58th edition of the Synergy Magazine

Magazine of The European Law Students’ Association

No.58 · II-2015

SYNERGY An Issue of Freedom and Safety

Onur Andreotti, Council of Europe, p.8

The Making of "Legally Online"

Ana-Maria Telbis, European Human Rights Association, p.12

magazine Free Speech: The Freedom of Freedoms

Gonçalo Almeida Ribeiro, p.15

The protection of journalism and the safety of journalists

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3

Editor’s letter Dear reader,

Dagne Sabockyte Vice President for Marketing ELSA International 15/16

I am happy to present to you the 58th edition of Synergy. Through the pages of the magazine you will dive into the active network of ELSA – world's largest independent association for law students and young lawyers.

ELSA is a network that keeps growing. It is constantly becoming more global through its projects. We are reaching out to more and more future lawyers, providing them with opportunities to develop themselves and involving them in our strive towards our vision - “a just world in whish there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.”

In order for ELSA to live up to this vision, it is es-

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sential to emphasize our commitment to human rights and to educate our members about social responsibility.

Therefore, with this issue of Synergy, we want to raise awareness about a topic of high importance today - the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists. On the following pages of this brand new issue of Synergy you will find experts discussing the protection of freedom of speech and the right to liberty and security, as well as ELSA Officers' ideas and experiences about how to make a change on both local, national and international level.

I invite you to turn the page and to get inspired.

Dagne Sabockyte

Contents

Editor's Letter ELSA International 2015/2016

4 6

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

Protecting Journalism: An Issue of Freedom and Safety An Issue of Freedom and Safety Onur Andreotti, Council of Europe, p.8

8

A Trial That Never Ends

12

Free Speech: The Freedom of Freedoms

15

Threats to a Journalist's Right to Refuse to Identify Confidential Sources

19

Whose Convention Is It Anyway?

22

ELSA Events Calender 2015

26

International Focus

The Making of "Legally Online" Ana-Maria Telbis, EHRA, p.12

Taking on the WTO With ELSA Moot Court Competition

28

Journalists Free to Express Themselves

32

Be More Than a Lawyer

34

A Detailed Legal Research to the Implications Provoked by Austerity Measures

36

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

The Freedom of Freedoms Gonรงalo Almeida Ribeiro, p.15

The Pilot Project That Took Off!

38

Regional Cooperation as a Tool for Making Our Events International

41

The Feeling of Being a Delegate of ELSA International

42

Shaping a New Generation of Dispute Resolution

44

Experiencing European Human Rights Moot Court Competition as an ELSA Officer

47

All International, All Together

49

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ELSA International 2015/2016

Introducing the International Board of ELSA

Novelty is just around the corner

T

nication and knowledge management. His motto is “Managing internally, succeeding externally.” He cherishes breathtaking sceneries and adventures experienced with friends.

Being a part of such a versatile association is a privilege – having a professional network throughout Europe is something that few law students can claim to have. More importantly, it is a circle of friends that makes you involved in the newest vibrations globally, bringing the world closer to you.

Managing the finances with love, the first member of ELSA Czech republic ever to be elected into the International Board will strive to improve financial strategies in ELSA as his legacy. Marek Škultéty is a 24-year-old graduated law master who is currently enrolled in last year of economics master degree at the Masaryk University of Brno. His tasks for the upcoming year will include - among others - accounting, capital and liquidity management, budgeting, communication with external financial institutions and assisting auditors. Being the guardian of the treasury for the term 2015/2016 he will be making sure, that the streams of funds are adequately protected, directed where they benefit ELSA the most, and that they will certainly not run dry.

he new International Board of ELSA started its work and moved in together in Brussels only a few months ago. Support from other ambitious board members is indispensable in the full-time work. At the same time, the upcoming year is a chance to broaden the horizons and reach a deeper level of understanding on one another’s cultures and even legal systems.

Anna Haipola, the President of ELSA International, comes from Finland and studies law at the University of Turku. In the upcoming year she will be responsible for the overall coordination of the International Board and its work. She will also be responsible for representing the association externally. For her, cultural diversity is the greatest inspiration in ELSA, in addition to the incredible stories from the colourful history of the Association. During her free time she enjoys spending time with friends cooking, watching comedies and going outdoors. Her favourite spot in Brussels is a bar called Le Corbeau where people start dancing on tables on Saturdays after midnight.

Hector Tsamis, the Secretary General of ELSA International, was born and bred in Greece, and is currently a senior undergraduate student in the Law School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Having joined ELSA for its professional character, mutually shared objectives, permeating creativeness and international interaction, he is one of the two first Greeks to ever get elected in the International Board. He will be in charge of the Internal Management, an area that he considers as a fully operational nucleus ready to channel energy to the rest of the ELSA atom. His primary focus areas for the upcoming year will be quality evaluation, development of the area of trainings, human resources, network commu-

6

“Everything is marketing and marketing everything” is a quote you have heard at least once if you know Dagne Sabockyte, 5th-year law student at the Stockholm University and Vice President for Marketing of ELSA International. Coming from Sweden, she gets a lot of inspiration from nature, but she despises the cold. If you ask her, having regular Swedish coffees (a.k.a fika) with good friends is an absolute necessity. She will be responsible for coordination of marketing and promotion of ELSA and its events. Dagne’s main goal for this year is to help the ELSA Network grow both qualitatively and quantitatively by making even more law students and young lawyers discover ELSA and all the great opportunities it provides.

Antonia Markoviti, Vice President for Academic Activities, comes from Greece, where people ask her which country she comes from. Oddly enough, she also studies law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. These 366 days she will be mainly responsible for those activities, which put the focus on the students and their academic development by researching and exercising legal skills. In the same time she will stay committed to Human Rights and the relevant actions that ELSA

ELSA International 2015/2016

ELSA International 2015/2016 Vedran Stanković, Ada Gawrysiak, Matej Sadloň, Anna Haipola, Hector Tsamis, Dagne Sabockyte, Marek Škultéty, Antonia Markoviti

can support. She delights in being creative in little daily things, exploring and punning. Laconism, effectiveness and diversity excite her. Since she just turned 21, she cannot ‘expel the child spirit in her’ and she faces everything with good mood and humour.

Ada Gawrysiak, Vice President for Moot Court Competitions, comes from Poland, where she just finished her third year as a law student, in one of the oldest Universities in Europe - the Jagiellonian University. She gained a lot of knowledge regarding Moot Court Competitions through her years in ELSA, organizing them on local and national level. She will be responsible for the organization of the 14th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law, and the 4th edition of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition. She will put all her effort in leading them both to a great success. She appreciates all the small things in life, endless conversations, good food and well-blended coffee.

Matej Sadloň, Vice President for Seminars and Conferences, comes from Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where he

studies law and where he has started his ELSA career. This year he will be responsible particularly for the projects of Delegations, ELSA Law Schools and International Focus Programme. In addition to that, he will also work on the development of the web pages and IT solutions. He enjoys sports, especially football, goes to the gym on a regular basis and loves parties.

Vedran Stanković, Vice President for STEP – Student Trainee Exchange Programme, comes from the vibrant city of Zagreb, Croatia. That is where he studies law and that is also where he came in touch with ELSA for the first time.

As Vice President or STEP, Vedran will be responsible for the general administration of ELSA’s traineeship programme. He will work on the development and expansion of the traineeship opportunities that ELSA offers to its members - providing them with these opportunities is what motivates him the most. If he wants to relax, there is nothing he would prefer more than jogging in a park while listening to a classic rock playlist on his music player.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

Protecting journalism:

An issue of freedom and safety "A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy" - Nelson Mandela, February 1994

Onur Andreotti Coordinator of Task Force for Freedom of Expression and

Why does journalism need specific protection?

Media, Council of Europe

“A free and vibrant media depends on journalists being able to scrutinise power free from interference or intimidation and without fear of violence, threats, arbitrary detention and imprisonment” said the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in his report of 19 May 2015 on the “State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe”.1 The relevant bodies of the Council of Europe, as well as many specialised NGOs, have reported that the situation is deteriorating as regards the safety of journalists and media freedom throughout Europe.

This also involves a deterioration of the “public watchdog role” traditionally played by journalists and the media. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly emphasised that the public watchdog role of the press and the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information is vital to a democratic society.

1. http://www.statewatch.org/news/2015/apr/coe-ann-report.pdf

8

In many member states, not exclusively in areas of conflict, journalists and other media actors still face imminent threats to their life or physical integrity.

While physical violence is an urgent and persistent issue, legal pressure (also called “judicial intimidation”) means that there is currently a sword of Damocles hanging over journalistic activities in many countries, including European states. In recent years, a number of countries have used broad laws on criminal defamation and anti-terrorism measures to restrict the freedom of the press.

Where there are no safeguards in such legislation in terms of the “quality of law”, not only the misuse or abuse of such laws but their mere existence can have a disturbing effect on freedom of expression in general and on the freedom of the press in particular, as citizens and journalists may not foresee the consequences which a given publication (or speech, statement, drawing, post, etc.) may entail in terms of the regulation of their conduct.2 In many cases, laws may also lack the necessary procedural safeguards to provide proper protection for those exercising their right to freedom of expression.

2. See, for example, Altug Taner Akcam v. Turkey, no 27520/07, 25 October 2011.

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

Journalists also face other types of threats and obstacles, such as low employment status, lack of security for their sources or websites, and political pressures in the absence of transparency regulations on media ownership.

How does the Council of Europe protect journalists and safeguard their “watchdog role”?

The Council of Europe provides for the protection of freedom of expression in particular through the European Convention on Human Rights, the Court and the standards set by the Committee of Ministers. This system aims to help member states create an “enabling environment” for freedom of expression, a freedom which is exercised by journalists and other media actors. The European Court of Human Rights has held that states are required to create a favourable and inclusive environment for participation in public

debate, enabling all individuals to express their opinions and ideas uninhibited by fear.3 Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) is at the core of the Council of Europe’s system for the protection of the right to freedom of expression.

It reads: 1. 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. This article shall not prevent states from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, 3. Dink v. Turkey, nos 2668/07, 6102/08, 30079/08, 7072/09 and 7124/09, § 137, 14 September 2010.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective 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.

Some of the principles arising from European Court of Human Rights case law and Council of Europe “soft law” which regard the safety and freedom of journalists include: • The right to freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the media, are also essential tools for the defence of other human rights.

• “Not only does the media have the task of imparting (…) information and ideas: the public also has a right to receive them”.4 • Article 10 does not distinguish between ordinary citizens and journalists. However, enhanced protection for the exercise of

freedom of expression is guaranteed for journalistic activities.

While enjoyment of this freedom - and the task of providing information – goes hand in hand with an expectation of adherence to professional ethics and codes of conduct, the latter should not be envisaged as a prerequisite for the protection which states should provide.

• The Court does not give a definition of journalism but mentions a diverse range of contributions to public debate, emphasising the freedoms that are instrumental to fulfilling the public watchdog role traditionally played by journalists and the media in any democratic society. Public watchdog functions were predominantly performed by journalists and the media in the past; they are now increasingly also being fulfilled by other media and non-media actors.5 • Aside from Article 10, a number of autonomous rights safeguarded by the ECHR are also potentially relevant (depending on the type of interference) to issues surrounding the safety of journalists and the fight against impunity. Typically, these include: the right to life (Article 2); the prohibition of torture (Article 3); the right to liberty and security (Article 5); the right to a fair trial (Article 6), and no punishment without law (Article 7). These rights have been interpreted by the Court as entailing positive obligations for states.

“

The European Court of Human Rights has held that states are required to create a favourable and inclusive environment for participation in public debate, enabling all individuals to express their opinions and ideas uninhibited by fear.

• State obligations to protect the physical integrity of journalists under the European Convention on Human Rights can be summarised as follows: prevention, protection and prosecution.

• When journalists and other media actors are attacked or intimidated, this inevitably has a very disturbing effect on freedom of expression. Such occurrences are an even greater cause for concern when the prevalence of attacks and 4. The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom, (no 1), 26 April 1979, § 65, Series A no 30.

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5. See, for example, Steel and Morris v. the United Kingdom (no 68416/01, § 89, ECHR 2005 II), Riolo v. Italy, no 42211/07, § 63, 17 July 2008; Vides Aizsardzības Klubs v.

Latvia, no 57829/00, § 42, 27 May 2004.

Partners' and Externals'Hate Perspective Speech intimidation is compounded by a culture of legal impunity for the perpetrators of such acts.

The principles of the ECHR are reflected in various tools, mandates and forums existing at the level of all the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe, which are active through standard-setting, monitoring, political forums, expertise, cooperation, country visits, and dialogue.6 The main bodies of the Council of Europe whose mandate includes the protection of journalists are the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly.

“

When journalists and other media actors are attacked or intimidated, this inevitably has a very disturbing effect on freedom of expresion.

In April 2015, the Council of Europe also launched the Safety of Journalists Platform,7 a tool for enhancing the response capacity of Council of Europe bodies to improve the protection of journalists, to better address threats and violence against media professionals, and to foster early warning mechanisms and response capacity within the Council of Europe.

The Platform will enable the various bodies and institutions of the Council of Europe to be alerted promptly, in a more systematic way, and to take timely and coordinated action when necessary. It will also help the Organisation identify trends and propose adequate policy responses in the field of media freedom, as well as helping it improve cooperation and coordination with other international organisations.

NEW PUBLICATION BY COUNCIL OF EUROPE

JOURNALISM AT RISK

Threats, challenges and perspectives Defending a favourable environment for public debate Is journalism under threat? The image of journalists, as helmeted war correspondents protected by bullet-proof vests and armed only with cameras and microphones, springs to mind. Physical threats are only the most visible dangers, however. Journalists and journalism itself are facing other threats such as censorship, political and economic pressures, intimidation, job insecurity and attacks on the protection of journalists’ sources. Social media and digital photography mean that anyone can now publish information, which is also upsetting the ethics of journalism.

How can these threats be tackled? What is the role of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and national governments in protecting journalists and freedom of expression?

In this book, 10 experts from different backgrounds* analyse the situation from various angles. At a time when high-quality, independent journalism is more necessary than ever – and yet when the profession is facing many different challenges – they explore the issues surrounding the role of journalism in democratic societies.

*Onur Andreotti, Nils Muižnieks, Tarlach McGonagle,

Sejal Parmar, Başak Calı, Dirk Voorhoof, Kerem Altıparmak, Yaman Akdeniz, Katharine Sarikakis, Aidan White, Eugenia Siapera, Pierre Haski.

ISBN 978-92-871-8120-6, € 29 / US$ 58

French version (to be published soon): 6. See, for example, the “Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors” of 2014 (https://wcd.coe. int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=2188999&Site=CM&BackColorInternet=C3C3C3&BackColorIntr anet=EDB021&BackColorLogged=F5D383). See also the “Seminar and Inter-regional Dialogue on the protection of journalists”, which took place on 3 November 2014 at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg http://www.inter-justice.org.

7. www.coe.int/en/web/media-freedom

Journalisme à l’épreuve Menaces, défis et perspectives ISBN 978-92-871-8150-3, 29 € / 58 US$

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

The making of ‘Legally Online’

A trial that never ends

I

nternet is like the Universe. Its limitless potential can take us on a never-ending exploration Ana-Maria Telbis President of the Executive process. We can find information Board, European Human Rights about whatever and whoever we Association wish. A circumspect mind might rather say everything and everybody. What is the difference? The second version raises questions as to the limits on what should be found on Internet. These limits might for instance be drawn directly from the limits imposed by the respect for other values and principles.

Internet matters may also be looked at from the point of view of active users, those who post, comment and share. If one can find information about everything and everyone, does this mean one can post information about everything and everyone? And if the answer is negative (those familiar with the concept of restrictions on freedom of expression would likely be inclined to say so) then how is it that we do find such information online?

The era of Internet brought with it a new way of communicating - faster, more informal, less researched or edited. Opinions became more liberated and comments more opinionated. The era of Internet made everyone a potential information provider. Before, information was available only through newspapers, magazines, TV or radio; occasionally, through word of mouth. Internet upgraded the word of mouth to the new, most important information channel, by amplifying its dissemination.

The fact that everyone can contribute to circulating information sounds like an amazing advance. But there are 12

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If one can find information about everything a n d everyone, does this mean one can post information about everything and everyone? downsides to it, which come from the way information is disseminated, from what kind of information is disseminated.

If journalists abide by an ethics code and have specific training on how to work with information, amateur Internet users pretend to complete freedom to play with it as they see fit.

This would not necessarily be the worst downside of Internet freedom, if one is to consider that this freedom is also benefitting ill-intentioned users, circulating content that should not be available at all, like child pornography, hate speech, trafficking, radicalisation and so on.

And how do you tackle such a phenomenon? By imposing restrictions, would be the most likely answer. It is difficult to restrict what goes on Internet, so most restriction is done at the opposite end, i.e, what can be accessed. This however, can also prove a never-ending task. And here as well, this is not even the greatest disadvantage. National authorities have a tough burden in cleansing the Internet of prohibited material but it is a necessary burden. What to do, though, when this already heavy burden is complemented by their zeal to make the place spotless. Spotless from their perspective, meaning

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

no opposition material, no online protests, no criticism?1 The concept of Internet restrictions came as a logical response to the ever-developing potential and impact of the Internet. It didn’t take long before several issues emerged, which drove positions at international level.

In order to channel and frame the line to take in answering several questions (like who can restrict, in which conditions, what kind of content, under which safeguards, etc.), several international bodies have issued recommendations in this regard: the UN Special Rapporteur2 for the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression highlighted the importance and the relevance of respecting human rights principles when dealing with Internet, and moreover detailed the aspects related to the exceptions to the protection of free expression on the Internet – child pornography, incitement to genocide, hate speech and incitement to terrorism. He also observed that the most common method of restricting free expression on the Internet is the blockage of sites or content blockage, which should 1. See, among others, the Council of Europe’s Commissionner for Human Rights Issue Paper on the Rule of Law on the Internet and in the Wider Digital World, addressing several important aspects concerning Internet-related regulations (https://wcd.coe.int/ com.instranet.InstraServlet?command=com.instranet.CmdBlobGet&InstranetImage=2 734552&SecMode=1&DocId=2262340&Usage=2).

2. In his Report of 2011 (A/66/290)

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If journalists abide by an ethics code and have specific training on how to work with information, amateur Internet users pretend to complete freedom to play with it as they see fit. be done in line with the safeguards imposed, namely the importance of having a judicial control in place, along the same lines as an OSCE Report published the year before.3 The latter study also highlighted the existence in certain OSCE legal systems of vague definitions at risk of wide interpretation of some terms justifying Internet restrictions, like ‘extremism, terrorist propaganda, harmful content and hate speech’.

The Council of Europe bodies also reacted to this trend, especially in light of some general or extrajudicial bans on 3. ‘Internet blocking practices a concern, access is a human right, says OSCE media freedom representative at launch of OSCE-wide study’ – 8 July 2011 - http://www.osce. org/fom/80735.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective internet sites imposed in certain countries.4 The European Court of Human Rights has also had the occasion to deal with cases concerning this matter, and it once again pointed out the importance of having proper safeguards when the authorities proceed to website blocking.5 On the other hand, blocking websites is not the cure, but rather a patch remedy. In this regard, the Court in Strasbourg held, in a case brought under Article 8 of the ECHR, that the respect for private life can trigger positive obligations going beyond simple access restriction to harmful content, concerning efficient criminal-law provisions for Internet-related crimes.6 Not only is Internet like a universe, but it is one in full expansion. Issues are constantly emerging and the real world can only try to keep up. The legal environment must sprint to catch up. Matters like data protection and processing7, regulating user-generated comments8, online media impact and offline safety of Internet content providers9, are only some of the few recent matters that can be mentioned.

Few of us were aware of its birth in the 50s. More of us came to know it in the 80s and even more saw its bloom in the 90s and onwards. We have all witnessed cornerstone developments in the last ten years. For the legal world, at least, it is truly history in the making. And most certainly, none of us will be around to live the stage where, concerning Internet regulation, all has been said and done.

4. For example, see the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights report on Internet censorship in Turkey - https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1814085, as well as the alerts on administrative/arbitrary blocking of websites in France and Russia, recorded on the recently established Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists - http://www.coe.int/en/web/media-freedom/ home.

5. See, for instance, the case of Ahmet Yildirim v. Turkey, judgment of 18 December 2012 (http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-115705), dealing with an interim court order incidentally blocking access to host and third-party websites in addition to website concerned by proceedings.

6. For example, see the case of K. U. v Finland, judgment of 2 December 2008 (http:// hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-89964 ), dealing with the authorities’ failure to compel a service provider to disclose identity of a person wanted for placing an indecent advertisement about a minor on an Internet dating site.

7. See, for instance, the CJEU case of Google Spain (http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=152065&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir =&occ=first&part=1&cid=570629 ) on the responsibility of internet search engine operators for the processing carried out of personal information which appears on web pages published by third parties (or the ‘right to be forgotten’).

8. See the ECtHR case of Delfi AS v Estonia (GC), judgment of 16 June 2015 (http:// hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-155105 ) on the liability of an internet news portal for offensive comments posted on its site by anonymous third parties.

9. See, for instance, the recent cases of a murdered journalist following a Facebook post (https://go.coe.int/XguPY) and the statements of the CoE Secretary General (https://go.coe.int/uN5hL) and the OSCE Representative for the Freedom of the Media (http://www.osce.org/fom/176611) in this regard ; and that of an online journalist brutally beaten with metal bars in Skopje (https://go.coe.int/mtqp3), following which the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists has issued two respective alerts.

The European Human Rights Association (EHRA) is an independent, non-profit-making, non-governmental organization composed of a network of experts from nearly 30 countries. They are committed to improving the effectiveness of the human rights protection system through awareness-raising, capacity building and dissemination of information onthe European Convention on Human Rights.

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

Free Speech:

The Freedom of Freedoms

F

ew would take issue with the proposition that freedom of Gulbenkian Professor of Law, action is valuable. If my beCatólica Global School of Law, havior causes no one harm, it is a Universidade Católica Portuguesa good thing that I have the freedom to engage in it. True, we may well ask if certain types of behavior harmful to their very authors should not be proscribed if these are tempted by them. Or we may ask if behavior in the best interest of persons should not be made mandatory whenever there is good reason to think that it will not be voluntarily selected. Yet restrictions of individual freedom on account of the agent’s own well-being should be regarded as an exception, reserved to certain categories of people, like children and the mentally impaired, essentialy incapable of acting in their best interest, or to certain types of behavior, such as the sale of body parts or the purchase of heavy drugs, that are ordinarily taken to reflect perverse choices. Allowance be made for these limiting cases, it is practically uncontestable that freedom of action is valuable.

Gonçalo Almeida Ribeiro

It does not follow that freedom is an absolute value.

Many instances of individual behavior cause harm, or create the risk of harm, to the life, physical integrity, property, social dignity or the privacy of third-parties, to mention but a few of the interests often periled by the exercise of personal freedom. No one believes that society should tolerate murder, assault, theft, racial discrimination or the invasion of privacy.

In broad terms, civil society requires permanent balancing and compromise between freedom of action and the interests and rights threatened by its untrammeled exercise. That, I take it, is the message conveyed by the old (and largely inane) cli-

ché that ‘your freedom ends where mine begins’. Indeed, the need to restrict individual freedom is the most basic (although not by any means the only) justification for the existence of a political organization – the state – the cardinal functions of which are to enact, apply and execute laws that limit the freedom of people to behave as they see fit.

From these premises the conclusion naturally follows that freedom of speech, like any other manifestation of freedom, should be subject to the limits dictated by the need to afford effective protection to the interests and rights of third parties. Just as the right to life and to bodily integrity requires that my freedom to start shooting against other people be sacrificed, so the argument goes, the honor of a politician or the sensibility of a religious group might very well furnish sufficient reasons for restrictions on my freedom of speech.

This is all very reasonable at first sight: the exercise of free speech, like that of freedom of action, comes at a cost to others, and where such cost is appropriately high, the law should play a constraining role. I shall argue nonetheless that this line of reasoning is fallacious. For it rests on an untenable analogy between freedom of action, in its multiple manifestations or instantiations, and what we might call freedom of the spirit, a category that comprises not just freedom of conscience – which cannot by definition be limited, notably by law – but also the freedoms of speech, of the press and of information through which the former acquires a public character. Freedom of speech is the paradigm of such spiritual freedoms, and these are very much unlike the freedoms of action in three critically important respects.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective There is, in the first place, an ontological difference, that is, one that pertains to the nature or essence of the realities that we are comparing. Action belongs to the material order, in the sense that each instance of human action is an event located in space and time. It is, for that very reason, irreversible. I cannot revert the act of punching another individual, of setting a house on fire, of making a promise, or of eating a slice of cake. I might occasionally be able to eliminate the effects of my action through an act (or a series of acts) with the opposite content; for instance, I may obliterate an illegally built wall. Typically, however, human action is irreversible in a stronger sense – the sense in which I cannot revert the act of eating a slice of cake or of slapping someone’s face – and the most that can be done to deal with the negative effects is to find a surrogate form of protection for the valuable interests that were sacrificed (say, working out to burn the calories or paying the victim compensatory damages). The ideas and opinions expressed publicly, on the other hand, belong to the intellectual order. They are not events located in space and time but mental representations that may be corrected, refuted or corroborated at any moment through the normal operation of the intellectual faculties. For that very reason, the harmful potential of free speech is not comparable to that which is implicated in freedom of action. There is an irreducible ontological difference between kicking my neighbor’s ankle and mocking his religious beliefs.

A second difference is axiological in nature, that is, it concerns value judgments over the use of freedom. Free-

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dom of action is in perennial tension with other valuable interests, so that its definitive valuation implies in nearly any circumstance what we may call, borrowing a metaphor from accounting, balancing the costs and benefits. The exercise of freedom of speech, on the other hand, as John Stuart Mill noticed in his famous essay On Liberty (1859), is a source of unqualified value. The argument is fairly simple. The judgment, belief or opinion which freedom to issue is in question necessarily has to be either completely true, partially true or totally false. It turns out, as Mill puts it, that in either case there is every advantage in respecting freedom of speech: in the first type of case, error is substituted by truth; in the intermediate type, there is room for a felicitous articulation of divergent opinions each containing a grain of truth; and in the latter type of case, confrontation with an error reinforces the conviction in the truth of the contested belief and the rediscovery or deeper understanding of its grounds resulting from the intellectual effort spent in its intimate or public defense.

The only harm in the exercise of free speech is the emotional discomfort that may arise when our beliefs are put to trial. But that harm is merely apparent, for what justifies our adherence to certain beliefs is the reasonableness of the judgments underpinning them, and such can only be tested through contestation and debate.

Finally, there is an important political difference between freedom of action and freedom of speech. Politics is the way in which we go about deciding matters that concern the common life that we are fated to share given our condition as

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

“

Any democratic regime that restricts the freedom to express certain opinions undermines the very foundations of its legitimacy, for it suppresses, through an imperfect manifestation of democracy, the radically democratic government of free thinking. beings coexisting in a finite space and in a particular time. We are bound to decide which claim prevails, and to what exact extent, in the conflict between the industrious individual interested in the exclusive control over the fruits of his labor and the unproductive individual (owing to laziness or incapacity) interested in enjoying them gratuitously. If no decision is taken in this and many other issues that concern us all, the persons involved will act as they see fit, in which case society is bound to take the form of anarchy (where the law of the strongest prevails) instead of political community (where the rule of law, in the broadest sense of the term, prevails).

Now this necessity of deciding or of settling the conflict does not extend to the realm of opinion and judgment. We may perfectly well coexist in a public realm within which different and even contradictory opinions and assertions over the most diverse subjects have a place. We do not need an authority to settle which view is true or most plausible. In other words, matters of the spirit do not take up a political character, for there is absolutely no need to keep them in order.

However, the political singularity of free speech goes beyond that. There are various types of political regime, which are the forms in which human communities govern themselves, that is, how they issue decisions that bind everyone. In democratic regimes the addressees of political decisions are, directly or indirectly (through elected representatives), their authors as well. It is so because democracy is grounded in the principle of political equality, according to which all citizens have an equal right to participate in the formation of the collective will that orders the relations among them. Now, given the impossibility of securing unanimity among the citizenry on the issues of collective life, and since it is equally impossible to suspend political decision-making in the futile hope of a future consensus, democratic decicion-making is based on majority rule, according to which every citizen has an equal right to influence a collective decision determined by a simple procedure of vote-counting. Majority rule is a worldly surrogate for the ideal self-government under which no citizen would be subject to political decisions that she does not herself endorse.

On matters of the spirit, on the other hand, namely when it comes to the public expression of opinions, there is no reason to restrict the freedom of each individual to think and judge by herself. We do not need to resort to that imperfect alternative to ideal self-government that is majority rule, for we may well live together in spite of our conflicting opinions. It follows that any democratic regime that restricts the freedom to express certain opinions undermines the very foundations of its legitimacy, for it suppresses, through an imperfect manifestation of democracy, the radically democratic government of free thinking. Free speech is hence an unavoidable prerequisite of democratic legitimacy. It is the very root of our form of life. Democratic governance is morally tolera-

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective ble precisely because, and to the extent that, it allows spiritual anarchy to flourish; if this partnership between authority and freedom is dishonored, democracy degenerates into tyranny, it becomes another name for despotic rule.

Of course none of this means that free speech, in spite of its special place among the fundamental freedoms, is an absolute value. There are five main types of legitimate exception to the normal regime of protected speech. First, the assertion of unequivocally false or fabricated facts, namely by the media, since that involves the violation of a basic duty of honesty for those who participate in the public sphere.

Second, the deployment of language to offend individual or groups, that is, not with any plausible intention to assert a fact or express an opinion but with the sole malicious purpose of hurting the target. Thirdly, the use of language to cause effects in the material order, the paradigm of which is shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater with the aim of provoking panic or inciting violence. Fourthly, the assertion of certain facts or the expression of certain opinions in the context of a relationship of authority (teacher/student, employer/employee) with the purpose of exploiting before an audience the subordinate position of the interlocutor. Finally, the public exposure of aspects of one’s private life that have no collective relevance of any sort but which feed into the voyeurism of some segments of the public. To these five we may add a limited set of situations in which, for a variety of reasons, notably of public interest, trade, investigative or sate secret is worthy of legal protection. It should be stressed that since many of these exceptions embody vague standards (“offense”, “incitement”, “public interest” etc.), their application in controversial cases should be subject to the principle in dubio pro libertate.

It is a symptom of the debasement of our understanding of free speech that we spend an awful amount of time listing and defining the exceptions and too little time discussing the grounds of the principle. A consequence of that sad state of affairs is that occasionally the most narrow cases go on to furnish wildly broad categories – I am thinking here of the nearly imperceptible sequence of steps through which the concept of offense was extended from the personal realm (offense to individual or groups) to the intellectual realm (the absurd view that it is possible to offend the beliefs or, as it is often put, the feelings of certain people).

Perhaps we should spend less time thinking about the limits of free speech and devote a lot more energy to the cardinal issue of how the public space should be regulated to allow everyone an effective opportunity to express their views and to insulate the media from organized interests seeking to shape the tides of public opinion.

Free speech is not merely another valuable freedom. It is the freedom of freedoms.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

Can you keep a secret?

Threats to a journalist’s right to refuse to identify confidential sources

O

ne of the key rights provided in British law to journalists is the right to refuse to give up the identity of a source of confidential information. The justification for such a stance is, that often investigative journalists find the evidence Gavin Sutter Senior Lecturer in Media Law, they need upon which to base a story Queen Mary University of Law only via speaking to sources inside a government department, or a company, or other body; people are unlikely to speak out if their identity will be revealed and their job security, or in some cases their lives, threatened. Without the information they can provide, investigative journalism is hampered and stories die. Thus it is, however paradoxical it may appear, considered a manner of great significance to freedom of expression, that a journalist is free to refuse to make certain information key to the identification of such a source.

In British law, this right was recognised only as recently as 1981. Per Section 10 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, a journalist can only be obliged to identify a confidential source where it is “…necessary in the interests of justice or national security or for the prevention of disorder or crime.”

In X v Morgan Grampian1 a trainee journalist was ordered to identify the source of a story that the plaintiff company was facing bankruptcy, and fined heavily for refusing to comply. The courts were clear that it was “in the interests of justice” to enable the plaintiff to identify an individual who had breached company confidentiality.2 An appeal by 1. [1991] 1 AC 1 2. Mersey Care Trust; this case is all the more significant as the defendant was not the

Goodwin to the Strasbourg court led to this decision being overturned, and the Section 10 right effectively strengthened.

It has since been successfully deployed, for example, against a secure hospital alleging a serious breach of medical confidentiality. A rare case in which an English court has since ordered identification, Interbrew v Financial Times,3 succeeded because the court accepted that it was necessary in the interests of justice to identify a source which had allegedly doctored a leaked financial report which suggested poor company performance. The several newspapers involved, however, refused to identify their common source, and the order was ultimately unenforced. Strasbourg ruled against identification on grounds of absence of any evidence to support the forgery claim.4 Significantly, to date Strasbourg has yet to uphold any order to identify a confidential source as compliant with Article 10.

“

Often investigative journalists find the evidence they need upon which to base a story only via speaking to sources inside a government department, or a company, or other body journalist who wrote the newspaper story which published the information, but an intermediary journalist who had passed it to the newspaper, and who had himself acquired it from a staff member at the hospital in question. A preceding case had led to an order for the newspaper to identify their intermediary, but it did not follow, in all the circumstances of the case, that the intermediary, a well-respected investigative journalist, was obliged to identify his source within the secure hospital.

3. Interbrew v Financial Times [2002] EWCA Civ 343 4. Financial Times v UK [2010] EMLR 21

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

In recent years, however, potential threats to this right which merit consideration have appeared. For example, the Terrorism Act 2000 imposes a duty upon anyone who acquires “in the course of a trade, profession, business or …employment”5 any information which gives rise to a belief or even a

This was retrospectively inserted into the Terrorism Act as Section 38B. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 also introduced similar disclosure duties in relation to a raft of terror-related offences,6 presenting the same problems. No journalist has been charged under these provisions to date, and application remains unclear.

suspicion that an individual is guilty of one of a range of terror-related offences (including relating to financing terror), to report that individual to the police. An investigative journalist writing a story on, say, a Mosque in which extreme and inflammatory messages are preached, might be put in a difficult position if he or she were to suspect that a member of the audience had been radicalised to commit violence. Where there is a reasonable belief that an offence has been committed or is in the planning stages, journalistic integrity would command informing the police. Clearly, this could mean a journalist’s source being identified in a subsequent investigation. While this may in some circumstances be justifiable as necessary in the interests of national security or for the prevention of crime, the interpretation of “suspects” in particular has the potential to be overly broad from a Section 10 point of view, placing journalists in a difficult position, not least as an offence under Section 19 is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment. The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, rushed through Parliament in the wake of 9/11, created a similar non-disclosure offence, subject to similar penalties, not limited to material acquired in the course of employment.

Per Schedule B of the Terrorism Act 2000, police can also obtain a warrant for the purposes of a terrorist investigation which can access journalistic material, with a warrant from a justice of the peace. In Malik v Manchester Crown Court,7 a judicial review established that a Schedule 5 order granted to the Greater Manchester Police in order to oblige a journalist to surrender information collected during the course of writing a book about a self-confessed ‘reformed former terrorist’. The order was ruled to have been made in overly broad terms, and the court permitted the journalist to refuse to hand over information which identified persons other than his ex-terrorist co-author. The latter could be named as he had already been open about his past, but the court ruled other sources could be kept confidential. It seems the GMP were seeking to raid the journalists’ notes also for information regarding further potential, as yet unknown, individuals and offences. On this application, the Section 10 right is strong protection for the free expression of investigative journalists working on articles relating to terrorism. It would be logically consistent to apply a similar approach in relation to the other

5. Terrorism Act 2000, Section 19(1)(b)

6. See Sections 60-70.

7. [2008] EWHC 1362 (Admin)

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Council of Europe UNHRCPerspective Strasbourg Partners' andand Externals' terror provisions previously discussed.

The Communications and Data Bill 2014 threatened to require routine storage of all internet records and emails for twelve months. This would have been a significant intrusion beyond existing legislation, which requires routine storage of communications data only. The content to be stored would include communications with confidential sources, identifying them. Police would have easy access, as the oversight regime in the UK, requires a government minister rather than an independent judge to sign an access warrant for bulk data. The potential for political abuse and erosion of the Section 10 right is obvious. The Bill was defeated, however, there are plans to reintroduce it, keeping a serious threat to free expression in contention.

“

People are unlikely to speak out if their identity will be revealed and their job security, or in some cases their lives, threatened.

A final challenge to the Section 10 right lies in the defence of publication on matter of public interest introduced by the Defamation Act 2013.8 This applies where there exists a genuine public interest in an article published in good faith. In deciding whether this test has been met, “the court must have regard to all the circumstances of the case.” While this provision explicitly overrules “the common law defence known as the Reynolds defence”, the Explanatory Notes to the act make clear that a court may consider prior common law when applying this defence. In the leading judgement in Reynolds v Times, Lord Nicholls gave a non-exhaustive list of factors which the court should consider in deciding whether there was both a duty to make, and a corresponding public interest in, a publication. These included the reliability of sources relied upon by the author. This would oblige a journalist to reveal the identity of a confidential source. While Nicholls was, of the opinion that a journalist’s unwillingness to disclose the identity of a confidential source should not weigh against it, Lord Steyn argued the court should be entitled to draw inferences from any such exercise of the right. No clear answer to this conundrum has yet been provided... The logic of Steyn’s position is undeniable, but the argument that it may lead to an incremental erosion of the right to refuse to identify a confidential source looms large.

Strong as the right to protect the identity of a confidential source may seem, vigilance is still necessary lest it be subtly eroded.

8. Section 4

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

The European Human Rights Moot Court Competition

Whose convention is it anyway?

T

he European Convention on Human Rights suffers by being seen as remote from citizens and by being poorly understood. One initiative which seeks in a very concrete way to involve young people in achieving a practical understanding of the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights is the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition (EHRMCC). The competition promotes professional understanding and empowerment among young advocates and in its third year is enjoying increasing popularity.

Simon Palmer Retired official of the Council of Europe*

The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the most important achievements of our Continent; it has set standards of human freedom and dignity which are universal. Under the Convention, the European Court of Human Rights has provided protection and relief for thousands of people, implicitly guiding governments on policies to avoid further violations.

But unfortunately the Convention is poorly understood

by Europeans: people do not necessarily know what it is for, what it can and cannot do, or how to use it. This is no surprise; citizens do not necessarily understand the role and structures of their own national judicial systems either - un* Simon Palmer is a retired official of the Council of Europe, member of the Academic Board of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition and Member of the Advisory Committee of the European Human Rights Association (EHRA).

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less they find themselves before a court of law to assert or defend their right, when ignorance is quickly overcome.

For an international jurisdiction like the European Court of Human Rights, the situation is different. People may choose whether or not to submit an application to the Court and they need to do so on the basis of knowledge. Applicants often seek the Court’s help when, for any number of reasons, it can unfortunately do nothing. Even so it has to consider such applications, even briefly, if only to pronounce them ill-founded or otherwise inadmissible. Given the volume of such applications, this work has over the years severely undermined the Court’s ability to get on with its job.

The Council of Europe has long been aware that one of the most important ways of stemming the flow of potentially fruitless applications is to teach the public about the

“

The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the most important achievements of our Continent; it has set standards of human freedom and dignity which are universal.

Partners' and Externals' Perspective Court: not only to tell them that there is an institution in Strasbourg that will protect their rights, but also, crucially, what its limitations are and how to use it. Needless to say, this message is very much addressed to the legal professions.

Call in the instigators This is why the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) proposed to launch an English-language competition in which teams of law students from institutions throughout the member States of the Council of Europe would vie with one another in presenting and defending a fictional application concerning alleged violations of the Convention. The idea is not original: moot courts as a form of forensic sport are well known all over the world. The EHRMCC is very much inspired by the distinguished Prix René Cassin, created in 1988 and named after one of the leading drafters of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The EHRMCC was launched in 2013, with the active co-operation of the Council of Europe. In late summer, ELSA calls for entries and at the same time publishes the fictional case which will form the basis of the competition. The case is artfully drafted by experts from the European Human Rights Association (EHRA) so as to suggest certain violations and

“

The three days of the final rounds, leading to the grand final session from which the winners emerge, are highly charged, intellectually exciting and - for the contestants, certainly - exhausting. provide ample scope for the use of case-law in the participants’ pleadings. Some herrings may be red, some may just be fish and the contestants must work out which are what.

Contestants draw up legal pleadings from the point of view of both the applicant and the (fictional) respondent State. To help them, the organisers will reply to well-founded requests for clarification and publish the replies for the benefit of all contestants.

A panel of experts drawn from Court Registry staff and from EHRA marks the written submissions in the final weeks of the year, in order to select the 16 best teams who come to Strasbourg in February for the final rounds of the competition.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective No-one who has been associated with this phase of the competition could deny the sheer commitment demonstrated by the teams. The will to uphold the prestige of one’s institution is clearly important, but so is the desire to succeed and to make the best of the opportunity to present a case - even a fictional one - in a place which inspires a kind of awe. These young lawyers, who will be real-world practitioners of advocacy in a matter of months, clearly acknowledge the Convention as part of the legal order that they will inhabit. Performance in the gold-fish bowl of the competition is an affirmation of this acceptance which lends a unique intensity to the competition.

All this is observable from the judges’ bench where, initially, selected experts and Court staff enjoy the flattering privilege of being addressed as “Ms/Mr President” or “your Excellency” or “your Honour”, all the while attentively making allowances for differing degrees of competence in English, asking friendly but penetrating questions and attempting to come to a fair assessment of the contestants’ grasp of the essentials, skill in argument, use of case-law and presentational arts.

As the rounds progress through quarter- and semi-finals, the picture emerges: who are the contenders, what their strengths and weaknesses are, how their rivalries develop. A human dra-

“

These young lawyers, who will be real-world practitioners of advocacy in a matter of months, clearly acknowledge the Convention as part of the legal order that they will inhabit.

Wide-eyed to stressed-out in three days The three days of the final rounds, leading to the grand final session from which the winners emerge, are highly charged, intellectually exciting and - for the contestants, certainly - exhausting. At the opening reception where the draw for the preliminary rounds is made by the ELSA Vice-President in charge, teams are fresh, wide-eyed and ready to go, observing each other to try to guess where the strongest opposition will come from. As the rounds progress, with the need to hone presentations - already gleaming with rhetoric and astute argumentation - to perfection, sleep becomes rarer and the eyes less wide-open.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

ma of commitment and hard work moves towards its climax at the final session, graciously presided by a real judge of the European Court.

What it all means The winners and runners-up are designated and a prize awarded for the best orator. There is triumph and no doubt bitter disappointment, too. ELSA’s organisational team try hard not to show the depth of their exhaustion. Among them all, contestants and organisers alike, young lawyers have demonstrated a strong dedication to an ideal, not consigned this time in the terms of a legal text but in the heads and hearts of the participants. Each in her or his way will have used the intense experience of the Competition to establish a certain ownership of the business of human rights protection, an ownership that they will share and spread at their careers progress.

RELATED WEBSITES European Human Rights Moot Court Competition: humanrightsmoot.elsa.org European Law Students’ Association: elsa.org Prix René Cassin: www.concourscassin.eu European Human Rights Association: www.ehra.fr

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LXVIII International Council Meeting (ICM) Date: 18th-25th October 2015 Place: Batumi, Georgia Working Language: English

Date: 15th-16th October 2015 Place: Zagreb, Croatia Working Language: English and Croatian (simultaneous interpretation) E-mail: info@intranslaw.hr Website: www.elsa-zagreb.hr

1st International Transport and Insurance Law Conference

Date: 13th-14th October 2015 Place: Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France Working Language: English

CoE Conference ‘Freedom of Expression – still a precondition for democracy?’

International Seminar on Mediation Date: 2nd - 4th October 2015 Place: Lviv, Ukraine Working Language: English Email: president.elsalviv@gmail.com

OCTOBER

ELSA Thessaloniki Winter Law School on Migration Law and Refugee Issues Date: 1st-8th December 2015 Place: Naoussa, Greece Working Language: English

LRG Conference on Social Rights and Austerity Measures Date: 30th November-5th December 2015 Place: Strasbourg, France Working Language: English Registration Deadline: 18th October 2015 Website: www.lrgconference.org

DECEMBER

ELSA Day Date: 25th November Place: All the countries of the network E-mail: vpaa@elsa.org Website: elsa.org/activities/elsa-day/

ELSA EX-YU Conference ‘International Legal Protection of the Environment’ Date: 18th-22nd November 2015 Place: Belgrade, Serbia Working Language: Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian E-mail: exyu2015@elsa.org.rs

Events Calendar 2015/2016

ELSA

To be announced soon on elsa.org

APRIL

International Conference on Comparative Law Date: 10th-12th March 2016 Place: Warsaw, Poland Working Language: English E-mail: vpsc@warszawa.elsa.org.pl Website: warszawa.elsa.org.pl

LXIX International Council Meeting (ICM) Date: 20th-27th March 2016 Place: Malta Working Language: English

MARCH

Human Rights Moot Court Competition (EHRMCC) - Final Oral Round Date: 15th-18th February 2016 Place: Strasbourg, France Working Language: English Website: www.humanrightsmoot.elsa.org Registration deadline: 8/11/2015

World Forum for Democracy Date: 18th-20th November 2015 Place: Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France Working Language: English E-mail: vpsc@elsa.org Website: elsa.org/delegations/

IBA-ELSA Law Students’ Conference on Careers, Banking and Finance Date: 14th-15th November 2015 Place: Queen Mary University, London, UK Working Language: English Website: www.ibanet.org

Slovakia Model United Nations Conference 2015 Date: 4th - 8th November Place: Bratislava, Slovak Republic Working Language: English Website: www.elsa.sk E-mail: krajci.pavol@gmail.com

NOVEMBER

LII International Presidents’ Meeting (IPM) Date: 3rd-7th February 2016 Place: Brno, Czech Republic Working Language: English Website: www.ipm.elsa.cz

FEBRUARY

www.elsa.org

For more upcoming activities, go to our website:

ELSA Moot Court Competition (EMC2) - Final Oral Round Date: 7th-12th June 2016 Place: Geneva, Switzerland Working Language: English Website: warszawa.elsa.org.pl

JUNE

JANUARY To be announced soon on elsa.org

Final IFP Conference Date: 16th-21st May 2016 Place: Trieste, Italy Working Language: English

MAY

Christmas Cocktail Party Date: 12th December 2015 Place: Brussels, Belgium Website: www.elsa.org

Website: www.thessaloniki.elsa-greece.org/winter_school

International Focus

Challenges and rewards of EMC2

Taking on the WTO with ELSA Moot Court Competition

W

ithout any intention to sound clichĂŠd or dramatic - my life as a law student really has changed post my experiences in the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law (EMC2). After many months of preparations, my team and I won the 13th edition of the EMC2, during the Final at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva. I returned home with a lot of happiness, pride and a lifetime of memories!

Sandeep Ravikumar

Undergraduate Student at the WB National University of Juridical Sciences. Member of the winning team of the 13th edition of the EMC2*

EMC2 provides you with two unique opportunities: first, the chance to work in great depth on contentious and contemporary legal issues in the field of international trade law; and second, the chance to interact with other law students from every part of the globe. The 13th edition had almost a hundred teams participating from around the world, all burning the midnight oil over many months attempting to master the intricacies of the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement and the GATT. My own experience began in September 2014, when the Case for the 13th edition was released.

My team and I had about four months to prepare our Written Submissions and another month before we competed in the Asia-Pacific Regional Round in Manila, Philippines. After our success at the Regional Round, we geared up for the Final Oral Round in Geneva, Switzerland to compete as one of the top 20 teams in the world.

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Mooting as a co-curricular activity is something, which I think all law students should try out at least once in their time at law school. Firstly, it allows you to develop your legal research and analytical skills to a great degree, as you work so extensively on one particular case, and further, you learn to master drafting legal arguments in a clear and concise manner. The most important skills you gain during the Oral Pleadings, where you have to successfully present many months of research in a short span of 40-45 minutes. Oral Pleadings help you go beyond merely presenting raw research and help you to develop the art of persuasion and legal advocacy-skills, which are invaluable to any lawyer, regardless of the branch of law you seek to pursue. In EMC2, I found the perfect avenue to pursue my interest in mooting and international trade

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The 13th edition had almost a hundred teams participating from around the world, all burning the midnight oil over many months attempting to master the intricacies of the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement and the GATT.

International Focus

law. After my experiences regarding participation in the 13th edition of EMC2, I would strongly recommend all the students around the world to participate in the future editions of the competition. While I could provide a hundred reasons to participate in EMC2, I will try to condense it down to minor three factors: The quality of the competition From our very first pleading in the Asia-Pacific Regional Rounds to the Grand Final in Geneva, we were challenged at a very high level, because of the sheer quality of the Panelists judging in EMC2. Particularly, at the Final Oral Round in Geneva, it was our privilege to plead before some of the biggest names in the trade law field. Moreover, ELSA was able to gather a very diverse set of Panellists. Within a minute, you could get questioned on the intricacies of a particular WTO ruling and immediately have to respond to another question on the broader policy implications of your arguments. At the same time, you could be pleading against opponents from another continent of the world. This amount of diversity magnified the experience, you can demonstrate your months of preparation to the Panel, and hone your ability to respond to different perspectives. The highlight of my EMC2 experience was certainly the Grand Final, where our team pleaded before the Panel consisting of 9 members, including former WTO Appellate Body Chairperson, Mr. A.V. Ganesan, Professor Gabrielle Marceau and other leading trade law professionals.

This was both intimidating and exhilarating as many times in the pleading, I realized I was citing the rulings and materials that the Panelists themselves had authored! The competition thus gives you the opportunity to test your abilities and understanding of international trade law in a manner that no

amount of classroom learning would. I believe these aspects are what makes EMC2 truly stand out. The very purpose of a moot court competition is to challenge your abilities as a law student in a real-world situation, and the fact that we had WTO DSB Panellists and Appellate Body members judging us meant that the experience was so much more authentic and satisfying.

The nearly flawless organization by ELSA The organization of the EMC2, particularly in the Final Oral Round in Geneva, was fabulous. EMC2 is perhaps the only competition where you can involve yourself at the heart of the field you are studying. Many of our pleadings, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were conducted right inside the WTO itself, and it was evident that ELSA International had put months of preparation and planning to make this event happen. Apart from the competition itself, ELSA had graciously organized a number of events, which allowed participants to interact at very close quarters with some very senior members of the trade law fraternity. A particularly unique experience was the ‘Trade Law Lunch’, where we were able to have lunch at the offices of the EMC2 Sponsors, based in Geneva, and learn first-hand about trade law practice and life in the field, in a very informal and open environment.

Moreover,, we were treated with regular reception evenings, a visit to the United Nations, and of course, the wonderful lakeside award dinner after the competition was over!

Geneva itself One of the most beautiful cities in the world! Part of the motivation to qualify for the Final Oral Round is the

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International Focus

“

To any law student reading this, I would urge you to participate in the EMC2 when you get the opportunity, and I assure you that you will not regret it. opportunity to visit Geneva, which is an experience by itself.

The sheer significance of Geneva in the international sphere makes it worth a visit. The United Nations, UNHCR, WIPO, ILO, the Red Cross, CERN, WHO and of course the WTO itself, are just some of the institutions based out of the city and it is a privilege to visit the organizations you read about every day. Apart from this, a walk along the banks of Lake Genève and the famous Jet d’Eau, or just a stroll through the streets of the city, are experiences that you will not forget in a hurry. Geneva is a must-visit city and EMC2 provides the perfect reason to fly into Switzerland!

To any law student reading this, I would urge you to participate in the EMC2 when you get the opportunity, and I assure you that you will not regret it. It may involve many months of sweat, blood and tears. However, in the end, after months of working in a team, researching, travelling and pleading together- your EMC2 experience will stay with you for many, many years. This competition has opened so many doors for me as a law student. I am forever grateful to ELSA International and the WTO for giving me and students from all around the world an opportunity of this magnitude.

Do not miss your chance, follow the example and register for the upcoming 14th edition of the EMC2. Check elsamootcourt.elsa.org for more detailed information. The registration is open from 18th of September till 29th of November.

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International Focus

25 NOVEMBER 2015

ELSA DAY all different, all together elsa.org/elsa-day

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International Focus

New IFP-related Legal Research Group

Journalists free to express themselves

The protection of the press freedom, or freedom of the media, derives directly from the right to freedom of expression - a fundamental one explicitly fortified in many conventions with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights having the primacy. It is fair enough that people’s primary conquest was the protection of the right to freedom of expression for all the people without exception – a right that is still under threat.

Nonetheless, a set of causes highlighted the necessity of setting special focus on the protection of journalism and the safety of the journalists.

Antonia Markoviti

Vice President for Academic Activities, ELSA International 2015/2016

Basically, the importance of this special treatment to journalism derives from the urgency for the eudemonia of media institutions, the civil society, the academic institutions and the private sector. This overall concern stems in sequence from the fact that, actually, we have to deal with the welfare of the public interest. Potential threats to journalism do not affect solely the aforementioned institutions, since at the same time the journalists as human beings, their families, and their sources are put at risk. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the importance of safeguarding their dignity and simultaneously the value of the free flow of information which benefits the society, the governments and the international institutions. This is finally in attempt to be achieved, as long as special attention is paid to the freedom of expression in every single of its dimensions.

Journalism and journalists The precise use of the words ‘protection’ for journalism 32

and ‘safety’ for journalists clearly underlines the two big aims of the conventions. Journalism in general is too shielded due to various factors that tend to act as menaces; lack of objectivity, corruption, propaganda, silencing and misinformation are a few examples, which end up being the reason for the production of vacant texts without any substance and, in most cases, even dangerous for the public interest.

On the other hand, the term ‘safety’ is more connected with the physical protection and privacy of the journalists as human beings. It is quite frequent that many journalists are blackmailed for their sources. The cases of firing, kidnapping, torture and the assassinations as the ‘eternal silencing’ are not few. It is worth saying that this happens also to people who are involved in the flow of information even in an amateurish way, without being journalists by profession. Of course these two main pillars of security are tightly linked and their defense demands simultaneous effort.

Means of protection Many of the existing international institutions are engaged with the elimination of the violations of the right to free expression. However, it is not rare that the pressure clamped to the governments proves not to be enough. If we enumerated the methods of an effective protection and safety, we would end up with a long list, since the measures that can be taken are many, especially the practical ones like the provision of special gear during reporting in conflict areas.

Nevertheless, the main challenge that must be overcome is the strengthening of an institution or an alliance of those, which will actively ‘intervene’ in occasions of violations. Recommendations seem to be insufficient and an active attitude is more than mandatory. The prevention is certainly more de-

International Focus we can make an impact on the legal world. Researchers from many countries around the network are asked to answer a number of questions of an academic framework after having researched their national legislations.

The results are then presented in final reports and following-up conferences.

sirable than cure. This is basically reflected in the initiative of the Council of Europe (CoE) to create an Internet based platform, where the compilation, processing and dissemination of information are facilitated. This tool neither interferes with the work of the European Court of Human Rights, nor works as a monitoring system. Rather, it serves as the ideal forum for collaboration with other active institutions. Its aim is safeguarding of individuals engaging in the transfer of information, either journalists or media actors, bloggers, writers, human right defenders, etc. Raising awareness proves to be the ideal initial method in order to have a result in every challenge.

ELSA and the Freedom of Expression ELSA has a strong commitment to human rights, which is visible in the variety of our projects related to the topic. Therefore, based on our scope for the promotion of legal education we manage to have a smooth combination of the two previous ones into the human-right-related projects.

Legal Research Group (LRG) is a concrete example of how

The topic of Freedom of Expression was analysed deeply within the ELSA Network.

Two years ago, we had the Legal Research Group on the specific topic of the Online Hate Speech – a successful initiative that helped ELSA come in close cooperation with the No Hate Speech Movement and other relevant institutions. This year, the topic remains quite contemporary; the new LRG project will occupy with the Freedom of Expression – Protection of Journalistic Sources. The valuable cooperation with the CoE for one more consecutive year is very promising since our network also realizes for the same reasons why this specific topic is one of the major focuses of the CoE. Besides, our International Focus Programme (IFP) for the last three years is Media Law, which explains our special attention to this kind of topics.

Conclusion As it was previously highlighted, raising the awareness is the primordial step to every planned action. The protection of journalism is not literally a vital need, but when we have to do with welfare and prosperity of public interest, these phrasal norms stay on the edge and real action is taken. In a world where the speed of information approaches the ones of sound and light, care should be shown for the society and for the people who expose themselves to risks for the sake of justice in the environment of information.

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International Focus

Training in ELSA

Be more than a lawyer

P

ractising an occupation that is rapidly changing in its effort to adapt to the modern world, a good lawyer is not determined only by their legal knowledge anymore. To distinguish oneself, a lawyer should be a professional; from the welcoming of a client in the office to the attitude before the court, from the structure of the arguments during negotiations to the management of the law office or law firm.

Hector Tsamis Secretary General ELSA International 15/16

Aiming at equipping the legal professionals of tomorrow, ELSA has established a training system that guarantees further personal and professional development of individuals. As a facet of non-formal education, trainings in ELSA highly enrich a person’s skills and capacities through interactive, learner-centred and technique-focused sessions and activities, encompassing the concepts of recurrent and lifelong learning.

The target group of ELSA’s training system is the members, the foundation and human resources of the Association, guided during the sessions by a two-level structure of trainers. According to their involvement in ELSA, the trainers can be identified as internal and external. Experienced ELSA members and ELSA alumni fall under the first category, whereas professional associates and partners comprise the latter one. Well-known legal, financial and business corporations have contributed to our members and executive officers’ training. Internally, the main training body of ELSA is the International Trainers’ Pool, established in 2000 and embracing

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all individuals – mostly former ELSA members – who are willing to guide the new generations of law students and young lawyers around Europe by sharing their knowledge, experience and motivation, and by addressing each and every topic of interest. At the same time, National Trainers’ Pools have been formed in some countries in order to satisfy the specific needs of the respective national ELSA networks.

“

To distinguish oneself, a lawyer should be a professional; from the welcoming of a client in the office to the attitude before the court, from the structure of the arguments during negotiations to the management of the law office or law firm.

This year, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the ITP by accepting new individuals to be part of it and, thus, raising the number of ITP trainers to more than 45. In order to be successfully selected as members of the ITP, the applicants underwent an intensive programme in the context of the Train the Trainers’ Week, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, last June. The newly appointed trainers are now being coached by experienced ITP members, so that they further advance their training expertise and methods applied.

International Focus One of the most effective ways for this objective to be achieved is the Refreshment Weekends, meant to conserve and enhance the quality of trainers by giving them the opportunity to exchange ideas and be notified by each other about new-fangled techniques regarding the delivering of trainings.

“

ELSA connects the traditional legal profession to the personal traits of each individual, thus shaping the prospect for future lawyers, legal practitioners, jurists and other professionals.

current and future ELSA officers should bring to the area of training.

“The single most powerful asset we have is our mind.

If trained well, it can create enormous wealth.” Robert Kiyosaki has realised the importance of acquiring both academic knowledge and personal and professional skills. This combination can forge a complete person who will be able to apply the theory in practice. Besides, training fosters the concept of learning by doing, while creating a safe environment for an individual’s personal assessment, creativity and progress to flourish. ELSA connects the traditional legal profession to the personal traits of each individual, thus shaping the prospect for future lawyers, legal practitioners, jurists and other professionals, always bearing in mind that law studies open a window of innumerable opportunities and possibilities for the respective graduates, even beyond the field of law.

A corresponding to the trainers’ distinction can also be made for the content of the trainings, which are subsequently divided into Soft Skills Trainings and Officers’ Trainings. Soft skills are associated with an individual’s Emotional Intelligence Quotient (commonly known as EQ), a measure of one’s adequacy in self-awareness, interpersonal skills, leadership and management. On the other hand, Officers’ Trainings on ELSA knowledge focus on the information and practicalities regarding the areas developed within the Association; from internal administration and expansion of the Network to marketing strategies and management of ELSA projects.

Making sure that the training philosophy reaches every corner of its Network, ELSA has been issuing the Training Newsletter. While an in-person participation in a training session is invaluable, this publication aims at informing the ELSA Network about their training potential and possibilities, and at educating and inspiring members and executive officers. At the same time, the Training Newsletter offers the opportunity for participants in trainings to provide testimonials by sharing their experience and evaluation.

It is worth mentioning that training is featured in ELSA’s Strategic Plan for 2018. According to the first Strategic Goal, trainings are considered an indispensable factor for the continuous development of the internal structure of the Association and the most effective management of human resources. Their significance is, therefore, proved even in the core planning and administrative framework of the largest independent law students’ association in the world, which underlines the commitment and the innovative spirit that the

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International Focus

Safeguarding the future of our social rights

A detailed legal research to the implications provoked by austerity measures

Matej Sadloň

Antonia Markoviti

Vice President for Seminars & Conferences ELSA International 14/15

Vice President for Academic Activities ELSA International 14/15

Introduction to ESC The importance of protecting human rights in a legal and binding form is visible within the previous centuries, through the major treaties signed around the globe.

By focusing onto the continent of Europe it is quite obvious that the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) is the ‘depositary’ of the rights, freedoms and values which human beings, as defined by their nature, owe and deserve.

No matter, though, the enormous importance that a big and complete legal text might have, it seems that the separation of a category of rights and freedoms is the ideal highlight in order special attention to be paid and single necessary actions to be taken in cases of various relevant threats. Therefore, the adoption of the European Social Charter (ESC) in 1961 as a natural complement to the ECHR aimed at the further protection of the social and economic human rights.

Today, after the revision of 1996, the ESC is ratified by 43 out of the 47 member States of the Council of Europe.

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“

Since many countries in Europe havefaced, are facing or preparing to face austerity measures, it was of high necessity to have a legal research on the member states’ national legislations.

ELSA International Legal Research Group in cooperation with the Council of Europe The ESC safeguards a number of rights concerning housing, health, education, employment, legal and social protection, free movement of persons and non-discrimination. There are various actions and situations, which can violate the aforementioned rights. The plague of the current financial and economic crisis tends to be one of the most significant reasons. There might have been more serious crises in the past, but the fact that the current one exists with a standard rhythm within the last years, by gradually affecting different states, describes and partially justifies the big number of possible threats.

One of the potential menaces to these rights is the well-known decision of the states to apply austerity measures. The actual implication creating the problem is the common tactic to have reductions in state budgets which consist of low monetary sums, e.g. pensions, or, even worse, budgets which are connected with extremely important provisions such as education, health, etc.

International Focus

Since many countries in Europe havefaced, are facing or preparing to face austerity measures, it was of high necessity to have a legal research on the member states’ national legislations in order to identify the features which can guarantee a smooth application of austerity measures and to also gather from the previous cases all the alternative and useful methods that can be used in similar situations. In cooperation with the Department of the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe, ELSA organized an International Legal Research Group on the role of the ESC in maintaining minimum social standards in countries undergoing austerity measures. Researchers from the member states investigated the level and the result of the implications of the measures to their national legislations, which resulted in a 1577-page-report.1

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Researchers from the member states investigated the level and the result of the implications of the measures to their national legislations, which resulted in a 1577-page-report.

unlawfully residing migrants have a right to housing under the ESC. Ms Ekaterina Baliuk from Russia was the winner.

In addition, a concluding conference on the topic and relevant subtopics in the light of austerity measures, such as youth unemployment, women rights in the workforce, access to education etc, will be organized by ELSA with the support of the European Youth Foundation and it will take place in Strasbourg on 30.11-5.12.2015.

LSE ELSA ad 2015.pdf

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28/07/2015

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Following up the Legal Research Based on our scope to contribute to legal education, ELSA is following up this major project. Initially, the researchers had the chance to participate in a subsequent Essay Competition, by answering the question whether the

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1. The report can be accessed here: http://elsa.org/page/socialrights.

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Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

Negotiation competitions in Norway

The pilot project that took off!

I

t was an offhanded comment from a German exchange student at the University of Oslo that put negotiation competitions on the Norwegian ELSA agenda in 2013. At the time I was the local VP AA in Oslo and one of my main ambitions was to give Norwegian law students more opportunities to get practical legal skills. Back home in Munich, Corbinian Schwaab had organized negotiation competitions, and would in the fall of 2013 help ELSA Oslo put together their first negotiation competition.

Pauline Helle

Vice President for Academic Activities ELSA Norway 14/15*

To say that it was easily done would be a lie. As with most new projects the first difficulty is making it tangible – what is a negotiation competition? What does it look like? What will we need? And in oil-expensive Norway, what will it cost? To say that we only barely made it happen would, however, be equally misleading.

I fervently believe that a negotiation competition is an accessible project to all ELSA groups and that negotiation as a practical legal skill should be put on the agenda of the ELSA network. Here is a peek into how one local competition multiplied into three local and one national in 2 years’ time in Norway.

Using readymade know-how If mooting is the pater familia of legal skills, negotiation would be the new son in law. Negotiation is a familiar yet *Foto: Niklas Østergaard 38

“

As with most new projects the first difficulty is making it tangible – what is a negotiation competition?

What does it look like? What will we need? vague notion amidst law students. Before I could consider the practical aspects of organizing a competition, I needed to visualize and understand what this competition would look like.

The know-how from ELSA Germany greatly expedited this process. Through Corbinian we were essentially given a recipe of how to put together a negotiation competition.

From this comes my first advice – use readymade know-how.

With Germany and Norway aiming high to put negotiation on the map, use the ELSA network to your advantage.

Whilst that may seem like frustratingly obvious advice, it is surprisingly infrequently done and often poorly asked for. Asking “so how did you do it?” and hearing “Well we got some cases and some judges and it worked” will be of little assistance.

After both the local and the subsequent national round, I insisted on writing a report. This was partially done to appease our sponsors but mostly and firstly, it was done so

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

“

Whilst projects need to be adapted to local specificities, do not undervalue borrowing from others in the ELSA network or elsewhere. This is the ELSA network at its best - demand to be assisted!

as to put on paper how we organized the competition, who we used, what we needed, when we started promoting, what concerns we didn’t think of etc.

This report was shared with ELSA Denmark after Key Area Meeting in 2014. To what extent this helped them remains to be seen but my comment is this: demand concrete and detailed feedback from ELSA groups who are successfully organizing negotiation competitions.

Another source of inspiration that has been vital to shaping negotiation in the Norwegian ELSA network was the International Negotiation Competition (INC). INC has been running since 1994 and they know negotiation.

ELSA Norway utilized the case type, structure, and scoring sheets of INC as a source of inspiration. The most important aspect that we took from them was to think of negotiation beyond the legal realm. In our national finals we, like INC, aim to have one lawyer, one politician and one person from the business sector in the panel of judges. If lawyers are to be

the best possible negotiator, it isn’t just the law that matters.

We need to encapsulate different perspectives.

Whilst projects need to be adapted to local specificities, do not undervalue borrowing from others in the ELSA network or elsewhere. This is the ELSA network at its best demand to be assisted!

Finding (untapped) resources If a negotiation competition was to take place, ELSA Oslo and ELSA Norway needed financial and legal sponsors. Without sponsors it is completely unfeasible to host a competition in Norway.

I was uncertain whether a negotiation competition would resonate with the university or with potential sponsors. I was delightfully surprised.

The legal education in Norway has been and still is tradi-

39

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network tional, with no practical skill electives being offered. Practical skills have largely been left to employers to install upon new jurists, be it pleading or otherwise. So what did I find in my sponsor search? I found lawyers who had experienced the orthodox legal tradition in Norway and who themselves had needed to go abroad to fill these lacunas of know-how. I found partners who valued and understood the importance of negation as soft legal skill – and they were willing to help us.

Firms were reticent to lend their name and put their resources into a student run competition. In the spring of 2014, ELSA Oslo found despite a series of rejection a law firm that would sponsor us. The law firm Ræder did not only provide financial support; they provided well written cases, highly skilled partners to judge the round, their pristine office space, and they provided legitimacy. Their legitimacy worked twofold in the expansion of the negotiation competitions. Firstly, it gave us an academic weight toward the student population (in 2013 8 teams participated, in 2014 we had 24). Secondly, it made it significantly easier for ELSA Bergen, Tromsø and Norway to seek sponsors the subsequent year.

Nationally, we found a sponsor in the law firm Arntzen de Besche, one of the largest in Norway. Much like at the local level, we found a partner who believed in the value of negotiation skills and was willing to put negotiation on the legal map. Finding a sponsor who can back you is crucial if you want negotiation competitions to become a staple academic event in your country.

Something that was important to me with the negotiation competition was showing the breadth and variation of this skill. As such, I was very keen on sending a Norwegian team to the International Negotiation Competition where there is a focus on negotiating across cultural lines and in English.

Finding a sponsor to send a Norwegian team to an international competition still unknown in Norway, however, was not going to be easy. How we got a sponsor in the end can honestly be answered by, we got very lucky. The National Association of Jurists decided on a three weeks’ notice to send a team to South Korea in 2014 and then to Ireland in 2015. One of their lawyers is an ELSA alumni whose field of expertise is negotiation and mediation. Academic organisations may be more willing to sponsor areas of the competition that are more focused on academic growth and student interests. This also shows that looking into your alumni records can facilitate the sponsor search.

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Sharing the blueprint I hope the international board will demand that the Vice Presidents that have hosted negotiation competitions share their “blueprints”. If ELSA International aims to host an international final in the near future, the dispersion of the “blue print” will, in my opinion, be the necessary first cornerstone.

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

3rd edition of the International (Czecho-Slovak) Roman Law Moot Court Competition

Regional cooperation as a tool for making our events international

H

ow to push our ELSA groups to establish internationality as one of Jakub Čája the strategic goals within the area Vice President for of Academic Activities and Moot Academic Activities ELSA Slovak Republic 15/16 Court Competitions? This is the question we kept asking ourselves before we came up with the idea of International Roman Law Moot Court Competition (IRLMCC). Regional cooperation could be the tool for organising international projects in many countries within the ELSA network. We decided to use this connection between ELSA groups in Slovak Republic and Czech Republic for our own International Moot Court.

The International Roman Law Moot Court Competition is a unique project which provides an opportunity for 1st year Slovak and Czech law students to practice their mooting skills and other soft skills, as well as the chance to undergo the very first practical academic experience internationally.

Legal principles stemming from Roman law are basically the core of Civil Codes in many countries within Central Europe and therefore it is crucial for law students to learn principles of Roman law in theory as well as in practice as early as in the first year of their studies, in order to better understand Civil law.

We have decided to organize IRLMCC for the third time this year and we are grateful to see that the project is more and more popular each year. The Competition itself was held in April and May in seven law faculties within both Slovak and Czech Republic. More than 120 participants were dealing

with cases concerning various legal issues such as property rights, contract law and family law. Teams consisting of 3 students went through 7 local rounds in each faculty and the best team from each advanced to the final international round in which they were heard, rated and ranked by experts in the field of Roman law from all law faculties represented in the final round. Best teams, namely the teams from Palacký University Olomouc and Comenius University in Bratislava, received a reward and textbooks for future studies. This is another reason why IRLMCC was so attractive for students. However, the best prize for all participants was the valuable knowledge and experience they obtained.

“

Regional cooperation could be the tool for organising international projects in many countries within the ELSA network. We decided to use this connection between ELSA groups in Slovak Republic and Czech Republic.

Local group ELSA Brno did a very good job and the final round would not have reached such a high quality without their contribution. We are already looking forward to the next edition and all of the new challenges waiting for us. We believe that this project can serve as an inspiration for other national groups willing to establish internationality via their academic events.

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Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

ELSA Delegations

The feeling of being a delegate of ELSA International

I

n April 2015, I had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thanks to the intense activity of ELSA Brno - a Czech ELSA group, and my profesJan Dohnal sional focus, I successfully passed the Treasurer, selection process of ELSA InternatioELSA Brno 14/15 nal’s project called ELSA Delegations.

What is an ELSA Delegation? Generally, it is a unique opportunity to represent ELSA in the most important sessions of various international organisations. I was offered a chance to attend the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

The Congress took place between the 12th and the 19th of April, 2015 in the Qatari capital, Doha, where more than 5,000 participants from 142 countries around the world arrived in order to participate in the aforementioned session.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),

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the headquarters of which are situated in Vienna, provided patronage for this considerably large meeting. This event has been regularly held every 5 years in a different part of the world since 1955.

The UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice deals with a number of substantive issues. Over the years it has evolved into a very effective tool, that helps to unite people and professional experts in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. The universal primary objective is to streamline processes and consolidate awareness among state actors in particular fields of criminal prevention.

However, each Congress has its own specific focus. The thirteenth session presented a wider public role of the law in society and increased the number of discussions on the topic of crime prevention within the United Nations.

The group of participants was probably one of the most

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network diverse of its kind. Among them one could find politicians, academics, specialists in many disciplines, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations, and media from all around the world.

The Congress officially began with the opening ceremony, the highlight of which was the speech of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who has been holding this position since 2007. The Congress took place in a huge plenary room, where the representatives of each state (usually Ministers of Justice) assessed the situation of crime prevention and criminal justice in their home countries and the achieved development compared to the status quo during the previous Congress, held 5 years ago. At some point, the programme split into parts, where each part was dedicated to a different subject. One of the main topics was the capital punishment. Complex discussions take place on the international level on this matter. They are primarily directed towards spreading the abolitionism, thus aiming at putting an end to the existence of the death penalty as a crime punishment.

Pressure is constantly exerted on Belarus where the death penalty is still applied.

Furthermore, the Congress dealt with the following topics: human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, cybercrime, the fight against international organised crime, criminality and delinquency of minors, and the illegal trafficking of cultural goods covered by intellectual property law.

Personally, I have participated in various discussions regarding cybercrime. Today, more than one billion people use the Internet, which brings huge social and economic benefits, allowing connection virtually anywhere in the world.

However, this global reach is used effectively for criminal activities as well. Criminals can target a broad scope of potential victims through online services, such as banking, shopping and social networking. The Congress presented many diffe-

rent solutions for this broad topic. Private entities will increasingly establish communication with governments and help in remodelling infrastructures. This should lead to a successful prevention of cybercrime.

The result of the week-long meeting was the adoption of a political declaration, namely “The Doha Declaration 2015�, which includes recommendations and strategies to be the basis of related discussions for the next 15 years. The Director of the UNODC, Yury Fedotov, closed the Congress with an inspiring speech. He asked all states to highly activate the policy in the field of crime prevention: "As you take the journey back to your capitals and to your homes, I call on you, in the name of justice and fairness, and human rights, to turn this powerful document into the action that can help people everywhere!"

I would like to thank ELSA International for this amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. Concluding, one simply needs to experience ELSA Delegations!

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Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

CDRC Vienna

Shaping a new generation of dispute resolution

S

o many countries in the world are overloaded with law suits.

Courts are not able to fulfill all their workload in a proper time and in a proper way. To see it from a long perspective, there needs to be a change - a change to lessen the case load of the courts. Such change could be the usage of alternative dispute resolution methods, like arbitration or mediation. CDRC - The Consensual Dispute Resolution Competition - is an international competition, which was created with the goal of spreading the use of mediation and negotiation to prevent and solve business conflicts on a national and international level in an alternative way.

Katja Schager LL.M. (WU), Vice President for Moot Court Competitions ELSA Austria 14/15

After a year of intense planning and preparations in close cooperation with the International Bar Association (IBA), the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC) and ELSA Austria’s first "CDRC Vienna - IBA-VIAC Mediation and Negotiation Competition" has celebrated its inaugural event from 1-4 July 2015. The premiering four day event was led by Director Dr. Claudia Winkler, and took place at the brand new campus of the University of Economics and Business in Vienna.

ELSA Austria had a huge pleasure to be one of the organizers of this competition, and supported it on a regular basis with an amazing team of 9 people and another few volunteers for the competition itself. ELSA Austria was involved in every step of setting up the competition: from the drafting of the confidentials, to the booking of the rooms, creating 44

schedules, scoring and so forth. Although ELSA Austria is the main organizer of some rather large competitions, to be part of an international event like CDRC was a whole new encounter. “Being a part of the organizing team has been a great experience. We were all really motivated to start something new. We worked very hard, but it all paid off when we

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network met 150 inspiring people from all over the world� says Caroline Homan, who was one of the Senior Competition Coordinators, and who will be responsible for the ELSA organizing team next year.

Special highlights of the event were the announcement of the Semi-Finalists, the Special Awards in the City Hall of Vienna and the Final Award Ceremony at the palace of the department of justice.

Altogether 16 university teams have been selected from almost 40 applications to come to Vienna and to be the first students to compete in a total of 39 mediation sessions, which will mediate the case of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. A total of 77 students flew in with their teams from countries around the world such as Australia, Brazil, India, Lebanon, the USA, France, the UK, Turkey, etc. All of them were coached, supported and assessed by experts in the field of international mediation and negotiation.

"We leave Vienna as ambassadors of mediation" concludes Jonathan, the student mediator from the VM College of Law Team, Goa, India. Students and experts leave Vienna's summer heat exhausted, but very excited. We will remember CDRC Vienna as an "innovative and well delivered competition, which is set to become an unmissable international event", as Dr. Rosemary Howell, the coach of the team from the University of New South Wales, Australia, puts it into words, before returning on her long flight back home with her team to be hopefully back next year for the second edition of CDRC Vienna.

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We worked very hard, but it all paid off when we met 150 inspiring people from all over the world.

32 experts, 8 trainers and 20 coaches worked with the students on their preparations and supported them during the competition. The students undertook extensive training and coaching at their home universities, participated in workshops on mediation or negotiation during the event in Vienna, and received individual evaluation and feedback after each session of the competition. A diverse group of so called "Expert Assessors" - with three of them assigned to each mediation session - offered valuable and hands-on feedback from their own experience as mediators, lawyers, trainers, negotiators and from their work with NGOs and governments.

During the three days of the competition students received a total of 351 individual feedbacks and evaluations from the experts, as they went through 4 preliminary and 3 knock-out rounds.

CBL International

After three days of intense, but friendly competing the finals showcased a capturing mediation session between the University of Bonn and the St. Joseph University of Lebanon, with the St. Joseph University of Lebanon winning the 1st Prize for Negotiation and the University of Bonn winning the 1st Prize for Mediation. Also amongst the top 4 of Negotiators the Sao Paulo Law School FGV (Brazil) and the University of New South Wales (Australia) were present. The 2nd Prize for Mediation was won by the Jagiellonian University, Krakow.

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Last year, more than 200 STEP traineeships in over 30 countries were offered to ELSA members.

This year it is your turn.

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will be out on the 9th November 2015 STEP.ELSA.ORG

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Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

A story of one activity worth a thousand memories and experiences

Experiencing European Human Rights Moot Court Competition as an ELSA Officer

D

uring the 2014/2015 term I had the honor and pleasuCarlota Fernández de re of serving as Vice Prela Cancela Vice President for sident for Academic Activities of Academic Activities ELSA Spain. Because Spain does not ELSA Spain 14/15 have a big Moot Court Competition (MCC) tradition, at the start of my term I was not well acquainted with the opportunities this particular Academic Activity has to offer. Luckily, the registration for the 3rd edition of the Human Rights Moot Court Competition (HRMCC), organized by ELSA in cooperation with the Council of Europe, and with its Final Oral Round held at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, opened soon after. I knew I could not let this chance pass me by, so I convinced two fellow board members to join me in this soon-to-be amazing experience.

The first challenge we faced was the written round. Preparing the written submissions to qualify for the Final Oral Round required lots of planning and teamwork.

Because it was unfeasible and impractical for all three of us to research every piece of material and case law, we coordinated and delegated tasks to produce high quality submissions. Although we were already working as a team – we were in the same National Board, this experience brought it to a different level.

Et voilà, our hard work paid off when we were informed that we would be taking part in the Final Oral Round

in Strasbourg. I had never been so excited and terrified at the same time! Having the opportunity to spend three days roaming the buildings of the Council of Europe and pleading in the courtrooms of the European Court of Human Rights before a jury of experts and actual judges of the Court, is a unique opportunity only ELSA can give you.

The oral round presented a different challenge. We needed a strategy: what to argue, and how and when to present certain elements of our case were important questions we asked ourselves all the time. We practiced at 7AM before classes or via Skype if any of us was traveling. I have to say that this was the real fun part of the weeks prior to the Competition; we would stand up and rehearse our lines and an adrenaline rush would appear, every single time.

Before we knew it, it was time to travel to Strasbourg.

Teams from all over Europe socialized at the opening reception while trying to not give up any information on their strategy or even their feelings. You could feel the excitement and competition in the air.

On the first day of the preliminary oral rounds we were allowed to finalize our preparations in the groovy retro rooms of the Council of Europe. I will not tell you how many times I have daydreamed about working there, but quite a few I must admit! Spending time there and being treated as real ‘professionals’ alone is absolutely worth all of the effort. As if that was not enough, imagine actually pleading in the cour-

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Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network trooms of the Court. I cannot describe how it felt walking up the steps of this astonishing, UFO-like construction of concrete and glass and into the courtrooms to persuade experts and judges to rule in our favor. What I can say is that I have not experienced anything like it and will cherish these memories forever.

As an ELSA Officer within the area of Academic Activities, it was very interesting to undergo this process. I had read, learned and talked about Moot Court Competitions, but I had never participated in one. As a participant I could sense the machinery working behind the scenes and see the different aspects and phases of the Competition come together.

At this point, you may wonder who is involved in making sure everything runs smoothly from the day the case is published, to the day of the very Final Oral Round. As you can imagine, there are quite a few people involved.

First and foremost, this experience would not have been possible without the Vice President for Moot Court Competitions Tanja Sheikhi and her two assistants Ida Dojčinović and Hana Pavlišova. Tanja, Ida and Hana were the superstars of this event, who made all the puzzle pieces come together in Strasbourg. Additionally, through the hard work and planning of ELSA Strasbourg, we were able to take a load off our minds, taste local dishes and soak up a bit of Strasbourgeoise nightlife as well. They were huge supporters

Registration deadline: 8th of November, 2015 humanrightsmootcourt.org

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Et voilà, our hard work paid off when we were informed that we would be taking part in the Final Oral Round in Strasbourg. I had never been so excited and terrified at the same time!

of the Competition and we are grateful to have met these committed ELSA officers and members and share this experience together.

The EHRMCC was one of the highlights of my 2014/2015 academic year and I am very thankful for all those who made it possible. I would also like to thank my team and fellow board members Miriam and Teresa and our fun and supportive coach Adam Dubin.

Now that you know my story, I encourage all of you who are passionate about Human Rights to participate in the upcoming fourth edition of the EHRMCC and give your all in this unique Competition!

Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

To the difficulties we respond:

All international, all together

I

f we were to say that the International Presidents' Meeting President (IPM) in Thessaloniki taught ELSA Thessaloniki 15/16 us a lesson, it would be undoubtedly the following: despite any difficulties we may face, every Local Group should undertake initiatives and foster internationality in the whole network. The Local Groups are the heart of our Association. They spread the spirit and values of ELSA across Law Schools, law students and young lawyers in Europe. Through international events, where young people from so many different nationalities and backgrounds meet and exchange ideas, that is the moment when we understand that what we are doing has a purpose.

However, organizing events of such caliber is not always an easy task. It certainly was not for ELSA Thessaloniki.

Giannis Petras

Let me take you back a few months ago. The moment ELSA Thessaloniki was appointed, through a unanimous decision

“

But what happens when you are about to start organizing your first big international event in the middle of a bank crisis? Banks are closed, ATM's only allow withdrawals of €60, no transactions are possible.

at the International Council Meeting in Bodrum, as the host of the 2015 Summer IPM, everyone shed tears of joy back home. After all, it would be our first international event. A major one, also. But what happens when you are about to start organizing your first big international event in the middle of a bank crisis? Banks are closed, ATM's only allow withdrawals of 60 euros, no transactions are possible.

You cannot imagine those times in July when our Board was on the verge of cancelling the event. We had to take into account two factors in our decision. On one hand, how could we possibly take such a decision, when we had worked so hard to make “IπM Thessaloniki” a reality? One the other hand, however, and most importantly, we understood that even if we wanted with all our heart to organize this IPM, we shouldn't, unless we were absolutely certain that it would be worth for all our friends and fellow ELSA Officers travelling in Thessaloniki.

But that was not a decision to be made by the Board of ELSA Thessaloniki: it was a decision of the members of our Local Group. Our members had first-hand knowledge of what an international event was like, when organizing our first ELSA Law School, back in July. Having met all these wonderful ELSA people from all over Europe in July, they were extremely motivated for the upcoming IPM. In the end, it was all about the strong will of our members who worked hard through the summer to secure that everything would be in place. I might have been the Head of the OC, but actually

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Think Global, Act Local - The ELSA Network

“

After this experience, everybody in ELSA Thessaloniki understood the importance of internationality, as well as the significance of activating the members of your Local Group. The result was truly worth it.

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everyone from the Organizing Committee behaved responsibly as Head when it came to facing and solving the problems.

At that point, we knew that we could do it. The rest is now history.

Over 70 people, both ELSA Officers and members of the IPM Organizing Committee, took part in what was a truly exciting IPM “by the sea” in Thessaloniki. However, the real surprise for us was the understanding and the support we had from the participants concerning the situation in our country and the difficulties we were faced with. After this experience, everybody in ELSA Thessaloniki understood the importance of internationality, as well as the significance of activating the members of your Local Group. The result is truly worth it.

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