Annual Report ELSA International 2009/2010

ELSA Annual Report 09 | 10

ELSA International Board 2009/2010

The International Team of ELSA 2009/2010

Mirko Djukovic, Vice President Student Trainee Exchange Programme Leonid Cherniavskyi, President Frida Orring Vice President Marketing

Morten Rydningen, Director for EMC2 Peter Christian Binau-Hansen, Treasurer Timo Kortesoja, Secretary General

Sofia Kallio, Vice President Seminars & Conferences Annamari Männikkö, Director for STEP

Ana Vouk, Director for Training

Amanda Bertilsdotter Nilsson, Vice President Academic Activities Stephanie Denowell, Director for Advertisements Nina Prantl, Director for International Focus Programme

„Run By and For Law Students and Young Lawyers“ 2

ELSA Annual Report

About ELSA The European Law Students’ Association, ELSA, is an international, independent, non-political and non-profit-making organisation comprised and run by and for law students and young lawyers. Founded in 1981 by law students from Austria, Hungary, Poland and West Germany, ELSA is today the world’s largest independent law students’ association.

Our Philosophy

Vision A just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

Purpose To contribute to legal education, to foster mutual understanding and to promote social responsibility of law students and young lawyers.

Means To provide opportunities for law students and young lawyers to learn about other cultures and legal systems in a spirit of critical dialogue and scientific co-operation. To assist law students and young lawyers to be internationally minded and professionally skilled.

To encourage law students and young lawyers to act for the good of society.

Our Network

ELSA is a unique and growing Network of 30 000 law students and young lawyers from more than 200 universities in 41 countries across Europe. ELSA currently has members and observers in: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom. Furthermore, ELSA co-operates with other student organisations across the world, for instance ILSA in North America, COLADIC in South America, ALSA in Asia, ALSA in Australia, ALSA in South Africa and AEJCI in Ivory Coast.

Annual Report 2009-2010

This Annual Report is produced by ELSA International in Brussels, Belgium. The articles are contributions by the members of the International Team, comprising the International Board and Directors. Furthermore, the closest externals with which the International Board 2009-2010 have cooperated have made a contribution of their experience of working with ELSA. The Annual Report is published every year at the end of the term in office of each International Board.

Editor Frida Orring ELSA International Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 Fax: + 32 2 646 29 23 E-mail: elsa@elsa.org Website: www.elsa.org ELSA International’s Corporate Partner

CMS_LawTax_CMYK_over100.eps

ELSA International’s Human Rights Partner

ELSA’s Members

ELSA’s members are internationally minded individuals who have experience in foreign legal systems and practices. Through our activities such as Seminars & Conferences, Academic Activities and the Student Trainee Exchange Programme our members acquire a broader cultural understanding and legal expertise.

ELSA International’s Auditing Partner

Our Special Status

ELSA has through its activities and commitment within the international community gained a special status with several international institutions. In 2000, ELSA was granted Participatory Status with the Council of Europe. Furthermore, ELSA has Consultative Status with several United Nations bodies; in 1997 ELSA obtained Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC, in 1994 ELSA was granted Consultative Status in Category C in UNESCO. ELSA also obtained Observatory Status with WIPO in 2005. In addition, ELSA has a co-operation agreement with UNHCR and co-operates with UNCITRAL, ICRC and all the European Union Institutions.

ELSA International’s English Language Partner

Since 1912

ELSA International’s Media Partner

Marraine & Patrons

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio (Marraine of ELSA) The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

ELSA International’s Marketing & IT partner

Chang-fa Lo (Patron of ELSA) Professor of Law, National Taiwan University College of Law Director, Asian Center for WTO and International Health Law and Policy of NTU College of Law We want to thank Mr. Teja Picton Howell, member of the Executive Committee of the ELSA Lawyers’ Society, for his support to ELSA International in the field of external relations and trademark application. Our special thank you goes to Mr. Russell Denoon Duncan who has been supporting ELSA for many years and was our source of inspiration and advice.

ELSA Annual Report

ELSA is supported by

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Index

Letter to ELSA

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Final words from the International Board 2009/2010

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Highlights 2009/2010

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Partners New cooperations 2009/2010 CMS

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Mazars

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Council of Europe

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London School of English

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C5 Group

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Highlights 2009/2010

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Legal Education New member of ELSA - Ireland

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ELS - ELSA Lawyers Society

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A selection of International Events

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ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law - EMC

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ELSA - CBL China Law School

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ELSA International Focus Programme - IFP

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New regulations 2009/2010

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Final Accounts

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ELSA Annual Report

Letter to ELSA

Former Patron of ELSA addresses the association and its members

Thousands of words have been written about Human Rights but I know of none which set out the essential concept better than ELSA’s noble vision “A just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity”. In another successful year ELSA has, with this vision, continued to make an increasingly important contribution to the Europe we all want to see and to benefit its members.

By dealing with topics not normally covered by law school curricula ELSA provides its members with extra technical skills and those engaged in ELSA’s activities benefit even more by gaining management experience and communication skills which will be invaluable in the development of their careers.

I took the liberty at a plenary of explaining how I thought lawyers (including business lawyers despite their reputation !) could continue to contribute to ELSA’s fine vision. Business lawyers are part of the wealth creating section of society. By setting high standards of efficiency and integrity they can make a significant contribution to a sound and prosperous society. Never forget integrity is a lawyer’s greatest asset, and that it is up to lawyers to set high standards for others to follow.

Having been a Patron of ELSA Poland some years ago I am biased, but I was pleased to learn the thirtieth anniversary will be celebrated in Poznan! I have also been honoured to have been a Patron of ELSA International so I can also see the broader perspective and this tells me that everyone who has contributed to ELSA in the past and those are doing so now are to be congratulated on a most remarkable achievement.

„I urge everyone who can do so to be active in ELSA“

All of this is excellent. But I believe it is the international aspect of ELSA which makes it so special. We live in an increasingly independent world. Most lawyers will, in one way or another, be affected by this. You may be asked to advise a foreign investor: your client may need your advice in setting up in another jurisdiction.

The ability to form a quick relationship and work with someone from a different culture is a valuable attribute. The ICMs and similar events give a unique opportunity of developing these skills. And the good news is that you can do so at the famous ELSA parties and not only at working sessions. Many ELSA members will become leaders in their communities: it is important for them to be able to think internationally.

My best wishes to you all.

Russell Denoon Duncan Former Senior Partner of Cameron Markby Hewitt Former President of British-Polish Legal Association Former Patron of ELSA

So I urge everyone who can do so to be active in ELSA. I had the pleasure at being at the recent ICM in Malta. Here was another good example of ELSA at work. 299 members from 36 European countries, a delegation from Indonesia, and an ELS meeting as well. The President, the International Board, the OC and indeed everyone involved deserved congratulations. This was a week when, in addition to useful business, you could form international relationships and expand your international networks.

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International Board

Final words from the International Board 2009/2010

„Carried by a network of driven people”

Charles Millhuff said that many of life‘s circumstances are created by three basic choices: the disciplines you choose to keep, the people you choose to be with; and, the laws you choose to obey. Whether it started off as a matter of choice or destiny, the International Board 2009/2010 lived ELSA for one year – the most memorable year of our lives.

What was discipline for us?

It was the determination to strive towards our goals as a team and as individuals.

We brought our experience and our visions together as individuals, and we grew up as a team with a motto – One board, one desire. The desire was to achieve our goals, act professionally and always give the best of oneself. As we have experienced, a year of living ELSA is not a race towards the end, but a mosaic full of memories, great people, professionalism, battles and laughters. It is a joyride.

As a team our board pointed out what was the focus in each of our areas of activities. We wanted more of legal writing, a successful edition of EMC2, legal research groups, a variety of events and study visits, improving ELSA delegations, following up on the IFP topic, making sure that we exchange as many students and traineeships worldwide providing quality, improving the communication in the Network and the ITP system,

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and making sure that the ELSA brand lives through Synergy and the website, making sure that finances are in order and exploring possibilities for grants, taking care about the newly established ELSA Development Foundation and developing our external contacts and being a leading team of professionals. Of course all these pieces of the puzzle called the One Year Operational Plan were in line with the Strategic Goals of our association.

How did we choose the people to be with? Simply we didn’t. It was the choice of the International Council in Budva, Montenegro in spring 2009. Each of the individuals brought their culture, experience and personalities to the stage. Together we met our own strengths and weaknesses and as a result we learned to live and work as a team and not just next to each other. We appreciate the advice and example that the previous International Boards gave us, and in addition, we were supported by two people we owe a lot. Our great ITP trainers Karina Sultanova and Pierangelo Grazziani helped us to confront our personalities and to learn about ourselves and about our new family. There is one essential thing in living in a team – success of one is a success of the team.

This success was not done by us alone, but we had the pleasure

ELSA Annual Report

International Board to welcome five precious people in our team. Evaluating our goals and the needs of the Network we were working for, we appointed Annamari Männikkö from ELSA Finland as a Director for STEP, Ana Vouk from ELSA Slovenia as a Director for Training, Nina Prantl from ELSA Germany as a Director for International Focus Programme, Stephanie Denowell also from ELSA Germany as a Director for Advertisements and Morten Rydningen from ELSA Norway as a Director for EMC2. They were our right hand without which we wouldn’t have reached the goals we set as a team. For that we are grateful and we appreciate first of all their friendship and support and, of course, their devotion to work with us and for one of the key team players; the player without whom all our efforts wouldn’t be worth: the ELSA Network. Together with the Network we strived to create the tools needed to reach the Strategic Goals for 2013 and to develop the association of 41 countries to the place where it is now.

But what are the laws that we set? Besides the rules that we were obliged to follow, such as our Statutes and Standing Orders and the Council Meeting Decision Book, there were some additional rules that we committed to. We acknowledged the importance of our task to represent the worlds’ largest law students’ association and strove towards professionalism, in-

ELSA Annual Report

ternationality and giving a good example for the network to follow. Discussing every single step beforehand we learned that the only way to achieve our goals is to be open towards the Network and its needs. But one of the main rules however is the one that defines how to keep up team spirit and enjoy every single moment working in ELSA. That is the vision we share, the vision that is the core of all of ELSA’s activities: A just world in which there is a respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

ELSA’s future is defined by the people in it, by the history we have, and by the activities we are organising. We are proud that the 29th year of existence of our beautiful organisation was a part of our lives and we were a part of ELSA’s life. We are soon to celebrate the 30th year of the association where ELSA enthusiasts will be welcomed to many events that will celebrate the three decades of work of thousands of people all over Europe. We will be ready to learn about Health law as our new International Focus Programme, about legal challenges all over Europe and how this is connected with every day life.

Albert Camus said “Don‘t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don‘t walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend”; this is how we saw the role of the International Board. We hope that the term 2009/2010 will be remembered as a year of friendship and that you all felt that you were a part of the joyride.

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Highlights 2009/2010

Statistics of the executive year 2009/2010 in comparison to the previous year

16 % increasement of STEP traineeship placements

5 new Legal Research Groups* 289 delegates from 35

member countries present at the autumn International Council Meeting in Sinaia, Romania

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79 trainings held by our

International Trainers Pool for active ELSA members throughout the network

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ELSA Annual Report

Highlights 2009/2010

99% more applicants for our STEP placements

6 % increasement of ELSA

members (according to the State of the Network Enquiry)

299 delegates from 36

member countries present at the spring International Council Meeting in Qawra, Malta

* Legal Research Group (LRG) is a project in which ELSA members investigate a specific legal topic across boarders.

ELSA Annual Report

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International Board

New Partners of ELSA

Supporting our Vision and extending the Value for the members of the Association

The ELSA Vision is supported by thirty thousand law students and young lawyers in 41 European countries and has been Leonid Cherniavskyi the source of strength of our network.

President The idea of “a just world in which there ELSA International 09/10 is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity” has also been supported by numerous external organisations and companies throughout the almost thirty years of existence of our Association. They support it by becoming a Partner of ELSA and with financial or in-kind contributions increase the value of the projects and events that are organised throughout Europe by students for students who all share the same vision. In this manner our Partners support the development of legal education in Europe and contribute to the mutual understanding and social responsibility of ELSA members.

Through these activities they learn how to cooperate successfully with other nations, how to understand and deal with cultural differences and together work for the same goals. The official language of ELSA is English. It was for these reasons that this year the London School of English has gladly accepted our offer to become the English Language Partner of ELSA. This partnership has provided our members not only with an easier access to the highquality general and legal English training but also will gave them an opportunity to receive a professional training on intercultural communication skills from the qualified trainers of the London School of English at the upcoming International Council Meeting in Alanya, Turkey.

„bringing ten different firms and organisations to the number of partners and supporters of ELSA“

Different law firms, education providing companies and law schools, international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, professional associations, IT- and media-companies, travel agencies and publishing houses have been supporting ELSA and our projects throughout the years for the same reasons.

The past year has been very successful for our Association in the sphere of external relations bringing ten different firms and organisations to the number of the Partners and supporters of ELSA. English Language Partner ELSA as an international association brings together students and young professionals from different European countries to work together on different projects aimed at improving legal education and mutual understanding among future lawyers of the continent.

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Auditing Partner Positioning ourselves as a professional organisation we aim to comply with this status in all spheres of our activities including our financial reporting. Especially having received a grant from the European Commission this year we understand how important it is that our financial statements are in accordance with the highest requirements in this field. Therefore after research and few months of negotiations with different companies we were delighted to reach the auditing partnership agreement with the international accounting firm Mazars, an international, integrated and independent organisation, specialising in audit, accounting, tax and advisory services. They have found an obvious correlation with ELSA and decided to support us in different ways including an in-kind audit of the accounts of ELSA. From now on the International Board of

ELSA Annual Report

International Board ELSA will be able to provide an independent external professional audit to the International Council and our different Partners.

LLM Partner The members of ELSA are internationally-oriented open-minded individuals interested to develop their careers in a global environment. They are willing to go on a law related traineeship abroad or to attend an international meeting with participants from more than thirty different countries and discuss legal issues from comparative point of view. It is natural that most of them are interested to attain a law degree in a foreign law school with many international students. Therefore ELSA was pleased to connect its European network of students with one of the leading law schools with a large variety of courses, prominent staff and outstanding facilities – the Queen Mary School of Law University of London. This partnership will not only give opportunity for our members to learn more about study and research opportunities at Queen Mary School of Law but also to listen to the lectures of its professors at various conferences, seminars and summer law schools organised by ELSA all around Europe.

Legal Magazine One of the purposes of ELSA is to assist its members to become professionally skilled as well as to discover the world of different career opportunities, in particular to give opportunity to learn more about international law firms. Corporate International, a firmly established leading monthly title which gives a unique insight into international legal business world, was a perfect partner for us. ELSA is happy to be featured on the pages of this magazine in adverts and an article as well as to provide significant discounts for our members for the subscription for it.

Project Partner As a progressive and open-minded organisation we are always searching for the possibilities to widen our horizons and assist ELSA members to discover new cultures and legal systems. This year we have started cooperation with an experienced international education provider CBL International which specialises in organising tailor-made individual university courses, executive conferences and summer schools for international students and professionals in emerging and advanced markets. ELSA-CBL International China Law School attracted a great interest from the network and 17 members of ELSA from 9 different countries will participate in the first summer law school arranged by our association in cooperation with CBL International in Beijing and Shanghai this August.

a contracting company to realise one of the most ambitious and costly projects of the Network – to create an online administration system which would in particular become a centralized member management system and simplify other activities and their coordination throughout the whole association. To meet this end the International Board has initiated the adoption of procurement regulations in ELSA and realised a tender according to them. “Bmotion Communications”, a Ukrainian company, has won the tender and will be working on the implementation of the online system of ELSA. Partner Law Students’ Associations This year ELSA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) which resulted in an improved connection between our organisations. We were also glad to cooperate with the Dominican Republic Chapter of the Latin American Council of Scholars of International and Comparative Law (COLADIC-RD) in the organisation of the Final Oral Round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO law in Santo Domingo. Moreover, as we speak the Memorandum of Understanding between ELSA and the International Law Students’ Association (ILSA) is being negotiated and we are looking forward to starting the new cooperation.

Exchange Partner Association The Student Trainee Exchange Programme, being one of the priorities in the five-year Strategic Plan of ELSA, made us search for expertise in the associations which are the most successful in the field of exchange. This led us to the partnership with AIESEC, the world’s largest youth-run organisation, which provides over 8,500 traineeships to its members with an opportunity to live and work abroad. ELSA aims to learn from the experience of the Exchange Partner Association in order to increase the number of law related traineeships abroad we organise each year.

ELSA Online Contractor This year ELSA International faced the need to find

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Partners

CMS Legal Services - Corporate Partner of ELSA

Successful partnership with a mutual ambition to reach the top!

CMS aims to be recognised as the best European provider of legal and tax services.

Given our strategy we find it beneficial to be a long-standing supporter of the world’s Dick Tyler largest law students’ association, being reExecutive Partner CMS Legal presented at more than 220 law faculties in 41 European countries. The clear European link for both organisations was something that brought us together and contributes to the development of our relationship. Further, the recruitment strategy of CMS is to find lawyers who have an international mindset and ELSA provides law students with intercultural communication skills and knowledge, which enable them to work in an international team across borders and cultures. After the usual evaluation meeting in July with the International Board of ELSA, we were satisfied with the professionalism of the work done and the way our cooperation developed throughout the year.

mania was attended by a partner from CMS Cameron McKenna’s office in Bucharest, Mr. Horea Popescu, who spoke to almost 300 ELSA delegates from 31 European countries presenting the challenges and benefits of working in an international law firm. Another partner from the CMS office in Kyiv, Mr. Daniel Bilak, delivered a presentation for the presidents of national groups of ELSA on the topic of “Corruption in the administrative system”, during the winter at the 40th International Presidents’ Meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Another example was when CMS DeBacker welcomed 45 participants and members of the International Board in their Brussels’ office and partner Tom Heremans, spoke on the timely issue of “Ambush marketing”.

CMS is happy to see the great interest ELSA members show during the lectures and presentations and look forward to being able to attend ELSA events in the future.

„a network of open-minded people who are the future of the legal profession“

One of the projects in the term 2009-2010 that CMS was delighted to support was the annual ELSA Essay Competition on the topic of the International Focus Programme of the Association – Intellectual Property Law. The topic for the essays suggested by our IP lawyers was: “Copyright/Broadcasting: Cable transmission rights in the EU and European Countries”. The competition ran throughout the autumn of 2009 and it was our pleasure to evaluate the contributions and identify the winner – Sofio Maisuradze from ELSA Georgia. As our prize, CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre will welcome Ms Maisuradze in September 2010 for up to four weeks’ work experience in their office in Paris.

CMS is pleased to write articles and be featured in ELSA publications and marketing in order to reach the 30 000 internationally minded law students all over Europe, who provide a network of open-minded people who are the future of the legal profession. We strongly support ELSA’s overall vision and look forward with great optimism to working together in the year ahead.

CMS was also glad to accept the invitation to the international events of ELSA. The autumn´s 56th International Council in Sinaia, Ro12

CMS_LawTax_CMYK_over100.eps

ELSA Annual Report

Partners

Mazars - Auditing Partner of ELSA

A new cooperation - a bright future

Nigel Grummitt Partner Mazars UK

On behalf of Mazars, I am delighted to confirm the new cooperation between Mazars and ELSA. As ELSA’s new auditing partner, we will audit ELSA’s interim and full year accounts, reporting our findings there, and provide ad hoc taxation advice.

Having just confirmed our new relationship with the ELSA board, it is my pleasure to commit a few thoughts to paper about this relationship whilst travelling from London to Paris on the Eurostar - itself a great symbol of trans-European communication. As the train passes through the English countryside, it occurs to me that our organisations are on similar journeys, calling at a number of the same stations.

sion. We are not afraid to say ‘no’, for all the right reasons. Respect for individuals is another core value that applies to everything we do – through the sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience, human relationships are what drive us forward. Indeed, difference is something to be celebrated – we firmly believe that innovation comes from the healthy mix of cultures and perspectives. At the same time, we work very hard to ensure that, as one generation hands over to another, our relationships, experience and knowledge survive. We learn from the past, but look to the future. We also ensure that our communities benefit from our work - in the UK alone we give 1.75% of our pre-tax profits to charity, while many colleagues are involved in community projects such as literacy programmes. And, last but not least, we are also determined to prove that accountants are not all dull people in grey suits!

„working alongside ELSA to make Europe more open“

A European footprint Whilst Mazars is an international accounting firm, operating in 56 countries worldwide, it was born in Europe and has a European heartbeat and culture. As one of Europe’s largest accountancy firms, and with ELSA active in 41 countries across the expanded Europe, it is clear that Mazars and ELSA are operating in the same European footprint.

A shared vision With every new member of ELSA that I meet, I increasingly understand that ELSA is determined to contribute towards a just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

Indeed, this is set out as ELSA’s strategic vision.

Contributing to education With its 30,000 members and its flourishing Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP), ELSA clearly makes a great contribution to the education of its members. At Mazars we take on hundreds of graduates across Europe, and train them to become accountants and advisors. We even have Mazars University.

The way forward I will be making this journey from London to Europe again in a few weeks time in order to carry out the audit of ELSA’s accounts for the last year. It is a journey that I am greatly looking forward to making, while working alongside ELSA to make Europe more open. I look forward to our journey into the future together.

At Mazars, we also have a vision: to make a difference to our clients, our team and our communities. Mazars began practising corporate responsibility long before it was popular. For us, ethics come before profit. We are loyal to our principles, our colleagues and our profesELSA Annual Report

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Partners

Council of Europe - Human Rights Partner of ELSA

Our work, our achievements

Barbara Orkwiszewska Directorate of Communication, Council of Europe

The cooperation between the Council of Europe and ELSA International during the term 2009/2010 was undertaken in accordance with the Human Rights Partnership Agreement III/2010 signed on 18 March 2010.

Two sectors of the Council of Europe were actively involved in the cooperation, the Directorate of Communication and the Human Resources Division and, especially, the Traineeship Unit.

The major project conducted by the Directorate of Communication with ELSA International was the Our Rights, Our Freedoms competition devised to mark the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The project, aimed at appraising the performance of this Council of Europe’s flagship treaty, was open to all law students in Europe and, in particular, members of ELSA. Participants were invited to submit either an essay, assessing the achievements and shortcomings of the Strasbourg legal system or a photo report showing the impact of the Convention on European citizens’ day-to-day lives.

The competition was broadly promoted within the ELSA network and in other institutions. Some 450 law schools, a number of law societies, human rights institutions, law firms, specialised medias, journalist schools and other ins14

ELSA Annual Report

Partners

titutional partners were targeted and some 600 competition posters were distributed through interested parties. As a result, the competition’s website was visited by over 4,000 visitors from 85 countries to date.

Human Rights and Legal Affairs and Our Rights, Our Freedoms, presenting the competition. The Council’s commercial publications were also advertised in the Association’s magazine.

The Our Rights, Our Freedoms Competition website had over 4 000 visitors from 85 countries

Another important aspect of the cooperation was the promotion of the Council of Europe’s legal and human rights activities during academic events organised by ELSA on international, national and local levels. During the 2009/2010 term, participants of the eleven ELSA events in nine countries were provided with 1,819 Council of Europe information and visibility materials; 6104 items were distributed in the first semester of 2010, equating to 10% of the items distributed by the Directorate of Communication over the same period.

In addition, 4 Council of Europe officers gave lectures and participated in workshops at the International Council Meetings in Romania and Malta as well as at the conference on the Maritime Piracy – Legal Perspectives organised by ELSA Copenhagen. The Council of Europe’s Officers greatly appreciated the academic content, good organisation and social context of these events.

Legal and human rights activities of the Council of Europe as well as the Organisation’s career opportunities available to lawyers were promoted through using ELSA’s communication tools. Four articles were featured in the ‘Synergy’ magazine: Half of a century commitment to the protection of human rights, NGOs are often the true human rights defenders, interview of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, by the representatives of ELSA, Building on the past, looking to the future, by Philippe Boillat, Director General of

The Traineeship Agreement established between two institutions in mid 2009 gives the Association’s members access to traineeship opportunities within the Council of Europe. During the current term, 6 regular trainees and

10 study visitors were able to work alongside Council of Europe officers. At the same time, amendments simplifying and accelerating the selection procedure were introduced.

The Council of Europe has a very high estimation of the professional level and commitment of ELSA’s trainees.

Stronger links and confirmed complementarity of activities between both organisations

ELSA Annual Report

This annual partnership resulted in the creation of stronger links and confirmed complementarity of activities between both organisations.

The Council of Europe is grateful to the 2009/2010 ELSA board for their active co-operation and commitment. We hope Amanda, Frida, Leonid, Mirko and Sofia benefited from their experience with the Council of Europe. We take this opportunity of wishing them every success in their future careers.

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Partners

London School of English - English Language Partner of ELSA

Clear mutual benefits of working closely together

When ELSA approached the London School of English earlier this year with the offer to become its English Language PartChris Newman ner we were delighted to accept. Indeed Market Manager the similarities in our respective philosoLondon School of English phies and goals and the clear mutual benefits of working closely together meant this was a natural step for us to take.

The School’s mission is to help people communicate more effectively across borders and cultures leading to personal and professional development and greater international understanding. This is nowhere better illustrated than in the work we do in helping young lawyers develop the essential legal English skills and cultural awareness they need to work successfully in an international, multi-cultural environment.

But running specialised English language courses is only part of what we do. In all professions, not least the legal one, there is an ever growing demand for training in the soft skills which rarely form part of a student’s academic training or a legal trainee’s workplace induction process. When we were invited last year to co-sponsor, with the UK’s Commercial Bar Association, the Law Society of England and Wales’ Junior Lawyers Division International Weekend, we used the opportunity to deliver a workshop for its delegates entitled “Cross-cultural Skills for Lawyers”. Designed especially for those in the first stages of their careers, fifty or so delegates from over a dozen countries attended the workshop.

The session was very well received being described in EuroLawyer, the European Young Bar Association’s digital magazine, as interesting and inspiring.

„to help people communicate more effectively across borders and cultures“

The London School of English has been working with the international legal community for over 25 years developing a wide range of dedicated skills based courses with entirely separate programmes for experienced practising lawyers, in both the commercial and public sectors, and for law students and graduates in their 20s. In the last 3 years over 600 participants from 46 countries have benefited from the training we provide at our centre in London with many of them taking examinations to obtain internationally recognised certificates in Legal English which will help them forward in their careers.

During this time we have forged links with many branches of the legal profession: law firms, bar associations, ministries of justice, prosecution authorities, high courts and courts of appeals. As with these other organisations our partnership with ELSA will help to make our courses even more widely known and accessible to its members.

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When we first met ELSA’s representatives in January we were highly impressed by their professionalism and the Association’s commitment to training. We were attracted by the shared values and the opportunity a partnership would give us to work with its members. It is with great pleasure therefore that we look ahead to attending the International Council Meeting in Turkey in October and to running one of our cross-cultural training workshops tailored to the needs of ELSA’s wide international membership. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

Since 1912

ELSA Annual Report

Partners

C5 Group - IT & Marketing Partner of ELSA

An ongoing support

Daniel Schreyer Member of the Executive Board C5 Group

The working year 2009/2010 seems to bring stability and a usual workload into the cooperation between ELSA and C5:

Cooperating in questions of design, printing and shipping of materials, especially the magazine Synergy as well as in the further development of webpages on the basis of ELSA International´s new homepage throughout the ELSA Network.

But I think it was a lot more than this. Having assisted ELSA with services worth approximately 20.000 euros over the past three years on a sponsorship bases, C5 got more involved in this year. In our day to day business, we think a good supplier has to understand his client. With ELSA being more than a client for us, we decided to take us time and to bring know-how to this organisation where I, myself, spent more than four years in active roles.

In the last annual report I wrote about the fantastic possibilities ELSA offers young people. I could write the same this time. And of course there are still enough tasks for the International Board and all other boards to do. But as I know ELSA now for years, for 15 years exactly, I am a bit proud and satisfied to see how the development has been and still is.

ELSA gains partnerhips for important parts of the workload.

ELSA invests in modern design and communication tools. ELSA has stable financial conditions.

„attractive association which surely improves in structure and professionalism“

Having started with the transition period in Brussels, where we held a workshop, the next step was towards the east: International Marketing Meeting in Prague 2009. We gave input on Design topics and Content Management Systems. Even Sinaia was not too far for us where we concentrated on IT questions and our system for local and national websites.

SYNERGY magazine Last but not least we participated on a bid invitation by ELSA International who asked for the implementation of the whole backpage online system till end of July 2010. Unfortunately our offer could not succeed, but of course we are still partnering ELSA in IT matters and especially the local and national websites.

Magazine of The European Law Students’ Association

No.47 · I-2010

Thomas Hammarberg

‘Our Rights, Our Freedoms’

ELSA and ELS

Commissioner for Human Rights

Essay and photo competition

Official alumni association

From Intellectual Property Law to a new Focus:

The Year of Change

ELSA Annual Report

With these more technical aspects ELSA now gains more and more possibilities to do its own business: to focus on law students and young lawyers, to offer European, indeed even humanitarian, goals and issues, and a comprehensive education of these young legal experts.

Today we see: ELSA International set the right ball rolling in 2007 and little by little all ELSA members will profit from a bigger and more attractive association, which surely improves in structure and professionalism.

C5 is happy to support ELSA with services that do not belong to ELSA’s “core business”. This in turn prepares the ground for new ELSA activities.

We are looking forward to all these ELSA activities, we stand by for any help and we thank the Board of 2009/20010 for the good and professional cooperation.

17

Highlights 2009/2010

Statistics of the executive year 2009/2010 in comparison to the previous year

visits from 173 countries and 4 494 cities all over the world to our website elsa.org

the International Board received

26 233 emails throughout the year

32 countries visited by the

International Board in Brussels throughout the year

18

ELSA Annual Report

Highlights 2009/2010

over 6 000 new fans of the ELSA facebook page

44 institutional study visits* throughout the network

44 bilateral study visits** throughout the network

* study visit made by a local group to an international institution such as the European Parliament ** study visit between two local groups from different countries where they visit each other and learn about their legal and social culture.

ELSA Annual Report

19

Network

Expanding the association - ELSA Ireland

The 41st member country of ELSA At the 2010 spring International Council Meeting in Malta the plenary voted in favour of welcoming ELSA Ireland as a new member country of the association.

Ever since hearing of the European Law Students’ Association Daniel Regan Katie O‘Leary we have been eager to Director for Training President ELSA Ireland 2010 ensure that the organiELSA Ireland 2010 zation was established in Ireland. Ireland has long been an integral part of the European Union and is a committed member of the Council of Europe. Ireland, with its long and distinguished history has always been committed to European integration and co-operation. The spirit of co-operation, fellowship and brotherhood that is integral to the ELSA Network is also important to Irish law students and for that reason students here were very eager to become part of the Network.

At the beginning of the 2009/2010 academic year we made contact with ELSA International and began Ireland’s road to observership. The support of Leo and the International Board was essential to the success of our application.

dinary experience and was one of the greatest moments of our student life. Taking part in the workshops and the meetings we soon came to realise how important and strong the Network is. We were inspired by the spirit of co-operation, mutual respect and open dialogue that we soon came to realise are the hallmarks of the Network.

The greatest moment of the ICM came at the final plenary when Ireland was admitted unanimously to the ELSA network. As Irish students our joy at becoming part of the Network is reflected in all Irish law students who are keenly interested in growing and developing the network in Ireland!

We understand that our work to establish ELSA Ireland is just beginning. We currently have only one Local Group, so we are keen to expand the Network throughout our small island. We have made contact with students in several universities around the country, many of whom are as excited as we are by the opportunities and experiences offered

by ELSA.

„The ICM was an extraordinary experience and was one of the greatest moments of our student life.“

The International Council Meeting in Malta was where Ireland’s observership began. We were delighted to travel to Malta to make our presentation for observership. We were very excited about the prospect of entering the Network and were excited about seeing the Network in action.

Our expectations and excitement were more than fulfilled on the beautiful island of Malta. The ICM was an extraor-

20

Encouraged by interest in the Network around our country, we held our first NCM in May, which was attended by students from four Irish universities, two ELSA trainers, Rudolf Reiet and Johanna O’Duinnin, and as Former President of ELSA Slovakia Katarina Vanerkova (who supplied us with the notorious Stroh!). We had a wonderful weekend, and felt that the ELSA Spirit had well and truly come to Ireland!

ELSA Annual Report

Alumni

ELSA’s alumni association - ELS

Development of a mutually beneficial partnership The official alumni association of ELSA, the ELSA Lawyers’ Society, has been giving us inspiration and support to our activities throughout the term in office 2009-2010. We were glad to develop the cooperation and work together with fostering the mutually beneficial partnership that officially started in January 2009 when the cooperation agreement between ELSA and ELS was signed.

Leonid Cherniavskyi President ELSA International 09/10

Traditionally ELS provided financial and in-kind support to ELSA and our members.

Apart from the financial support to the International Board of ELSA and the ELS Scholarships given to active ELSA members in order to facilitate their participation in the International Council Meetings, the remarkable development in the field of financial support to ELSA as a network was the introduction of the ELS Granting System. Following the general concept of the system stipulated in the ELSA-ELS Agreement we have elaborated through negotiations with the Executive Board of ELS the model of functioning for the Granting System and the launching, which was made possible in the beginning of 2010. The outcome of the initiative could be seen already by the end of our term in office. Two Local Groups received grants from the ELSA Lawyers’ Society for the organisation of their international events; ELSA Bucharest for their law school “Banking and Finance Law” and ELSA Zagreb for their law school “Human Rights and Globalisation”.

Many members of ELS are also active as trainers in our International Trainer’s Pool. Throughout the year we were glad to have the support of ELS members who gave trainings to the members of our association at all levels. We would like to give a special thank you to Mr. Pierangelo Graziani, member of the ELS Executive Board and ITP trainer, who gave a spectacular teambuilding training to the International Board in the middle of our term in office. This training was a unique opportunity for us to learn even more about each other and deepen the understanding of our motives and opinions under the highly skilled guidance of

ELSA Annual Report

Mr. Graziani. As a result we got a great load of motivation for the rest of our term. Naturally, many trainings and workshops were given by our ELS members as ITP trainers during ELSA’s internal meetings throughout the year, which to us felt like a good proof of the interrelation between our associations.

Besides trainings, ELS members have also been an endless source of support when it comes to searching for sponsorships, organising legal education events or STEP traineeships.

We are always happy to invite former ELSA members to our international events and it has been a great pleasure for ELSA members to socialise with the members of ELS throughout the year during the International Council Meetings of the association.

As a representative from the board, which board members today are members of ELS, we look forward to seeing the further developments of the cooperation between ELSA and ELS!

21

Legal Education

A selection of International events organized throughout the network 2009/2010

Something of interest for every member

Throughout the ELSA network our members are offered the opportunity to participate in international events where they get to meet members from other countries, increase their knowledge in a specific legal topic or their knowledge of the organisation and other soft skills. All in all, as a member of ELSA you have all the means to develop as a person and into a profession, every year, all year around.

Topic

Type

Location

Date

United S&C and AA Meeting

Internal

Cagliari, Italy

5th - 10th Aug 2009

International Presidents‘ Meeting

Internal

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

12th - 16th Aug 2009

International STEP & MKT Meeting

Internal

Prague, Czech Republic

26th - 30th Aug 2009

Joint Internal & Financial Management Meeting

Internal

A Coruna, Spain

9th - 13th Sept 2009

ELSA Baltic Sea Exchange

Conference

Finland & Sweden

30th Sept - 2nd Oct 2009

Seminar on WTO Law

Seminar

Georgia

18th - 19th Oct 2009

International Council Meeting

Internal

Sinaia, Romania

25th Oct - 1st Nov 2009

Islamic Finance

Seminar

Germany

5th Nov 2009

Human trafficking and human tissue trade: „Not everything is on sale!“

Conference

Opole, Poland

17th - 18th Nov 2009

National moot court on Labor Law

Moot Court

Finland

20th Nov 2009

X National Tax Conference

Conference

Wroclaw, Poland

21th - 22th Nov 2009

National Training Days

Internal

Bulgaria

21th - 22th Nov 2009

IPR and Human Rights

Conference

Helsinki, Finland

24th - 29th Nov 2009

Moot court on Civil law

Moot Court

Dresden, Germany

27th Nov 2009

„Human Rights‘ Days“

Conference

Gdansk, Poland

15th - 17th Dec 2009

National Conference on Cybercrime

Conference

Toruń, Poland

15th - 16th Dec 2009

ELSA and UNICEF: Traditional Christmas action

Project

Lithuania & Poland

Dec 2009

Essay Competition on IP Law

Essay

ELSA International

until Dec 2009

Essay Competition on Space law

Essay

Cologne, Germany

until Dec 2009

Moot court on Criminal law

Moot Court

Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Jan 2010

An Error in Medical Judgement

Conference

Kraków, Poland

15th Jan 2010

International Presidents‘ Meeting

Internal

Kyiv, Ukraine

3th - 7th Feb 2010

Moot court in Criminal law

Moot Court

Tübingen, Germany

16th - 18th Feb 2010

22

ELSA Annual Report

Legal Education

Topic

Type

Place

Date

Holocaust and War Crime Prosecution

Conference

Brno, Czech Republic

1st - 4th Mar 2010

EMC2 Regional Round

Moot Court

Leuven, Belgium

3rd - 7th Mar 2010

EMC Regional Round

Moot Court

Helsinki, Finland

10th - 14th Mar 2010

International Humanitarian Law

Seminar

Tallinn, Estonia

10th - 14th Mar 010

Corporate Governance of Corporations

Conference

Pilsen, Czech Republic

11th - 12th Mar 2010

Environmental Law

Law School

Tbilisi, Georgia

12th Mar - 16th Apr 2010

Sports Law

Seminar

Georgia

13th - 14th Mar 2010

Psychology and Law

Seminar

Georgia

20th - 21st Mar 2010

International Council Meeting

Internal

Qawra, Malta

21st - 28th Mar 2010

Law and Medicine

Conference

Gdansk, Poland

24th - 25th Mar 2010

Moot Court on Commercial Law

Moot Court

Czech Republic

Apr 2010

Research Group Competition on Google Book Search

Project

Czech Republic

Apr 2010

Days of Criminalistic

Conference

Wroclaw, Poland

12th - 13th Apr 2010

Protection of Cultural Heritage

Conference

Kraków, Poland

20th Apr 2010

Moot court in Criminal law

Moot Court

Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

20th Apr 2010

Illegal Immigration - Different points of view of a common phenomenon

Seminar

Reggio di Calabria, Italy

20th - 22nd Apr 2010

Canonical Procedure

Conference

Olsztyn, Poland

21st - 22nd Apr 2010

Changes in the new family code

Seminar

Bulgaria

24th Apr 2010

Lobbying in Legislative Procedure

Conference

Warsaw, Poland

24th Apr 2010

Intellectual Property Days

Seminar

Toruń, Poland

27th - 28th Apr 2010

Final IFP Conference on IP Law

Conference

Munich, Germany

27th Apr - 2nd May 2010

Allen&Overy Regional Competition

Essay

CZ, HU, PL, SK

until Apr 2010

2

Public Speech Competition

Bulgaria

1st May 2010

Criminal Procedure

Workshop

MRU, Lithuania

4th - 5th May 2010

National Moot Court on Civil Law

Moot Court

Czech Republic

14th May 2010

Islam in Germany, Europe and the World

Seminar

Jena, Germany

7th - 9th May 2010

Europe – Where are we heading?

Conference

Muenster, Germany

13th - 16th May 2010

Final Oral Round of EMC2

Moot Court

Santo Domingo, DR

24th - 30th May2010

Essay competition on European law

Essay

Leipzig, Germany

until Jun 2010

International Seminar on Internet Law

Seminar

Dresden, Germany

24th - 27th Jun 2010

How to become Homo Europeus?

Law School

Slovakia

18th - 25th Jul 2010

Climate change, energy and trade law

Law School

Lithuania

18th - 25th Jul 2010

Law Is Better Than War!

Law School

Bucharest, Romania

18th - 29th Jul 2010

Banking and Finance Law

Law School

Bucharest, Romania

18th - 29th Jul 2010

Mergers & Acquisitions

Law School

Istanbul, Turkey

26th Jul - 1st Aug 2010

Human Rights and Globalization

Law School

Zagreb, Croatia

26th Jul - 2nd Aug 2010

„How much is your life worth?

Conference Olsztyn, Poland Legal, social and criminological aspects of kidnapping for ransom“ ELSA Annual Report

24th - 26th Feb 2010

23

Legal Education

ELSA Moot Court Competition - EMC2

A Report from Sunny Santo Domingo about Bright Young Lawyers This year, the Final Oral Round of the EMC2 was held in Santo Domingo. It was successfully organized by COLADIC – in close cooperation with ELSA International.

Again this year, the standard of the teams impressed all the judges, and after some nerve wrecking semi finals, the team from Laura Nielsen University of Ottawa was ready to challenAcademic Supervisor ge the two-person team from West Bengal 2 of EMC National University that had displayed Denmark they were in good shape. Although the Canadian team was brilliant, the two Indian ladies were unbeatable – indeed so brilliant that they also won several of the best oralist prizes.

This report sounds like it could equally be a report of the World Cup Games in soccer in South Africa – and for those of us that are involved in the EMC2, it is actually equally exciting! As an Academic Supervisor for the competition, my main job is of course to ensure a sufficiently high academic level of the legal scholarship – but the “competition aspect” of the EMC2 is what makes all of us come back as judges year after year.

In my opinion, all ELSA Members should pride themselves in that the “ELSA Moot Court” (which many people call the EMC2) has developed from “nothing” to being the single most prestigious moot court competition in the WTO area in the entire world. For the outsider, it may not seem like a big deal – but the EMC2 is a really large asset for ELSA. Everybody in the WTOcommunity now knows what ELSA is due to the existence of the EMC2. In fact, the Deputy Director General of the WTO, Alejandro Jara, just recently assisted ELSA in securing the WTO premises for next year’s Grand Final in “Room W” – and he usually also judges the Grand Finale.

The quality of EMC2 reflects directly on ELSA. One aspect that ensures high quality is the high standard of judges. All EMC2 panels

24

consist of 3 panelist – and semis and Grand Finale often more.

This year, former WTO Appellate Body Member, Professor Taniguchi, chaired the Grand Final, and current Appellate Body Member, Professor Ramirez, judged beside him in the five member panel hearing. Last year, former Appellate Body Member, Professor Matsushita chaired the Grand Final – and the story was not less impressive in previous years. Apart from Appellate Body Members, Counsellors from the WTO Secretariat also judge, alongside top academics and practitioners from all over the world – and as mentioned before: The Deputy Director General himself. The EMC2 is actually such a large success that highly esteemed WTO experts put their experience as an EMC2 judge in prominent places on their CVs! Another thing ELSA members should pride themselves of is the professional reputation of ELSA. Participants and professors always praise the ELSA staff to the sky for their invaluable organizational skills and hospitality. I always say that those young law students/lawyers I work with in ELSA will make it “all the way”.

By organizing such a huge competition that is not only academically challenging, but also exposes the ELSA staff to cultural differences (across the globe) these young people develop skills in one year, many full-time diplomats of a much older age would be envious of.

Next year, the competition goes back to Geneva and the WTO headquarters – thanks to our good friends in the WTO Secretariat. The 2010/2011 year‘s case will be a “Dolly Case”; i.e. a case about cloned animals, which means the students will have to argue a so-called “SPS case” concerning particularly scientific evidence. Soon, new teams will enter the competition and start writing their submissions on cloned animals. I hope to see many of you next year in Geneva.

ELSA Annual Report

Legal Education

A new summer law school for members of ELSA

Discovering China

Valentina Pavel Member of ELSA Romania

This summer a new opportunity had arisen for ELSA members: taking part in a three-week summer school in Shanghai and Beijing organized as a joint programme by ELSA and CBL International.

As a participant of this summer school I am glad to share part of my experience with you. During the summer school the main topics were: legal system of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese tax law, intellectual property rights in China, ASEAN dispute settlement and Chinese labor law. These topics were especially worth analyzing and comparing to the European system mainly because of China’s rapid development and substantial growth. It is very interesting to see the differences when it comes to implementing laws that are basically the same as the European ones but practiced in a totally different hierarchical and political system.

The visits to important companies and institutions were a strong attraction for participants since we could interact with representatives from: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Siemens, Thomson Reuters, Lehman, Lee & Xu, Google, Schindhelm, Tecis and institutions like European Chamber of Commerce, US embassy and the German Center at the Zhang Jiang high-tech park in Shanghai.

The best thing about this summer school was that I could meet people from all over the world (US, Iran, Malaysia, Singapore, France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Finland) and discuss cultural differences,

ELSA Annual Report

political and legal issues, all in a very interesting and challenging setting as the one we had to adapt to in China.

Of course the sightseeing programme is also worth mentioning since the organizers arranged VIP entrance for us to several pavilions at the World Expo Shanghai 2010 like US, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, India, a Big Bus tour in Shanghai, a visit to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs in Beijing.

The language barrier was the most important challenge we had to face, but thanks to the CBL planned Chinese language course we actually gained some basic knowledge in order to manage while at the restaurant, in a cab, bargaining in a shop, asking for directions, meeting someone and introducing ourselves.

China is definitely a place worth seeing not just because of its unique landscape and architecture, but also for understanding a new culture, religion and way of life. I strongly recommend an experience like the one I had for a broaden horizon of knowledge and for experiencing new life concepts.

Also I have to say that China is definitely the place to be in the next 10 years.

The reason behind this statement is the government’s daring development plan called Shanghai 2020. This plan aims to transform Shanghai in the world’s first financial and logistic hub by the year 2020. And with the current development rate they are experiencing there is no doubt that they will actually succeed. Having the implications of such an initiative in mind you just might want to consider Shanghai as a strong candidate for your ambitious future career plans.

25

International Focus Programme

ELSA’s International Focus Programme

From Intellectual Property Law to Health Law Sofia Kallio describes the IFP and Lena Mischau reports on the Final IFP Conference.

The International Focus Programme

Sofia Kallio VP S&C ELSA International 09/10

The term 2009/2010 was the final year of implementation of Intellectual Property as the topic of the International Focus Programme (IFP). For the past three years the ELSA Network has been focusing on the law related to, for example, copyright, patents and trademarks.

As a highlight for the programme, the final year of implementation was devoted to compiling the Final IFP Publication and organising the Final IFP Conference, which took place in Munich, Germany. In addition, the second edition of the International Essay Competition on IFP was finalised. The winning contribution on the theme of cable transmission rights was written by Sofio Maisuradze from ELSA Georgia. As a large international IFP event, there was a conference on IFP and Human Rights organised in Helsinki, Finland in November 2009. The event brought together two major players in ELSA, the IFP and the commitment to Human Rights.

Lena Mischau Head of OC Final IFP Conference 2010

niche due to attending an ELSA event that inspired them to learn more and to become experts in the field. In addition, the ELSA Delegations have participated in numerous meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Thereby, the ELSA Network has had the possibility to influence the development of and discussion on Intellectual Property Law. These events and projects have challenged their participants to look at Intellectual Property from various points of view – the private sector, technology, protection of Human Rights and legislative work, to mention a few.

During the term 2009/2010 also the groundwork for the new topic was made.

After the discussions for the next “hot legal topic”, three legal research groups were created to study the possibilities of Health Law, Internet Law and Energy and Climate Law, and during the International Council Meeting in Malta the Council decided to focus on Health Law for the period 2010–2013.

„There are several examples of young lawyers who have found their niche due to attending an ELSA event that inspired them to learn more and to become experts in the field.“

During the years there have been a number of local, national and international events and projects where law students have had the possibility to broaden their knowledge on Intellectual Property beyond the traditional curricula of universities. There are several examples of young lawyers who have found their

26

The Final IFP Conference This spring, the moment we had been waiting for more than half a year finally came true: the Final IFP Conference on Intellectual Property Law 2010, which was the climax and

ELSA Annual Report

International Focus Programme conclusion of the last years` International Focus Programme (IFP) on Intellectual Property Law. Therefore, it was a great pleasure for ELSA Munich and especially for the Organising Committee to welcome more than 90 students and young lawyers from exactly 20 European countries to actively participate in this very special event. With the kind help of our supporters such as our patrons Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Papier, eighth President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, and Mrs. Dr. Beate Merk, the Bavarian State Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, as well as our academic advisor Prof. Dr. Michael Lehmann and our sponsors, we were happy to provide our participants with an academic programme at the highest stage and a week full of ELSA spirit as well.

Marking the end of the current IFP “Intellectual Property Law”, it was our main goal to sum up the last years` results and to reappraise the outcome of the numerous seminars,

the field of IP were carried out mainly in the premises of the European Patent Office, but also at the Ludwig-MaximiliansUniversity and the European Commission.

Additionally, the participants had the chance to get to know the role IP can play in practice during the visit of three internationally working law firms in Munich, all of them specialised in IP. However, it was not only a pleasure for us to show our guests the latest aspects and developments concerning IP, but also to show them the most beautiful sights of Munich and make them acquainted with the city and its people.

At the ELSA party on Thursday evening in one of the finest clubs of Munich the participants were able to get to know each other and the city’s modern face, whereas on Friday during our typical Bavarian evening at “Hofbräuhaus”, they got the chance to discover our traditional music, dances and dishes.

Yet, without doubt the great Gala Ball in a gorgeous pavilion next to a small lake was the highlight of the non-academic part as the conference as well as the IFP “Intellectual Property Law” as a whole came to its official end there. Together with the participants and other guests e.g. professors and former ELSA members we summed up one last time the numerous events having been carried out within the framework of the IFP throughout Europe, and thus rounded off the week, the Final IFP Conference, and the IFP “Intellectual Property Law” altogether.

conferences and diverse events having taken place since 2007 throughout the whole ELSA network. On the other hand, we wanted our participants not just to stick to the “classical” topics concerning IP but instead to go beyond the previous themes and to concentrate on some exciting new issues rising up in this context.

Therefore, the academic part of the conference was structured into three different main topics: “IP & Communications Law”, “IP & Economy”, and “IP & Ecology”. Within this frame, more than twelve lectures, four workshops and one panel discussion held by some of the most renowned experts in

ELSA Annual Report

In conclusion, the Final IFP Conference on Intellectual Property Law 2010 was worth of marking the end of the last IFP “Intellectual Property Law” and to start the new one “Health Law” which I hope to be as productive and successful as the old one was.

Last but not least, I would like to thank once more our many supporters without whose kind help we would have never been able to realise this conference in the scale we fortunately were.

Thank you to all of our participants, as well, for taking part in the conference so enthusiastically and for making this week the magnificent experience it turned out to be for everyone of us. My dear friends, keep up the ELSA spirit and I am looking forward to meeting you again during one of the events in the framework of the new IFP topic to come soon!

27

Network

New regulations and working groups

An executive year of ELSA

ELSA as an association for law students’ and young lawyers is special in many ways. However, in order for ELSA to be established as unique, we need something that gives us internal structure and proceedings of how we make decisions, how we execute them and most importantly which are the common rules and boundaries that keep us uniform throughout our 41 member countries.

As ELSA is the world’s largest law students’ association, we need a framework that keeps us on the right track, so that we will not forget the general principal Timo Kortesoja of ELSA. As law students we are, or at Secretary General ELSA International 09/10 least we should be, interested in regulations and how they work as guidelines and binding rules for the work that is being done.

The general principal for the term 2009/2010 regarding the regulations was clear; to introduce new regulations and amendments when they serve the benefit of the whole network in the long run.

Jim Rohn once said: “If you wish to find, you must search. Rarely does a good idea interrupt you.” The International Board 2009/2010 was lucky to be interrupted by good ideas that would help the whole network e.g. in planning, following the progress of our Strategic Goals and having clear internal proceedings for procurement. The International Board presented its ideas to the network during the ICMs, IPMs and area meetings.

In IPM Kyiv, the presidents formed a working group for procurement regulations. The idea of regulations on this area was initiated by the International Board based on the online system project. The proposal of the IPM on procurement was then approved by the Council in ICM Qawra, Malta. Besides a working group for procurement regulations, we also had working groups for expansion and external relations whom made their proposal regarding their search in the area of expansion in the ICM Qawra. The Council approved the proposal to amend the Statutes of ELSA and the Decision Book with an expansion definition that would make a full stop for the discussion that has been going on the past couple of years. During ICM Qawra, the working group for external relations was created and it started working on a proposal regarding external relations and fundraising for the autumn ICM in Alanya.

„to introduce new regulations and amendments when they serve the benefit of the whole network „

In ICM Sinaia, the Council approved a Strategic Planningsection that was introduced by the International Board. The meaning for these regulations was to develop a tool to follow the realisation of the Strategic Goals as well as to clarify that the whole network is committed to the Strategic Goals. Besides this introduction, the International Board also introduced several amendments to the Decision Book. Also the National Groups were active in proposing their amendments to the Decision Book and as a result the new Human Resources Strategy was amended. It concerned the network activities timeline and hosting of the officers’ trainings events.

28

Besides these working groups we had several other working groups for different handbooks and initial projects e.g. a working group for network support system and working groups for different handbooks throughout the functional areas. As the International Board 2009/2010 for the whole year strived for active involvement of the network, we are happy to conclude that the network truly was actively involved in the work and together we managed to strengthen the network and increase the mutual understanding through the exchange of ideas and views on different topics.

For this remarkable work of the whole network, the International Board 2009/2010 is very proud and we wish to thank all the people involved in these working groups! It has been our pleasure to co-ordinate the work, to see the results and together implement them in our beloved network of law students.

ELSA Annual Report

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Final Accounts

Balance Sheet 31st July 2010

Assets Fixed Assets Assets Assets under construction Total Fixed Assets

Current Assets Debtors Control Account Receivables to EDF Receivables from Members Accounts Receivable

31/07/10

31/07/09

EUR

EUR

1.359,01 30.000,00 31.359,01

0,00 27.646,20 34.469,72 62.115,92

1.894,71 0,00 1.894,71

2.554,50 28.894,15 34.873,84 66.322,49

Liabilities Capital Opening Balances 01.08.09 Prior period adjustment Profit/Loss

Prepayments

Total Current Assets

Total Assets

30

35.650,90

1.240,91

1.347,14

105.584,24

136.943,25

EUR

EUR

23.028,71 -8.333,33 337,02 15.032,40

22.823,84 204,87 23.028,71

14.405,01 -14.405,01 6.500,00 6.500,00

14.405,01

Provision for bad debts

4.524,63 -3.516,60 30.000,00 31.008,03

4.000,00 -975,37 1.500,00 4.524,63

Provision for ELSA Online

6.000,00

0,00

Total ELSA House

1.000,00

1.000,00

Total Capital & Reserves

59.540,43

42.958,35

Liabilities Accounts payable Deferred Revenue

21.560,81 55.842,01

9.308,88 52.948,01

Total Liabilities

77.402,82

62.256,89

Use of provision Total provision for bad debts

42.227,41

31/07/09

EDF Reserves Transfer to EDF balance sheet Provision for EDF Total EDF

Provision

Deposits and Cash

31/07/10

14.405,01

103.320,53

105.215,24

Total Capital & Liabilities

136.943,25 105.215,24

ELSA Annual Report

30

Final Accounts

Detailed income and expenditures 1st August 2009 - 31st July 2010

Income

EUR

Externals

81.236,96

The ELSA House (office)

Membership Fee

18.000,01

Office running costs

2.504,90

Communication

3.413,44

Online portal administration

2.441,26

Membership Contributions Observership Administration Fee

7.500,00 350,00

Expenditures

EUR 32.787,87

ELSA Online Fee

14.999,97

Publications

Grants

14.105,00

Moot Court Competition

3.937,41

Moot Court Competition

21.02434

Contribution EDF (Foundation)

1.200,00

Statutory and Internal Meetings

5.675,82

Bank Interest

304,25

30.919,40

ELSA Lawyers' Society (ELS)

5.541,78

Travel

12.416,04

Miscellaneous Income

2.378,59

Board allowance and directors

18.625,58

Provision for bad debts

3.516,60

Write off bad debts Representation Auditing Annual Report 2008/2009

168.957,50

2.005,65 463,60 1.019,02

Marketing Budget

1.071,32

Costs related to previous years

1.681,08

Miscellaneous

2.009,49 30.000,00

Provision for online development

6.000,00

Provision towards EDF (Foundation)

6.500,00

Expenditures total Profit total

ELSA Annual Report

432,00

Projects

Provision for bad debts

Income total

3.516,60

168.620,48 337,02

31

ELSA International 239, Boulevard GĂŠnĂŠral Jacques B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Phone: +32-2-646-2626 Fax: +32-2-646-2923 E-mail: elsa@elsa.org Website: www.elsa.org