very consistently – it was decided that ELSA has to be a non-political organisation, regardless

Wojciech Kostrzewa of individual political preferences of members. I assume that law students today are very determined in their political views; I guess it is still not easy. After all, it did not disturb the next International Boards in participating in actions connected indirectly with politics, for example actions related to human rights.

Each of the founding fathers of ELSA has also achieved huge personal success. Probably many factors affected it: development of personal skills, talent, hard work etc. Did your work for ELSA influence any decisions in your life?

I think that it is worth paying attention particularly to three aspects.

ELSA, especially the international dimension, is a great experience. Of course, for a young student in 2013, the experience is different than for a 21-year-old student in 1981, but still – it is about acting in a multinational,

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multicultural environment. All unpredictable situations we had to face hardened us very much. ELSA taught us a great initiative, showed us how to cope on the national and international stage in a very unfavorable environment.

It was a totally invaluable experience. From a personal point of view, I can say that ELSA partly decided my fate.

There is evidence of it. On the day of the announcement of the martial law in Poland in December 1981, I was in West Berlin and I decided to stay in Germany to continue my university education with support of my friends from ELSA… In my résumé, ELSA has played a very important role and had a strong influence on many of the decisions I made.

I think, in fact, it played a similar role in the career of the other founding fathers. ELSA probably gave them a lot in terms of openness. One of my ELSA colleagues from the beginning, Juergen Sattler, was a lawyer working in Dusseldorf. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he got an idea, packed his backpack and started a business from scratch in Rostock. Probably, if it wasn’t for the experience in ELSA, he would never do that. Openness and courage – that’s what we owe to the association.

Let us talk about a very important advantage of ELSA – networking. Do you think that ELSA is also a good networking tool for us to use in the course of our later careers?

Certainly yes, but it is necessary to learn how to do it.

Looking at my peers, even much younger people who belonged to ELSA, looking at their lives and careers can be

seen what the contacts have resulted in, definitely. This is seen especially in the moments when we can go back to the phone contacts or to the contacts in our mailing boxes - to ask for an advice or for introducing us to somebody. But each networking requires great care - it's just like with plants, they need to be taken care of.

What motivated you to work so hard for ELSA? Did you have anyone in the association that supported you in your work?

At this point I would come back most willingly to the other Founding Fathers. People around us, who have the courage to support us in the important and difficult decisions are priceless, believe me. They motivated us a lot. In spite of many obstacles, we focused on political neutrality. Thanks to that, we survived as an organisation. Later, in the turn of the 80’s and the 90’s we created an association which was prepared for this huge political breakthrough in Europe. No one believed that this was possible.

It could have been impossible f it was not for our common support, but luckily we made it together! I also had great support from my parents. Today, I appreciate that they understood the whole initiative. I felt that what I was doing was important not only for me but also for them.

Thank you very much for this interview. I would like to congratulate you for your work and I hope that ELSA members around Europe will get the opportunity to listen to your stories also in the future.

Thank you too, it was a pleasure!

“

No one believed that this was possible. It could have been impossible if it was not for our common support, but we made it together!

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Student Trainee Exchange Programme

STEP Employers 11 12 CMS_LawTax_CMYK_over100.eps

Austria -

Rechtsanwaltskanzlei Dr. Orou DKL Rechtsanwalte Vienna General Hospital Magistrat Graz Country Government Bezirkshauptmannschaft Schwaz

- Melchers, Rechtsanwalte, Wirtschaftspr端fer, Steuerberater, Notar - Noerr LLP - Hellmann Worldwide Logistics GmbH & Co. KG - Deutsch-Italienisches Institut fur RechtsKulturvergleich in Europa D.I.R.E

- Avocatul Poporului - S.C Fildan Consulting S.R.L

Serbia

Belgium

Italy

- ALTIUS

- Matteo Marchetti - Codacons Campania

- Law Firm Cvjeticanin Slovakia - Kinstellar - e/n/w/c Natlacen Walderdorff Cancola advokati s.r.o.

- Beatow Partners s.r.o.

Bulgaria

Ireland

Slovenia

- Zafirov & Gospodinov

- Arthur Cox

Croatia

Lithuania

Spain

- Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts - Office for Human rights of National Minorities of the Government of the Republic of Croatia

Czech Republic

- The Supreme Court of Czech Republic - The Constitutional Court of Czech Republic - Analytical Department - Kyjovsky, Blazck & Kolegove - Achour & Hajek - Environmental Law Service

Denmark

- Lithuanian Neighbouring Rights Association (AGATA) - METIDA Law Firm of Reda Zaboliene - Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Law - Motieka & Audzevicius

Luxembourg - EFTA Court

Montenegro

- Parliament of Montenegro - NGO Center for Civic Education

- Gorrissen Federspiel - NOVO NORDISK

Norway

France

Poland

- Red On Line

Finland

- University of Lapland, Faculty of Law

Georgia

- LEPL Regional Centre for Research and Promotion of Constitutionalism

Germany -

Pellon & Associados Europe LLP Kbz. Rechtsanwalte Steuerberater Konig & Strasser GbR Rechtsanwalte Bang + Regnarsen Advokater Rechtsanwalte - Schletter GmbH - ACADA Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH - CMS Hasche Sigle

SYNERGY magazine

- University of Bergen, Faculty of Law - Stepien-Sporek, Pawelski, Stoppa Law Office - Circuit Prosecutor's office in Poznan - Sojka & Maciak Adwokaci sp.k.

- Chajec Don-Siemion & Zyto Law Firm - Noerr Sp. Z o.o. Spiering Sp.K. - Kancelaria Adwokacka Krzystof Zuber

Portugal

- Gama Lobo Xavier, Luis Teixeira e Melo e Associados - Soc. Adv. R.L

Romania -

Dr Ciacli Petru Cabinet Avocat Pop Pepa S.C.A Structural Consulting Group Av. Stoian Radu-ion Vass Lawyers

- Center for E-governance development - FUNDECOR

Sweden

- Advokatfirman Wijk & Nordstrom - Uppsala University, Faculty of Law, Research Group on EU Law

Switzerland

- Schellenberg Wittmer - De Preux, Besso & Schmidt

The Netherlands

- Wolf Legal Publishers - Wolf Legal Publishers - Brisdet Spiegeler

Turkey -

Karakaya Law Firm Ozgun Law Firm GSI Meridian Bagatur Law Office Aranci & Dora Law Firm Aydan Liman Kurman Law Firm AVK Law Firm Tiryakidglu Law Firm Akinci & Masarifoglu Law Firm Sa & Sa Law Firm Erikez Law Firm Dursun Ozfirat Law Firm PWC Turkey Cukur & Yilmaz Law Firm

ELSA International

- Butzel Long - European Digital Rights - CMS Cameron McKenna

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International M&A seminar

The art of bringing people together

21 years of creating opportunities for encounter and exchange ELSA Passau organised its 21st International Seminar. This time, the focus was on Mergers and acquisitions. 92 law students gathered in Passau to learn more about this topic.

D

rawing my own personal résumé in the aftermath of Seminar & Conferences this year’s autumn semiELSA Passau nar, I made the astonishing discovery that in the end; the success of such an event really comes down to two things.

Monika Lingemann Vice President for

Altogether, 92 law students from all over Europe were gathering from 15th to 18th of November in the South of Germany for the 21st annual autumn conference of ELSA Passau. This year we had been proclaiming it our goal to move a practically highly relevant legal area into the spotlight: The Mergers & Acquisitions.

From day one, the topic left no doubts as to its current significance. And in the end, we felt that our aim - to provide the attendees with a profound idea of what is important in the field of the Mergers & Acquisitions, was fully accomplished.

We took a thorough look at carefully selected aspects together with great number of experienced speakers. All in all, 21 speakers and renowned practitioners gave an in-depth insight into their individual treasure trove of experience. Siemens Legal, for instance, delivered a lively and comprehensive introduction into the subject and the opening discussion sported a colorful and diverse panel – not missing among others speakers from London and Liechtenstein. And finally, we were able to welcome a varied assortment of accomplished lawyers from well-known international law firms – many of which are long-

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term partners of ELSA, such as CMS Hasche Sigle, Baker & McKenzie, Gleiss Lutz, Linklaters LLP, White & Case LLP or Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Our seminar covered the diverse fields of law involved in a transaction process. It explored various structuring options for individual problems connected with the takeover process and managed to provide a concentrated as well as critical view on recent developments, such as the European Directive on Alternative Investment Funds Manager (AIFM), which at the moment is in an implementation process in the various European countries.

The social program moreover held its very own finesses for both participants and speakers. One of the many highlights of the event was without a doubt our gala dinner on the Danube that provided both a magnificent view of our vibrant city at night and an excellent opportunity for exchange and encounter between participants and speakers in a relaxed atmosphere.

The traditional autumn seminar has gained ELSA Passau a considerable reputation both in Germany and a range of other European countries. We love to provide the frame for an absorbing as well as enjoyable exchange. Casting a glance behind the curtains however, it soon becomes clear that to achieve this, is more easily said than done. A four-day seminar takes a whole year of preparation and organisation.

International M&A seminar The aim of the seminar, sat to ourselves at the beginning of the project back in December last year, was to open up new perspectives and grow beyond ourselves. A fairly ambitious aspiration the latter might seem. Yet in hindsight, I strongly believe it is fair to say that without pushing one’s own limits, the realization of a project like this is not possible. This is part of what makes ELSA worthwhile experiencing. It means acquiring qualities which take you a major step ahead both personally and when it comes to entry into professional life.

This is what we in Passau have done for 21 years now. And yet, each seminar is an entirely new experience for everyone involved as ELSA is in a constant process of change with the people behind it altering but also alternating. What does not change though is the requirement that goes together with taking on the organization of the annual event: The willingness to grow beyond oneself is something that is undisputedly indispensable.

ELSA offers a wide range of international opportunities. However, the particular challenge with a seminar is the mixture of academic excellence and space for dialogue and acquaintance. The boundary for success is thus ultimately set higher. Consequently, the definitive goal is not only to make the event interesting, but to render it pleasurable as well. In this meaning organizing a seminar is the art of bringing people together. In essence that means generating opportunities for encounter. And this, in a nutshell, is what renders our annual conferences a special and valuable experience: The encounter between engaging and individually highly interesting people – a characterization which generally applies both to speakers and participants.

The academic program was highly diversified with extremely renowned speakers offering their perspective on the respective issues and the students left an extraordinarily professional impression.

“

(Dr. Jon Marcus Meese, Partner Baker & McKenzie – speaker on the difference between theoretical and practical aspects of M&A)

“Our aim? To open up new perspectives and grow beyond ourselves.”

SYNERGY magazine

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International Focus Programme

Have you ever visited Gdansk?

International Focus Programme Final Conference in Poland From the 8th-12th of May 2013 Final IFP Conference on Health Law will be held in Gdańsk, Poland.

S

ince ELSA International introduced the International FoKrzysztof Szulc cus Programme for the first President time, it has taken various forms and ELSA Gdansk has raised several important issues as well. This year, for the last time, we will take up on the topic of Health Law. ELSA Gdańsk – a Local Group of ELSA Poland enthusiastically and with pleasure replied to the International Board’s call for organizing the Final IFP Conference.

The conference will take place at the University of Gdańsk between 8th and 12th of May 2013.

Health Law itself is a wide branch divided into numerous small ones referring to healthcare, sanity, public health, medical technology development and more.

During a debate, these topics should be reduced to certain specific issues, so that the crux would not be overwhelmed by an overly broad approach. The topic of Health Law is a global matter, as the international regulations more and more frequently interfere with this area of law. However, it is also important in the national field – each country governs the legal aspects of medicine in its own, unique, manner. The way and the form of governance expose the accurate model of the current Health Law condition. We live in the times when globalisation and the proceeding integration of European countries oblige us to perceive Health Law from this angle as well. The development of medicine, research on the new technological solutions and changes in social attitude to the public and private health make us willing to look to the future in the context of current legal governance and incidents in the changing world of law and medicine.

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ELSA Gdańsk, considering these issues, proposes you to notice the legal and medical adjustments of the pharmaceutical law, the cosmetics law and the malpractice in May 2013. These three thematic panels will attract the attention to the issues of recently highest significance.

We are experienced in organizing such events. Acting since 1989 and being one of the strongest Local Groups of ELSA Poland, we form a creative, forceful, well-knit and greatly organised team, perfect for the realisation of numerous initiatives having both national and international nature. The strength of our Local Group is particularly noticeable regarding two previous international projects held in Gdańsk: The International IFP Conference- "Main trends in Intellectual Property Law", which happened in May 2009 and the International Conference on the Law of the Sea Global Ocean Governance: “From Vision to Action", which took place in February 2011.

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We form a creative, forceful, well-knit and greatly organised team, perfect for the realisation of numerous initiatives having both national and international nature.

International Focus Programme

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We hope that the conference in Gdańsk will become lifeblood for the further work on the topic of the medical law and a source of thoughts for participants.

After the lectures we will not be lacking time for spending entertaining moments in charming Gdańsk, and for the final day we prepared a gala ball during which we will officially conclude the conference and encapsulate each of its days. We hope that this finale will also strengthen the positive memories about the conference. The ball will take place in one of the most recognisable old cities in Europe, in a place of beautiful history, dating back to the early medieval times, in a place where “Solidarity” was founded and where the process of terminating the communism in Poland started. The charm of this old city will surely attract you.

These projects were enthusiastically welcomed by students and the academic environment – professors and practitioners. Being experienced in organising IFP conferences, we look forward to repeating the success of the year 2009 and giving you an amazing time full of thematic lectures and discussions as well as wonderful memories.

According to the things said, having in mind the importance of the topics being mentioned on the conference and the fact that IFP is a programme of the entire ELSA Network, we wholeheartedly invite you all to Gdańsk!

To achieve this goal, we will invite prestigious lecturers from the best European departments of law and medicine. We will bring up the most important matters of Pharmaceutical Law, Cosmetics Law and the malpractice. The form of the conference requires an active discussion between lecturers and participants. After each part of lectures we will encourage you to pose questions and converse. We believe that this way everyone will be able to distil from the presented contents as much as wished and exactly what is found interesting. We hope that the conference in Gdańsk will become lifeblood for the further work on the topic of the medical law and a source of thoughts for participants.

SYNERGY magazine

Do you want to know more?

Visit: www.health-law.pl

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Legal Writing

Develop your skills in legal writing

ELSA Malta and legal writing opportunities The ELSA Malta Law Review was founded in August 2010 and launched one year later. It is a student-edited and peer reviewed law review published by ELSA Malta.

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Tessa Mallia Borg

espite Malta’s limited op- President, ELSA Malta portunities and resources, Director for Legal Writing ELSA Malta has managed ELSA International to serve as a platform in which ELSA members throughout the entire Network are given the opportunity to achieve personal as well as academic excellence in legal writing.

ELSA Malta’s biggest achievement in the academic sector has been the publication of its very own journal: The ELSA Malta Law Review. The review gives students, practitioners and academics the chance to publish their own academic research. ELSA Malta has published two editions of the review in the past two years and is currently reviewing sub-

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The review has not only received articles from the ELSA Network, but also from across the globe receiving submissions from Canada, South Africa, America and so on...

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Clement Mifsud

missions received for its third edition. legal writing The review has not only received artiELSA Malta cles from the ELSA Network, but also from across the globe receiving submissions from Canada, South Africa, America and so on...

Director for Publications and

All articles are reviewed by a hardworking student editorial board and carefully selected after a call for applications. In addition, as of last year, the editorial board implemented a hybrid review process where every received article is carefully reviewed not only by two post-graduate students, but also by two academic experts in that field of law. This hybrid system of student-editing and peer-review has strengthened the ELSA Malta Law Review’s Reputation. In fact, it is only papers which reach high academic excellence which are published.

Backed by the Law Review’s success, ELSA Malta has launched over six essay competitions, in just over three years, targeting various law related topics such as European Union law, Financial Services, Bio-law and Human Rights and International Maritime Law. Most competitions offer a number of incentives to participate such as sponsored cash and book prizes. The essay competitions are open to all ELSA members within the Network and the winning articles are also published in the ELSA Malta Law Review.

Legal Writing Another novel project was launched by ELSA Malta in 2012, entitled ' The Partnership in Research Programme'. The programme intends to introduce a more practical perspective to ‘academic’ legal writing by bridging the gap between student life and the world of work. Over 13 law firms and lawyers participated in the first edition of the programme. Law firms were asked to submit research proposals on specific points of law to ELSA Malta. Each proposal contained a brief explanation of the research problem and an outline of the firm’s expectations from the partnership with the student.

Once this information was received, ELSA Malta issued a call for applications to all law students within the University of Malta. Students were able to choose any one of the available research titles which they were interested in. All applicants are chosen on the basis of merit by the firms to conduct the research under the direction and guidance of a seasoned practitioner.

SYNERGY magazine

The chosen student is to carry out the research on his/ her own initiative with the help of the firm. Students were not to expect any remuneration, although some firms did offer paid traineeships and other incentives. The research carried out by the students is to be written in the form of an academic article which is then submitted for publication in the ELSA Malta Law Review. The programme’s benefits to students are manifest. Students are able to meet and work with practitioners, regulators, and other relevant persons in the market; they are exposed to practical and real problems linked to subjects studied at University; they receive a certificate of participation and also have article published.

ELSA Malta remains committed to create bigger and better opportunities to all law students within the ELSA Network. During these last three years ELSA Malta embraced two core values which have made its projects truly opportunities for ELSA Members: (a) determination and (b) continuity.

ELSA Malta is made up of driven and dedicated individuals willing to put the interests of students first and offer new and exciting opportunities.

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International Council Meeting

ELSA International Council Meeting in Batumi, Georgia

“Our evergreen Memories” Have you ever thought of ELSA works on the inside? The International Council Meeting of ELSA gathers every year around 300 law students and active ELSA Officers for one week of duscussions, meetings and plenary sessions about how to develop our Association.

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t the International Council Meeting (ICM) Nuremberg, Germany in 2008, a Beka Dzamashvili group of Georgian law students President stood in front of several hundred ELSA Georgia unfamiliar European colleagues, and with trembling hearts waited for the decision upon their acceptance into the big European family. Four years later, at the Council Meeting in Batumi, Georgia – a group of Georgian law students stood once again in front of the council and with all their hearts performed as host and showed Georgian hospitality to its maximum extent to several hundred ELSA family members from all over Europe.

Yes, "Family" is the term that best describes the concept of our Association in one word. In fact, it is a rather specific kind of family encompassing thousands of members across Europe. However, it should be emphasized that it is not just a group of law students, but in our family we all share the same vision, purpose and means to achieve the same goals. Reading this article, one might think that all these statements are intangible provisions without practical implementation. Therefore, I would like to draw up the real essence of ELSA through exemplifying the International Council Meeting in Batumi, which demonstrated how written words revive through our association.

When you hear about Batumi, first thing that you will probably do is to where that place is. After figuring out

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that it is a post-Soviet city in Eastern Europe, you might think that you will never find a reason to visit this place. Thanks to ELSA, several hundred students did not even hesitate to spend quite some hours and financial resources to visit Batumi this November. Bear in mind that these students did the same 6 months ago when they assembled in Algarve, Portugal. Still Google mapping? Yes, you are right – this time we are talking about the very Western part of Europe.

One might raise the question – how can we afford to organise such event? In general, it would be unaffordable but when it comes to ELSA nothing is impossible. In an efficient network as ELSA, distance, time and finances cannot create obstacles. Seemingly, organizing the International Council Meeting in Batumi primarily demonstrated that every string of our “Net” “works” properly regardless of the location.

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We provided opportunities for our European friends to learn about Georgian culture, traditions and legal system and those who attended the Council Meeting accepted the challenge.

International Council Meeting

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I would say that ELSA is an enormous capital of human resources where we – the members – are assets and in this business.

I am really happy that ELSA Georgia had the honor to host around 300 students inalienably linked to one another from East to West and from North to South. The meeting was an illustration that we are not only a very diverse Association, we also share this diversity among each other. In other words, cultural diversity is not only our Vision statutes, we do know how to implement it in practice. For that reason, we provided opportunities for our European friends to learn about Georgian culture, traditions and legal system and those who attended the Council Meeting accepted the challenge.

While talking about the essence of the International Council Meeting, I have to refer to a crucial function of this event. One of the greatest threats to ELSA is rapid changes of generations that pose risks that knowledge, experience and skills might be lost during these transitions. To tackle this threat, the Council Meeting plays a vital role by gathering together different generations and building up bridges between them. In that context, ELSA again resembles a family where grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren live together.

Finally, I would like to expose the meeting in Batumi from ELSA Georgia’s standing point. Certainly, hosting the most important event in the Network requires sufficient experience and knowledge, therefore I would say that the event in Batumi was the logical outcome of the Council Meetings in Nuremberg, Budva, Sinaia, Malta, Alanya, Poznan, Palermo and Algarve. We had quite a long ELSA journey to finally dare to invite ELSA members to our homeland. As I already men-

SYNERGY magazine

tioned, we became part of this huge network in 2008 but the coronation of Georgian students as genuine ELSAnians took place in Batumi where we experienced ELSA entirely with its bitter-sweet peculiarities.

ICM Batumi was the possibility of sharing for Georgian students. Sharing is a mutual action and we felt the responsibility to give something back for trusting and letting us become the part of this lovely family. Accordingly, ICM Batumi was our contribution in developing and strengthening the massive European "Net". However, I have to clarify that we did not pay anything back, but it was paying forward, because ELSA is a future-oriented organisation and the International Council Meeting in Batumi will definitely give birth to new family members as the Council Meeting in Nuremberg did four years ago.

After everything mentioned above, if someone asks me what I have gained from ELSA I would not mention the obvious: huge experience, knowledge and improvement of my skills from hundreds of projects, events, exchange programmes and traineeships. I would rather proudly answer that now I am a person who has friends in every single European country. I would say that ELSA is an enormous capital of human resources where we – the members – are assets and in this business, the ICM appears to be the primary tool of fundraising which continuously attracts investments twice a year. I am really happy that this year ELSA Georgia made a significant contribution in this regard and created evergreen memories for the whole Network.

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Human Rights traditions in ELSA

Talking about ELSA and Human Rights

26 years of organising Human Rights related events ELSA Zagreb has a strong tradition of organising human rights events for its members.

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LSA Zagreb is one of four local groups in ELSA Cro- Marko Dolenec atia. In its 26 years histo- President ELSA Zagreb ry, human rights always directed the path which today resulted in a strong tradition in organising one national and one international long term projects.

The biggest and oldest traditional projects ELSA Zagreb organises is the “Little School of Human Rights” and the International Summer Law School ”Human rights and globalization“, which this year celebrates its 14th birthday.

How did everything start? Back in 1999, ELSA Croatia (ELSA Zagreb and ELSA Rijeka were organizing groups) organised its first international seminar under the topic “Rights in transition”. It was during the postconflict period after the Croatian Civil War and ELSA Croatia eagerly sought ways to return students to normal life and offer them an opportunity for a modern and international education. After a quite successful seminar, ELSA Zagreb decided to organise International Summer Law School in Dubrovnik under the topic “Protection of Human Rights in comparative perspective”. The project received enormous support from one of co-founders of ELSA Zagreb and it was organised in collaboration with ELSA United Kingdom. Since then, the tradition has not been interrupted and we consider the year 1999 as the beginning of an era of human rights projects in ELSA Zagreb and ELSA Croatia.

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Our Summer Law School in Zadar is still going strong and it is one of Director for Essay Competithe oldest Summer Law Schools that tions and L@W events the ELSA Network has to offer you.

ELSA Zagreb Previously held in Dubrovnik, the event has now moved to beautiful Zadar, which each year hosts at least 40 international law students from all over Europe. With a careful selection of lecturers and topics, we are aiming for being up-to-date, interesting, and versatile and for bringing provocative questions to the table.

Ida Dojcinovic

The biggest local human rights project, Little School of Human Rights, offers each year our law students a deep insight in various human rights areas. The reputation we have built is always proved with the number of received application (often up to 2 – 3 times more than available places), but also the interest we receive from other faculties such as Faculty of Economy and Business, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Political science etc.

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In its 26 years history, human rights always directed the path which today resulted in a strong tradition in organising human rights events.

Human Rights traditions in ELSA

http://www.flickr.com/photos/left-hand/1545584483/

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Years of experience in organising quality projects within the field of human rights have led to a cooperation with major institutions and human rights organisations in Croatia

The sector of academic activities is dedicated to promote the importance of legal writing and critical thinking. Annually, ELSA Zagreb organises essay competitions on human rights topics such as patients’ rights, right of the mentally challenged person etc.

Now, it is our pleasure to announce ELSA Zagreb's first international essay competition! The topic will be closely related to the International Summer Law School ”Human rights and globalization“. The winner will be rewarded with an amazing tuition fee for the participation the International Summer Law School in Zadar in July 2013.

Years of experience in organising quality projects within the field of human rights have led to a cooperation with major institutions and human rights organisations in Croatia such as the Ombudsman office, the Ombudsman for Children, the Croatian Government’s Office for Human Rights SYNERGY magazine

and Amnesty International Croatia. This cooperation has helped us to build the credibility of ELSA Zagreb and in the promotion of ELSA as an organisation with a strong focus on human rights.

Today, amongst number of different students' associations at our university, human rights are making a difference between ELSA and the others. Our commitment to human rights has not only formed us as a strong local ELSA group, but also made us proud to say that we are the biggest student association at our university and the only association raising awareness of human rights.

At the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, there is no continuous and systematic curriculum for human rights. ELSA Zagreb was and is still a pioneer in providing human rights education. By organising human rights events, we are changing the mind sets of law students and young lawyers and encouraging them to be open minded, altruistic and compassionate and that is our way to build a just world.

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We are changing the mind sets of law students and young lawyers and encouraging them to be open minded, altruistic and compassionate...

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ELSA for Children

ELSA for Children and the ONE in FIVE campaign

Looking for the eradication of children’s sexual violence Children’s mistreatment is an international problem to which people and States from the entire world try to give solutions and put an end. Many children suffer every day because other people make them feel bad, causing them, in many times, a harm difficult to repair.

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tatistics show that one out of five children in Europe suffers some kind of sexual violence such as abuse, assault, por- Sara Sanz nography, prostitution or grooming. International ONE in FIVE is the name chosen by Coordination Team ELSA for Children the Council of Europe, as the heading of its Campaign for the prevention and promotion of the report of cases of children’s sexual violence, having the Lanzarote Convention- the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS 201)- as its main legal instrument, that significantly influenced and continues influencing the protection of minors’ victims of sexual violence, producing the modification of the laws regulating this matter especially in many European countries and in general, all over the world.

ELSA, whose purpose is the respect for human dignity and cultural diversity, started in April 2012 the ELSA for Children project in cooperation with the Council of Europe, a legal research group consisting of 250 enthusiastic Law students from 24 European countries, that in 2013 will publish a report about how European legislation protects children’s victims of sexual violence. Their research reports were led by National Coordinators, supported by Academic Advisors, respected legal professionals from different countries with experience on Human Rights and Children's Rights.

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Each National Research Group needed to research all available national legislation, data and reports through all aspects of Asja Boric International the current legal protection of Coordination Team the citizens as well as all cases ELSA for Children of the human rights harassment and also to contact relevant national social care and educational institutions, the Ministries for Human Rights, NGOs, the Ombudsmen for Human Rights, The Council of Europe Offices and other academic institutions or experts.

The main topics of the research were: equality, family and child protection, International and European obligations of the countries, the status of the implementation of the Lanzarote Convention and general principles of the jurisdiction. Also a very important part of research was how the substantive criminal legislation is implemented when it comes to sexual abuse, child prostitution, child pornography, corruption of children, solicitation of children for sexual purposes, corporate liability, investigation and complaint procedure in the criminal procedure legislation of the countries, preventive and protective measures and assistance to victims when it comes to recovery, education and prevention. The research reports also evaluated the commitment of active citizens and NGOs in the protection of children in the European countries.

ELSA for Children In short, our legal report will provide information on what are the current measures to protect children from sexual violence and how the legislation should be to get a more effective protection. The final ELSA for Children report will be published on the website of the "ONE in FIVE" Campaign soon.

Apart from the research work, the creativity and the active participation in society of the hundreds of young European law students belonging to this group have not known limits. For example, we have organised activities such as conferences, fundraising events for charities, concerts, short films, spots, photography exhibitions and essay competitions.

These altruistic activities have been a result of the exchange of ideas and initiatives among the participants, through Facebook groups and Facebook pages, the main means of communication that have made possible we feel part of this huge and great European community of enthusiastic, caring and hard-working young people we are very proud of and that will always constitute an important part of our lives.

In conclusion, as members of the International Coordination Committee of ELSA for Children, we have the strong belief that we can put an end to children’s sexual violence. The principal message we have learnt from ELSA for Children is that money is not necessary to make big things when there are good people with high objectives in life working together to achieve a common goal, that in our case is putting an end to children’s sexual violence in the entire world today and forever, having the Law as the main tool to make this happen.

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... working together to achieve a common goal, that in our case is putting an end to children’s sexual violence in the entire world today and forever.

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