59th edition of the Synergy Magazine

Magazine of The European Law Students’ Association

No.59 · I-2016

SYNERGY The Rule of Law in Cyberspace

Alexander Seger, Council of Europe, p.6

magazine

EU Proposal: An Investment Court in TTIP Negotiations

Philippe De Baere, Van Bael & Bellis, p.10

The Adoption of the ELSA Vision

Fredrik Lofthagen, Interel, p.18

Cyberspace, crime and safety of the information online

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Editor’s letter Dear reader,

Dagne Sabockyte Vice President for Marketing ELSA International 2015/16

This is the 59th time the Synergy Magazine is being published. Since its first release in 1987, Synergy has covered many legal topics, featured articles by a great number of legal experts and ELSA supporters, described the development of the ELSA Network, as well as the development of Synergy itself. This issue, however, is a special one, because this year, ELSA is celebrating its anniversary.

For 35 years we have been working towards international cooperation among law students and global interaction, creating skilled and internationally minded legal professionals along the way. Thanks to the stable basis,

and the clear vision that the previous ELSA generations and contributors provided us with, we have been able to develop continuously. Today, I am proud of the fact that we are spreading our values and vision in 43 different countries, with 40 countries as full members of our association.

This anniversary edition of Synergy is shedding light on some of the building blocks of ELSA, as well as setting eyes on the future, by focusing on one of the biggest question marks in the legal world today, namely the cyberspace. So, turn the page and discover engaging articles on the rule of law in cyberspace, data protection, mass surveillance and, of course, the current projects of our 42,000 members strong Network.

Dagne Sabockyte

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Contents

Editor's Letter

4

Partners' and Externals' Perspective The Rule of Law in Cyberspace

The Rule of Law in Cyberspace Alexander Seger, Council of Europe, p.6

6

EU Proposal: An Investment Court in TTIP Negotiations

10

Mass Surveillance and the Protection of Whistleblowers

12

ELSA Anniversary: 35 Years of ELSA

16

ELSA Anniversary: The Adoption of the ELSA Vision

18

International Focus

ELSA Anniversary: Painting the Future

20

Bridging Law Students in Asia & Europe

21

The IBA and ELSA Partner Up in London

22

Freedom or Control?

24

ELSA Events Calendar 2015 EU Proposal: An Investment Court in TTIP Negotiations Philippe De Baere, Van Bael & Bellis, p.10

26

Creating Future Trade Lawyers Worldwide Since 2002

28

32 Years of Student Exchange

30

The ELSA Network

The Adoption of the ELSA Vision Fredrik Lofthagen, p.18

Looking Closely at Health Data

32

Revenge Porn - An International Challenge

35

ELSA Armenia: The Path to Membership

38

Discovering New Horizons - the ELSA Dresden Law School

40

Strenghtening the Ties between ELSA Groups

43

ELSA Delegation to the Council of Europe Conference

44

Being One STEP Ahead

48

Dynamic and Enterprising: Experience China as a Study Abroad Location

50

5

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and

The rule of law in cyberspace

About cybercrime and electronic evidence Cybercrime – that is, offences against computers and specific Alexander Seger Head of Cybercrime Division, offences committed by means of Council of Europe computers1 – is not a new type of crime. An “emerging” crime in the late 1970s, its relevance and impact has changed dramatically. Reportedly, trillions of security incidents are detected on networks each year and millions of attacks against computer systems and data are recorded every single day.

The Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Convention Committee recently concluded that: “The current scale, scope and challenges related to cybercrime and electronic evidence … suggest that cybercrime has become a serious threat to the fundamental rights of individuals, to the rule of law in cyberspace and to democratic societies.” 2 The following examples illustrate this link between cybercrime and the core values of democratic societies: • The theft and misuse of personal data (email account data, 1. The enumeration of the offences listed in Articles 2 to 10 of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime represents a common definition of the term “cybercrime” for criminal justice purposes. http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/185 2. https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?do cumentId=0900001680304b59

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credit card details, address books, patient records etc.) affect the right to private life (including the protection of personal data) of hundreds of millions of individuals per year.

• Cybercrime is an attack against the dignity and integrity of individuals, in particular children.

• Cyberattacks (such as distributed denial of service attacks, website defacement and others) against media, civil society organisations, individuals or public institutions are attacks against the freedom of expression.

• Cybercrime is an attack against democracy. Governments, parliaments and other public institutions as well as critical infrastructure face attacks every day.

• Cybercrime is a threat to democratic stability. Information and communication technologies are misused for xenophobia and racism, contribute to radicalisation and serve terrorist purposes.

• Cybercrime causes economic cost and risks to societies and undermines human development opportunities through ICT. • Cybercrime is a threat to international peace and stability.

Military conflicts and political disagreements are increasingly accompanied by cyberattacks.

Moreover, evidence in relation to any crime increasingly takes the form of electronic evidence, that is, data gen-

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

erated by or stored on a growing number of computer systems and other storage devices. Examples are the identification, based on an IP (Internet Protocol) address, of a kidnapper who sent a ransom mail or of suspected terrorists who posted threats on a social media site etc. The so-called “subscriber information” is the most often sought data in a criminal investigation.

Securing computer data is therefore essential. Without data, there can be no evidence and no justice. Obviously, a wide range of measures is required to prevent and control cybercrime and protect society and individuals. Many public and private sector organisations have adopted cybersecurity strategies and other actions to protect computer systems. Criminal justice is an important part of the response. And this is what the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime is all about.

The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime3 The Convention on Cybercrime was opened for signature in Budapest in November 2001 and requires Parties to do the following: • establish a list of offences against and by means of computers in their criminal law; • provide law enforcement with the powers to secure specified computer data in specific criminal investigations and in rela-

tion to any criminal offence; • limit such powers through rule of law safeguards; and • engage in efficient international police-to-police and judicial cooperation.

The Budapest Convention thus is a criminal justice treaty. This means that it is limited to specific offences, specific investigations and specified data. Criminal justice rules and safeguards apply. It does not fall within the realm of national security measures and does not entail general surveillance activities.

At the same time, the scope of this treaty is rather broad in that the measures regarding law enforcement powers and international cooperation are not limited to “cybercrime” but encompass evidence found on a computer system in relation to any crime.

By December 2015, all but two of the 47 member States of the Council of Europe (the exceptions being the Russian Federation and San Marino), including all member-states of the European Union, have become parties or have at least signed it. However, its geographical reach goes far beyond Europe. At present, 66 States are either parties (the latest being Canada and Sri Lanka), signatories or have been invited to accede. At least double that number have used the Budapest Convention as a guideline for domestic legislation.

3. http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/185

7

Partners' and Externals' Perspective The Budapest Convention has thus shaped cybercrime legislation around the world and enabled more efficient cooperation between the parties and more successful investigations at domestic levels in many countries. A crucial factor for the impact of this treaty is that it is backed up by: • the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) comprising the Parties and observer States as well as the African Union Commission, the European Commission, EUROPOL, EUROJUST, INTERPOL, the Organisation of American States, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and other relevant organisations. The Committee assesses implementation of the treaty in practice, adopts Guidance Notes and may also prepare additional Protocols to the Convention; • capacity building programmes to assist countries worldwide in the strengthening of legislation, training of police, judges and prosecutors, public/private and international cooperation.

Several of these programmes are joint projects of the Council of Europe and the European Union. Since April 2014, these programmes are implemented through the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) in Romania. The purpose of C-PROC is to support capacity building on cybercrime worldwide.

It is this “dynamic triangle” of common standards, follow up and assessments, and capacity building which makes the difference.

“

While law-enforcement powers are tied to the principle of territoriality, data may be stored somewhere in the cloud, held by, or moved between, multiple layers of cloud service providers in various jurisdictions Challenges While much progress has been made in recent years in Europe and worldwide, the challenges that criminal justice authorities face are immense. For example: • The number of cybercrimes, of devices containing electronic evidence to be analysed, and of users and victims involved is growing exponentially while the resources allocated to criminal justice authorities are not keeping pace. Encryption, the use of anonymisers and other technical issues create further obstacles to criminal investigations.

• Cloud computing adds complexity. While law-enforcement powers are tied to the principle of territoriality, data may be stored somewhere in the cloud, held by, or moved between, multiple layers of cloud service providers in various jurisdictions. In this context, mutual legal assistance (MLA) practices are not sufficiently effective. What laws apply and to whom should an MLA request be sent? MLA procedures are often too cumbersome to secure volatile electronic evidence. In the absence of clear international rules, governments increasingly take uni-

8

Partners' and Externals'Hate Perspective Speech lateral action. The result is a jungle of diverse approaches with risks for state-to-state relations and the rights of individuals.

• While criminal justice authorities need more efficient access to electronic evidence, rule of law and human rights requirements must be met. Searches of computers, interception of communications or other law-enforcement powers can interfere with the rights of individuals. They must, therefore, be prescribed by law, pursue legitimate aims, be necessary and proportionate, allow for effective remedies and be subject to guarantees against abuse. In a domestic investigation such conditions can normally be met and safeguards are in place, at least in democratic societies. A key challenge is to establish solutions that allow for more efficient access to evidence in the cloud and for meeting rule of law requirements at the same time.

• Given limited criminal justice access to data, a very small part of cybercrime ends up in convictions and in justice served.

Most cybercrime is never reported. A large share of cybercrime that is actually reported and recorded is never investigated. Many investigations are abandoned for lack of data.

Few of the offences that are investigated result in prosecution and, of those, few end up with court rulings.

The way forward Governments have the obligation to protect the rights of individuals and to protect them and society in general against crime. The reality is, however, that only a minuscule fraction of offences involving computer data and systems can be prosecuted and that victims have a very limited expectation of justice. This raises the question of whether there is rule of law in cyberspace.

It is clear that additional international solutions are required to address the above challenges and in particular the question of criminal justice access to electronic evidence on cloud servers.

One solution is to render MLA procedures more efficiently. In December 2014, following two years of analysis, the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) adopted a set of recommendations to this effect.4 Follow up is underway.

Specific proposals should become available in the course of 2016. They may take the form of non-binding guidelines or of an additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. Such a binding international legal instrument may be necessary to meet rule-of-law as well as data-protection requirements. It remains to be seen whether agreement can be reached on such a complex matter, but the Budapest Convention appears to be the most realistic framework for negotiating additional international rules.

NEW PUBLICATION BY COUNCIL OF EUROPE

MASS SURVEILLANCE - Who is watching the watchers?

The disclosures by Mr Edward Snowden since June 2013 of mass surveillance and large-scale intrusion practices have provided compelling evidence of the existence of far-reaching, technologically advanced spying systems put in place by United States intelligence services and their partners in certain Council of Europe member states. This has resulted in the collection, storage and analysis of communication data – including content, location and other metadata – on a huge scale. In several countries, a massive “surveillance-industrial complex” has evolved, which risks escaping democratic control and accountability and threatens the free and open character of our societies.

The tracking methods uncovered endanger fundamental human rights, including the rights to privacy, freedom of information and expression, and the rights to a fair trial and freedom of religion.

In the light of the threats posed by the newly disclosed mass surveillance techniques, how can states uphold these fundamental rights and ensure both the protection of privacy and Internet safety in the digital age?

ISBN 978-92-871-8120-6, € 29 / US$ 58

At the same time, the Committee created a “Cloud Evidence Working Group”5 to identify additional solutions.

Also in French: SURVEILLANCE DE MASSE – Quel contrôle démocratique?

4. https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?do cumentId=09000016802e726c 5. https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?do cumentId=0900001680304b59

ISBN 978-92-871-8103-9, 19 € / 38 US$

9

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

EU proposal on:

An investment court in TTIP negotiations

O

n September 2015, the EU Commission announced its proposal for a new system for the resolution of disputes between investors and states. The proposal was officially tabled for discussion in the context of the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the comprehensive trade and investment pact that the EU is currently negotiating with the US. The ambition of the EU, however, is to establish a multilateral investment court, along the lines of the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The declared aim is to replace the traditional investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) with a permanent court, and to agree on rules that ensure that the right for governments to regulate according to public policy objectives is not unduly constrained by commitments in trade and investment agreements. The text that is currently circulating is not final and it remains to be seen whether the US will accept the proposal.

Philippe De Baere Partner Van Bael & Bellis

The proposal was developed using the WTO dispute settlement system as a guide. Similarly to the latter, the new court system provides for an appeal mechanism, which will be tasked with reviewing only legal issues. Jurists holding qualifications comparable to those that are necessary to be appointed as members of permanent international courts will be nominated for a fixed term and not chosen each time by the parties in the dispute, as is currently the case in investor-state arbitrations. Both the First Instance Tribunal and the Appeal Tribunal will be composed by one third of EU na-

10

tionals, by another third of US nationals and by the remainder of nationals of third countries.

The EU Commission tried to address specific concerns that were raised by various sectors of the public opinion regarding the alleged shortcomings of the traditional ISDS mechanism. With regard to the issue of transparency, the hearings under the proposed system will be public and interested parties will be given the right to intervene and submit their views, under rules similar to those governing the intervention of third parties in the context of the WTO dispute settlement system. Concerning forum shopping, the proposed set of rules clearly prevents parties from submitting the same claim before the Investment Court and other arbitration tribunals at the same time. The proposed system also envisages the possibility for judges to dismiss claims that they consider to be frivolous in an expedited fashion.

One of the main sources of criticism regarding the current investment arbitration regime is related to the fact that arbitrators are typically chosen from an almost closed list of professionals, who typically serve as legal counsels in other disputes. Over the years, this situation has generated concerns related to the lack of independence of the arbitrators and the assumption that the traditional system does not properly address potential conflicts of interest on the part of adjudicators. The current proposal tabled by the Commission introduces strict rules with regard to the avoidance of conflicts of interests and introduces a review mechanism whereby the president of the Tribunal or the Appeal Tribunal will

Partners' and Externals' Perspective decide in case of controversy between one of the parties and the interested judge over an issue of conflict.

The proposal is interesting in that it also includes new rules with regard to the margin of manoeuvre that regulators will enjoy in relation to the pursuit of public policy objectives. The proposed text of the Chapter on Investment Protection explicitly recognises the right for the Parties to introduce measures that are necessary to achieve a non-exhaustive list of legitimate policy objectives (to mention two of them: the protection of human health and consumer protection).

On many occasions EU Commission officials have publicly affirmed their aim to address the concerns that have been raised by various public policy actors in the EU, according to which the mere existence of investment arbitration clauses would inevitably shrink the ability for domestic governments to intervene and regulate in pursuance of public policy objectives. With particular regard to the provisions disciplining the “right to regulate”, however, their seemingly unlimited scope of application may tilt the balance between the protection of the rights of private companies and the right to regulate for domestic governments in favour of the latter.

This is, at least, the view of some business organisations that have reacted to the decision with sharp criticism.

“

The proposal was officially tabled for discussion in the context of the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the comprehensive trade and investment pact that the EU is currently negotiating with the US The truth may lie somewhere in between. Ultimately, investment agreements are about a trade-off. The guarantee that investments will be protected inevitably limits, to some extent, the ability for governments to regulate without taking into consideration the rights of foreign investors, and the current ISDS regime is far from having achieved the optimal balance.

On one hand, the introduction of a permanent court is to be welcomed in that costly jurisdictional claims and situations of forum shopping will be significantly re-

duced. On the other hand, the restatement of a seemingly unlimited right to regulate for governments in pursuance of a vaguely defined list of policy objectives is hard to reconcile with the objective of legal certainty, hence the concerns of the investors’ community are understandable.

The EU proposal deserves credit because it attempts to address long-standing problems connected to the resolution of disputes between investors and governments.

There is a significant margin for improvement, however, and hopefully the TTIP negotiations will result in a number of amendments necessary to strike the correct balance between the sometimes conflicting interests of industry and public policy.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective

Two key freedom of expression and information issues linked by one emblematic case: Edward Snowden

Mass surveillance and the protection of whistleblowers

I

n the summer of 2013, the Council of Europe’s ParliaDeputy Head of Secretariat of the Committee on Legal Affairs and mentary Assembly (PACE) Human Rights of the Council of elected one of its members, Pieter Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly* Omtzigt, a Dutch Christian Democrat, as Rapporteur on two inter-related subjects, which are of fundamental importance for freedom of expression and information on the Internet, namely mass surveillance and the protection of whistleblowers. Mr. Omtzigt held two public hearings before the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, both including as a panellist Edward Snowden, who had famously “blown the whistle” on mass surveillance practices by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and its partners. Unfortunately, Mr. Snowden could not safely come to Strasbourg and was therefore obliged to participate in the discussions via live video links from Moscow, where he has obtained political asylum.

Dr. Günter Schirmer

Mr. Omtzigt’s first report, on Mass Surveillance1, was adopted by the Assembly in April 2015 by an overwhelming majority of 132 votes in favour, 4 against, with 9 abstentions.

It sums up the mass surveillance practices that were revealed

by Mr. Snowden and assesses them politically and legally, in particular in light of the case law of the European Court of * Before joining the Council of Europe in 1993, he was a law lecturer at the Universities of Passau and London, a civil servant at the German Federal Ministry of Finance and a judge at the District Court of Bonn. He has contributed this article in a strictly personal capacity, it does not engage the responsibility of the Assembly or the Council of Europe.

Mr. Schirmer is a long-standing “friend of ELSA” – for which he has already accepted speaking assignments at the Universities of Passau (his alma mater) and Lisbon and is participating in judging ELSA's ongoing European Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

1. Link: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?fileid=21692&lan g=EN&search=b210emlndCBtYXNzIHN1cnZlaWxsYW5jZQ==

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Human Rights (ECtHR). The conclusions summed up in the resolution adopted by the Assembly are very clear: mass surveillance, as opposed to targeted surveillance of persons reasonably suspected of involvement in wrongdoings, is considered as a serious threat to human rights. The Assembly advocates the enactment by all member states of a strict legal framework allowing only targeted surveillance by court order.

To ensure that such a legal framework is properly enforced, parliamentary and judicial oversight ought to be strengthened by increased international cooperation between oversight bodies, and disclosures of abuses by whistleblowers shall be protected in order to deter violations. Meanwhile, the Assembly promotes the idea of mass encryption as an effective protection against mass surveillance.

More specifically, the Assembly notes that mass surveillance is a danger not only for the right to privacy (Article 8), but also for freedom of information and expression (Article 10), the right to a fair trial (Article 6) and freedom of religion (Article 9). As Mr. Snowden has shown, even lawyers and religious ministers can be subjected to surveillance. When digital evidence can easily be planted on a target’s device, using one of the techniques revealed by Mr. Snowden, how can the evidential value of real digital evidence be preserved, in order to successfully prosecute actual criminals? The Assembly also rejects “backdoors” installed in computer systems in order to facilitate access for spying purposes. These are a bad idea, both as a matter of human rights principle and of sheer common sense: experiments have shown that “backdoors” can be quite easily identified (even by computer science students participating in the experiments referred to in the Assembly’s report)

Partners' and Externals' Perspective and then exploited by cyber-criminals (including terrorists) and rogue states. The next generation of terrorists may very well prefer bringing down our banking system and electricity supply, with potentially far more disastrous consequences, even in terms of loss of life, than old-style terrorist attacks with bombs and Kalashnikovs. The Assembly consequently calls on States to penalize breaches of privacy on the Internet the same way as a violation of the traditional confidentiality of correspondence. In order to place international cooperation on a sound footing, the Assembly advocates the negotiation of a multilateral “intelligence codex” between like-minded countries. This codex should include a mutual engagement to apply the same rules to the surveillance of each other’s citizens as those applied to their own, and exclude the use of surveillance for political, economic or diplomatic purposes between participating states. In order to help enforce any legal framework both national and international, an effective whistleblower protection is key: the “Sword of Damocles” of protected disclosures of wrongdoings by concerned “insiders” is the best deterrent against abuses. Interestingly, this proposal was made by a former head of the German BND, Professor Hansjörg Geiger, who is well aware of the difficulty for “outsiders” to have access to the information needed to police the services. In addition to improved whistleblower protection, the Assembly insists that parliamentary and judicial oversight of surveillance activities must be strengthened, by developing international cooperation between oversight bodies to match the increasing cooperation between intelligence agencies. These agencies must not be allowed to circumvent legal restrictions on spying on their own citizens by spying on foreign nationals and passing the data on to the agency of these foreigners’ home countries, with the understanding that these would return the favour. Like-minded countries should also wave, for oversight purposes, the so-called originator control principle (forbidding the recipient of information to

“

When digital evidence can easily be planted on a target’s device, how can the evidential value of real digital evidence be preserved, in order to successfully prosecute actual criminals? pass it on to anyone else without the agreement of the “originator”), on a mutual basis. This would avoid the situation observed, for example, in the German Bundestag’s committee of inquiry into the so-called NSA/BND affair, where key information was withheld from the parliamentarians because of US objections based on the originator control principle.

The intelligence services of like-minded (i.e. human rights and rule of law–minded) countries should learn to trust not only each other, and (hopefully) their own parliamentary or judicial overseers, but also their partner countries’ democratic oversight bodies.

In the report on Mass Surveillance, the Assembly also expresses its concern about the growth of what I like to call the “surveillance-industrial complex”, fostered by the culture of secrecy and the highly technical nature of surveillance operations. Both the seriousness of threats and the costs and benefits of specific counter-measures are difficult to assess for “lay persons”. Policy makers are thus obliged to rely on input from the interested groups themselves. If they turn down requests for more resources, they will be blamed as soon as a terrorist attack happens. If an attack happens despite increased resources, the “surveillance industry” will ar-

Partners' and Externals' Perspective gue that even more money and more power is needed. Incentives are further distorted by the outsourcing and privatization of many parts of the surveillance industry. Interested groups stand to reap huge private profits, through procurement and service contracts, which goes far beyond the usual bureaucratic interest in extra posts and promotion opportunities. At the Council of Europe’s World Forum for Democracy (WFD) in November 2015, former NSA insiders Bill Binney and Tomas Drake explained these dangerous mechanisms most impressively, in light of their own experience. The powerful and ever-growing mass surveillance structures in several countries thus risk escaping democratic control and accountability. The obvious parallel with the “military-industrial complex” fostering fear of real or imaginary threats and actual conflicts in order to grow markets for weapons and ammunitions sends a

“

The intelligence services of human rights and rule of law – minded countries should learn to trust not only each other, and their own parliamentary or judicial overseers, but also their partner countries’ democratic oversight bodies

fact be forced to focus their resources on “high-value targets” rather than collecting everything on everyone. In this context, Pieter Omtzigt has criticized recent proposals by British and German politicians to place legal restrictions on encryption and other measures of “self-data protection”. He finds such restrictions dangerous because they would further weaken our protection against terrorists and other criminals. He wonders where such legal restrictions would draw the line: surely health insurance data and bank accounts must remain encrypted.

But if our personal communications are “fair game” for intelligence agencies thanks to weakened protection, how can we ensure that our passwords and firewalls remain safe from criminals? How can we ensure that our computers are not hijacked, as proudly announced in internal NSA documents, for use as sources of “plausibly deniable” cyber-attacks on third parties? When it is so difficult to prove such foul play (and also its absence!), does this not make the prosecution of actual cyber-criminals far more difficult? The fight against hate propaganda and terrorist recruitment on the net, Internet pedo-pornography, drug deals, identity theft requires that the evidentiary value of data is protected, not undermined. Personally, I cannot but agree with Mr. Omtzigt.

Last but not least, the Assembly recognizes that the enactment of appropriate laws to protect privacy at the national level and the negotiation of the proposed international “intelligence codex” will take time. Therefore, the Assembly urges the internet users to protect themselves in the meantime by using strong (end-to-end) encryption and encourages states to promote the development of user-friendly, automatic encryption technology: in brief, the Assembly’s answer to mass surveillance is the promotion of mass encryption. If enough users deploy strong encryption, the authorities will in

In June 2015, the Assembly adopted Pieter Omtzigt’s second report, on “Improving the protection of whistleblowers”3, again with a sizeable majority (88 in favour, 7 against, with 10 abstentions). This report builds on earlier work by the Assembly and the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers calling for the protection of persons making disclosures of wrongdoings in good faith, in the public interest, from different forms of retaliation (for example, criminal sanctions, or dismissal from, or harassment on the job). The new resolution specifically calls on all member and observer states of the Council of Europe to enact whistleblower protection laws, which also cover employees of national security or intelligence agencies and of private firms working in this field; to grant asylum, as far as possible under national law, to whistleblowers threatened by retaliation in their home countries, provided their disclosures qualify for protection under the principles advocated by the Assembly; and to agree on a binding legal instrument (convention) on whistleblower protection on the basis of Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)7, taking into account recent developments (such as the implications of the disclosures by Edward Snowden). The Assembly has also called on the United States of America to allow Mr. Snowden to return home without fear of criminal prosecution under the conditions that would not allow him to raise the public interest defence. The availability of this defence – i.e. the possibility for a whistleblower to put forward in his or her defence in the face of criminal prose-

2. Available at: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?fileid=195 57&lang=EN&search=dnVja292aWMgaW1wcmlzb25tZW50

3. Available at: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN. asp?FileID=21931&lang=EN

dire warning. Less well-known is the parallel with the growth of the “prison-industrial complex”, pointed out in an earlier report by the Parliamentary Assembly on Promoting alternatives to imprisonment by Serbian Social Democrat Natasa Vuckovic2: in the wake of the large-scale privatization of prisons in the United States since the early 1980s, the number of prison inmates increased exponentially, despite an equally dramatic reduction in the crime rate: those standing to gain economically from keeping more people in prison successfully lobbied politicians and the public opinion to get “tough on crime” – against the interests of society as a whole, as the above-mentioned PACE report shows.

14

Partners' and Externals' Perspective

cution that he or she had made the disclosure in question in the public interest – is one of the “Tshwane Principles” on access to information and national security endorsed by the Parliamentary Assembly in a report by the Spanish Socialist Arcadio Diaz Tejera in 2014. The Omtzigt report on improv-

“

Two empirical studies on either side of the Atlantic cited in the report have come to the conclusion that mass surveillance has not proved effective in preventing attacks, whilst targeted surveillance has ing the protection of whistleblowers includes a detailed study of the case of Edward Snowden, which applies the criteria advocated by the Assembly as conditions for disclosures to be protected and comes to the conclusion that Mr. Snowden has fulfilled all relevant criteria and should therefore benefit from all the protection due to whistleblowers.

Given the political climate has been poisoned by a series of vicious terrorist attacks in different Europe-

an countries, the Assembly, by means of adopting the these two reports mentioned above, has sent a strong signal that our freedoms should not be sacrificed on the altar of security. The Assembly’s report on mass surveillance explains why (mass) surveillance is not even effective in preventing terrorism. Two empirical studies on either side of the Atlantic cited in the report have come to the conclusion that mass surveillance has not proved effective in preventing attacks, whilst targeted surveillance has. Those who insist on collecting “the whole haystack”, as does former NSA Director General Keith Alexander4 are not really helping the fight against terrorism.

Jim Sensenbrenner, a long-serving Republican Congressman, pointed out that “the bigger haystack makes it harder to find the needle”. Thomas Drake, a former NSA executive said at the WFD in Strasbourg that, “if you target everything, there’s no target”. Mass surveillance may actually help terrorists because it diverts (still) limited resources away from “old school” law enforcement work, which consists in gathering more intelligence on a smaller set of suspects. The despicable attacks on the Boston Marathon and, more recently, in Paris seem to be cases in point: reportedly, most of the perpetrators had been known to the authorities for some time, but pertinent intelligence was not followed up properly because it was drowned in a mass of bulk data. By flooding the system, counter-terrorism tactics based on “big data” may actually make it harder to identify and stop the terrorists in time.

Mr Omtzigt restated the Assembly’s political message also at the WFD: “Given the tools described in the secret documents leaked with the help of Edward Snowden, total surveillance of all our communications and movements is a real possibility, if not now, then in the near future. But total security is not in the cards, even if we were to give up all our rights.”

It is precisely the aim of the terrorists, to destroy our free and open societies. Let us not allow them to achieve this aim!

4. Available at: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?fileid=20 056&lang=EN&search=ZGlheiB0ZWplcmEgYWNjZXNzIHRvIGluZm9ybWF0aW9u

15

Partners' and Externals' Perspective: 35 years of ELSA

Anniversary

35 years of ELSA

T

he European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) was founded in Vienna 35 years ago. Created as a small and informal organization with the objective of facilitating contacts beyond ideological limits, ELSA has evolved to become one of the world’s largest international student organizations.

Michael Goldinger One of the founding fathers of ELSA

In order to fully place the founding of ELSA within its proper historical context, it is important to look back at the political situation in Europe at that time.

The Cold War and the confrontation between East and West were at their very worst. The military build-up of NATO and the Warsaw Pact had intensified and the ideological confrontation between the free and democratic West and socialist countries had reached its climax. It was the time when Europe was irremediably divided into East and West in terms of ideology, social policy and economics. Travelling from one part of Europe to the other was very difficult. In the East, direct contacts, even at the university level, were subject to political scrutiny in order to make sure that they were in line with and strengthening the reigning socialist ideology.

These conflicts and confrontations had also trickled down all the way to youth and student organizations.

Nonetheless, during the course of the year 1980, contacts between the student organizations at the law schools in Budapest, Kiel, Warsaw and Vienna were established, initially bilaterally between Vienna and Budapest as well as between Kiel and Warsaw.

16

The students in Budapest wanted to establish contacts with the West and pretended they pursued this cooperation in order to weaken the position of the West, which was, however, merely an excuse to obtain the approval for this cooperation from the authorities. In Warsaw, on the other hand, the first independent student organization had gained a foothold as part of the solidarnosc movement that challenged the socialist system. These solidarnosc students initiated the contact with students in Kiel. There were close ties between the Christian-democratic student organizations in Vienna and Kiel.

These first contacts quickly revealed that collaboration was only possible on a subject-matter level. The ideological differences were, as seen from the outside, quite significant. For instance, following a first meeting, general statements about the political situation had to be approved. These were hotly debated, yet ended up being devoid of any meaning.

“

As a group, we eventually came to the realization that while subject-matter collaboration among law students was to be the direct goal of the project, this was only going to be possible with a shared understanding of human rights, democracy and freedom of expression

Partners' and Externals' Perspective: 35 years of ELSA

However, this struggle for understanding and compromises brought about close friendships, some of which continue to this day. The intensive discussions among the founding members, during a seminar in the spring of 1981 in Warsaw, to name just one example, were ultimately attempts at mutual understanding that created strong bonds. As a group, we eventually came to the realization that while subject-matter collaboration among law students was to be the direct goal of the project, this was only going to be possible with a shared understanding of human rights, democracy and freedom of expression.

Against this background, it can be said that the essence of ELSA is deeply political, for it emerged in times of major political turmoil. Back then, each and every member of ELSA was committed to these values, even at the risk of giving up personal liberties. Following the military coup in Poland in December 1981, some of the first ELSA members were incarcerated for their political convictions and the ELSA organizations in Vienna and Kiel championed the cause of their imprisoned colleagues.

Subsequently, ELSA expanded mainly to the north and west in the following years. It was not until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 that ELSA was able to establish many new groups in Europe and to broaden the existing ones.

The early history of ELSA shows that any association that represents the interests of a particular group, also at the university level, always has a political dimension. ELSA in particular is an organization of law students that must be keenly aware of this political/subject-matter dimension. An association like ELSA can thus never be “apolitical” and it also cannot be free of political convictions. Especially lawyers

must always be aware of their political responsibility, which is standing up for human rights, democracy and European cooperation.

“

Some of the first ELSA members were incarcerated for their political convictions and the ELSA organizations in Vienna and Kiel championed the cause of their imprisoned colleagues The past 35 years have made us realize, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that any evolvement in Europe will always be for the better. In particular, the year 2015 has shown us that this development could also end very abruptly, that a phase of integration may be followed by a phase of disintegration and that armed conflicts may follow an era of peace on this continent. This is happening at a time where different social models are gaining ground, challenging and questioning the model of freedom embraced in the West and sometimes even fighting it.

It will be up to many future generations of lawyers to ensure that Europe continues to evolve on the basis of the ideas of the European Union’s founders, all the while rigorously defending its ideals and values. Today’s ELSA members will have to be even more political – in the res publica sense of the word – than its founders 35 years ago.

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Partners' and Externals' Perspective: 35 yearsCouncil of ELSA of Europe and UNHRC Strasbourg

The adoption of the ELSA Vision*

"We all came to share a common goal"

F

or most +20 year olds, barriers to progress will never appear as much more than a speed bump. The pace may slow somewhat, but your end goal is still within reach.

I am glad that I only later in life learned to assess what is in front of me and choose my battles accordingly. This is the story about the adoption of the ELSA philosophy statement, a battle that I probably would have avoided today, but which I am pleased that I decided to fight some 24 years ago.

Fredrik Lofthagen CEO Interel Group, President of ELSA International 1992

I was elected President of ELSA International at the Autumn International Council Meeting in Stockholm in 1991. I was 26 and I cherished the challenge and opportunity to advance the course of the organisation while testing my wings as a leader. Little did I know that the most daunting task awaiting me was to secure support for one small sentence.

Little did I know that this effort would have a profound impact on the organisation that I had just been elected to lead.

The Stockholm Council Meeting was a game changer. The problem was continuity and thinking beyond your own board mandate with the understanding that there is only so much you can realise in one year. The answer came in the form of three year and one year operational plans.

With the planning process in place, I left my home town Lund, Sweden for Brussels in January 1992 where I was joined by my fellow Board Members, some permanently, *Article on the creation of the ELSA Vision Statement, published in the 52nd edition of Synergy for the 20th anniversary of the ELSA Vision Statement.

18

others on a part time basis. A couple of law firms had offered us traineeships. During my 10 months with the firm I probably did less than 5 hours billable while destroying at least one copying machine and racking up a significant phone bill. Our focus was clearly not on lawyering, but on doing great things for ELSA and its members.

My first International Council Meeting as President started badly. I was late. After a profuse apology and several days later, we were back in Brussels reviewing the plans.

I felt that something was missing. Our aims were clear. In principle, our job was to offer an international dimension to the membership, but we all knew that there was so much more to ELSA. Arguably the greatest experience did not come from the activities, but the meetings where they were debated and

“

He asked if I had worked on a speech and had my overhead slides sorted.

I did not pay attention to his sensible advice and walked straight into a storm.

decided. We had a great time doing what we did while our parents paid our ways, but for what reason? This in turn grew into the realisation that ELSA existed beyond its boards, meetings, parties and activities. ELSA had a life of her own and a soul that we all felt in her spirit. But a soul craves purpose. A

Partners' and Externals' Perspective: 35 years of ELSA purpose to make a difference. A vision.

“and human dignity”.

With those questions in mind and after a bit of management coaching from our sister organisation, AISEC, I set about the task to come up with some answers. My attempts to explain the concept of a philosophy statement and the need for it did not go down well with the Board. So started one of the most difficult yet rewarding journeys of my life.

We proceeded to spell out purpose and means at subsequent meetings, including a summer get together in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, until we finally arrived at the Autumn International Council Meeting in Namur, Belgium to have the philosophy statement adopted. I remember Bartek cautioning me to prepare for a difficult discussion. He asked if I had worked on a speech and had my overhead slides sorted (this is pre-power point). I did not pay attention to his sensible advice and walked straight into a storm.

The first discussion took place in May 1992 in the form of a brainstorm session at the firm hosting our Secretary General, Lenita Lindström. I remember the day as if it was yesterday. We had just finished our Board Meeting. I sat at the head of the table, with Pierangelo Graziani the VP STEP on my right, who sat next to Thésa Prisse, VP AA and Lisa Router, VP Marketing.

On my left I had Bartek Raszkowski, VP S&C, the Treasurer, Mariëlle Matthee and Lenita. My secretary, Carmen Romero, also attended the meeting.

The first thing that happened was that I accidentally presented an old draft with spelling errors, which the trainee solicitors representing ELSA England & Wales were quick to point out. ELSA Germany, albeit supportive, had another concern. They were worried that the board was pushing for an international expansion of ELSA. Our ties with our US sister association had grown stronger and on top of that - A just world (try – A just Europe – no, I didn’t think so...). The Danes would have none of it. Most of the other delegations were simply trying to get their heads around what my fellow board members and I were talking about.

Much debate, explaining and night time lobbying ensued. In the end, agreement was reached, backed up by all delegations with ELSA Denmark as one of the most outspoken proponents.

a just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity

So here’s what happened. ”Fred, we don’t get it. If you are confused about what we are supposed to do, consult the statutes.

And do you actually know what you are talking about?”

They were right to ask the question and my honest answer would have been - not really, but that I firmly believed that we needed to do this.

The breakthrough in the debate came sooner than I had expected it to. Thesa said something along the lines of - “well if that’s what you want, the vision should simply read, a just world”. Nods around the table followed by a quiet sigh of relief from me. The conversation had moved on, time to land it.

I wanted the vision to be short and easily memorable, yet substantive enough to be meaningful. ”A just world” did not do the job for me so I added, “what about respect for cultural diversity?” at which point Bartek stepped in and offered up

As I look back to those times, some 20 years ago, I am filled with many happy memories and also a realisation. In those final days leading to the adoption of the philosophy statement, the Board and all Council delegates came to share a common goal; to give purpose and direction to an organisation that we deeply cared for. I sincerely hope that one day, for the sake of humanity, ELSA achieves its goal too – A just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

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International Focus: 35 years of ELSA

Painting the Future

The Coral Anniversary

F

rom the founders of ELSA in 1981, through the visionary leaders of all ELSA times, to the upcoming generations of change, the celebration of an anniversary is always a noteworthy moment. It is a moment that brings past and future together, a moment when memories become colourful again and the forthcoming plans are filled with deep inspiration. At the same time, the motivation blossoms as the European cooperation is strengthened and as the initiatives undertaken bear fruit.

Hector Tsamis Secretary General ELSA International 2015/16

In the ELSA House, all past ambitions have produced a huge archive full of enchanting knowledge and influential projects that will fascinate a potential visitor. However, it is undeniable that we all know some facts about the preceding years of ELSA. What we may not realise is how we can put this cradle of information into use. History exists for one reason, to provide a platform – developed or developing, optimistic or pessimistic – for the future to be forged.

have been supporting our association actively or passively, continuously or occasionally, in practice or with advice, aspiring to further development. The alumni have been a cornerstone for the innovative projects and creative efforts of young generations. It is, therefore, a great pleasure that the 25th anniversary of the ELSA Lawyers’ Society, our alumni association, coincides with our celebration.

“

It does not matter how long someone has stayed active in ELSA, but how deeply one has adopted the principles that our association stands by

ELSA is now 35 years old and it no longer lives in the world of the Iron Curtain. However, our values of inclusion and cooperation stand the test of time. Much like a coral, ELSA has colonized the European continent embracing internationally-minded law students and young lawyers.

The strength of this realm will remain untouched only by keeping up-to-date our long-standing values, in order to make sure that they reflect the future that comes along.

What they greatly once thought, they nobly dared, and it is time we further shared. It does not matter how long someone has stayed active in ELSA, but how deeply one has adopted the principles that our association stands by. Equipping the legal professionals of tomorrow for them to be able to envisage a just world and build it by protecting human dignity and by admiring cultural diversity, has long been the main focus of all our initiatives. And when 35 years knock on the door, you are determined to make ELSA a powerful symbol of a just world that will stay.

Since 1981, ELSA has been shaped by many committed individuals who believed in its mission. These people

On behalf of the International Board 2015/2016, I wish us all a happy 35th ELSA Anniversary!

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International Focus

Bridging law students in Asia & Europe:

Global legal cooperation

Antonia Markoviti Vice President for Academic Activities, ELSA International 2015/16

Minami Tsuruta Vice President of Academic Activities, ALSA International 2015/16

T

he long distance between Tokyo and Brussels and the time difference could not be perceived as obstacles and, in the end, they have been annihilated, when it came to identify that ALSA and ELSA have something more in common: two leading legal publications.

Founded in 2007, the ALSA Law Review is a student-run journal published annually by Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) International. Focused on diversity in a shifting legal landscape of Asian countries, the ALSA Law Review has grown significantly over years and seeks to publish timely and important legal articles. The ELSA Law Review - founded in early 80’s and re-established in 2015 - is a student-edited and peer-reviewed law journal published by the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA). The ELSA Law Review strives to create an open forum for legal analysis and discussion and it serves as an international platform through which engaged law students, graduates and young legal professionals can showcase their legal research.

“

As the world is becoming smaller by globalization, Asia and Europe foresee greater legal cooperation

As the premier regional law students’ organizations, ALSA and ELSA realize the challenges that arise from the varied legal systems and educational approaches of different countries and regions. It is beyond question that understanding social, economic, and educational factors that have shaped the legal views, principles, and systems of different jurisdictions benefits anyone who studies law. Striving for excellence, our Law Reviews provide a platform for law students with diverse backgrounds to engage in dialogue on current legal issues of global interest, as well as motivate them to enhance their research and writing skills. Additionally, these publications aim to provide an enthusiastic international readership with access to scholarly discussion of contemporary legal issues, exposure to which they may otherwise not have. The core of importance of this project is the free provision of a comprehensible source of legal knowledge tailored to young students’ demands.

As the world is becoming smaller by globalization, Asia and Europe foresee greater legal cooperation. The initiation of this goal is clearly based on a big vision: by publishing our work simultaneously and by exchanging legal opinions by experts on Asian-European legal relations, we do not only expand the reach of our reading audience, but we set the basis for the establishment of a frequent communication which is aspiring to bring concrete outcomes in the future and unite us when it comes to resolution of legal matters - and potentially issues of other fields as well. We believe that our new initiative will be a stepping stone to bridging law students in the world’s two most diverse regions, as the enhancement of legal capabilities of students cannot be achieved without the exchange of knowledge with one another.

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International Focus

Banking, Finance and Careers

The IBA and ELSA partner up in London

Armin Khoshnewiszadeh

Co-Chair IBA Law Students’ Committee, President of ELSA International 2014/15

T

ogether with the International Bar Association (IBA) ELSA organised a conference on banking, finance and careers in the heart of Europe’s financial capital.

Last year during my tenure as President of ELSA International I worked closely with the IBA. As one of our newer partners, we worked on introducing the IBA to a new generation of internationally minded law students, something that should not be too challenging in ELSA. In January 2014 I got a call from Pramodhan Vanniasegaram, then the Chair of the IBA Law Students’ Committee asking if ELSA would like to be a co-organiser of the annual IBA student conference. It did not take long be-

“

This was a novelty both because the International Board rarely organises conferences themselves, but also because we departed from the Human Rights focus which quite naturally dominates the international level of our organisation 22

fore we were on board and decided on the topic Banking, Finance and Careers. From ELSA’s perspective, especially from the International Boards’, this was a novelty both because the International Board rarely organises conferences themselves, but also because we departed from the Human Rights focus which quite naturally dominates the international level of our organisation. The conference location in London also made it reasonable to utilise the financial capital’s resources for what it was worth. We were happy to branch out and now, a year later, I am happy that we did.

The conference which took place on the 14th and 15th October 2015 at Queen Mary University of London was a success not only because we were able to gather about 90 participants, but because it demonstrated that the IBA and ELSA are a natural fit, able and keen to organise international events to further internationalise the legal field. I attended the conference not as an ELSA representative, but as the new CoChair of the IBA Law Students’ Committee. I had a unique position, being able to work intimately with both the IBA and ELSA on this conference, but also being a liaison between the two organisations going forward.

The conference touched upon several interesting subjects: getting-hired tactics, M&A, global financial developments, the financial crisis, how to use your network, securities regulations and more. Though, what I found to be the most interesting and which engaged the audience the most was the broader discussions, which arose regarding the cur-

International Focus rent and future developments of corporate law. The two main discussions were 1) the jobs market in the future and 2) the automation of legal work.

Since the 2007-08 financial crisis and the subsequent global recession, the jobs market has still not recovered in many countries. Law students naturally worry for their own future. Even though unemployment rates seem to be slowly decreasing, what many law students are still struggling with is a higher pressure. More and more internships are not paid and stories of students paying employers for an internship have become more frequent and indeed, such practice is commonplace in some areas. How the economy as a whole will impact our profession is difficult to determine. What is certain is that our profession, particularly corporate law will be shaped by the transformations that countries and businesses are going through in order to maintain its competitiveness.

One of the impacts we are already seeing from the recession is the boom of sharing economy. The economic restraints many people have faced, together with the ad-

“

What is certain is that our profession, particularly corporate law will be shaped by the transformations that countries and businesses are going through in order to maintain its competitiveness vancements in technology and the proliferation of smartphones have enabled a more collaborative marketplace to take shape. We are slowly seeing the emergence of a new area of law sometimes dubbed sharing law or co-operation law. As countries catch up with this new trend and both for-profit and non-profit services grow, a need for more regulation and legal assistance will clearly be necessary.

Automation, which has already transformed other industries, has somehow managed to leave the traditional field of law intact. As a piece published in the New York Times on the 4th of January 2016 , “The End of Lawyers? Not So Fast.” points out, that is about to change. Amongst the many topics discussed at the conference in London, the above subject seemed to garner much interest from participants. Maybe the correct term is rather fear, as the process of automation seems to serve the purpose to increase redundancies in an already pressed legal market. The thought that all those hours in the library would potentially be in vain can be quite disheartening.

But as the article points out, adding technology and Artificial Intelligence software to your workplace would more likely transform rather than eliminate jobs. Working with software that can analyse hundreds of pages of legal briefs in a more accurate and expedient way than an intern or associate is able to. This is surely beneficial to both the lawyer and his clients. In spite of this, this does not change the need for human lawyers’ more complex and creative capabilities. A lawyer’s duties include much more than reading documents.

Yet even though automation is here to stay, the legal field included, lawyers will most likely be needed for some time to come.

Discussing these questions and more at the annual IBA-ELSA Students Conference was a great way of bringing together two professional organisations that hopefully will be co-operating for many years to come. Keep an eye out for next years’ conference and also, remember to become a student member of the IBA at ibanet.org.

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International Focus

World Forum for Democracy, Strasbourg

Freedom or control?

P

ublic decision-making is a complicated process that has been evolving for centuries. Throughout the history, there have been different models and different practices, which varied in the number of people involved.

Democracy, equality and legal state are the words, which are being used nowadays in connection with the public decision-making. All these terms are defined both by the literature and by law. However, the questions that we should ask constantly remain the same. Are these pillars of the modern society effective? How can we improve them even further?

Matej SadloĹˆ Vice President for Seminars & Conferences, ELSA International 2015/16

of guarantees for the protection of personal data sharpens anxieties. In this context, the growing tension between the concern for safety and the protection of freedoms is one of the key challenges facing democracies today."1

Undoubtedly, the World Forum for Democracy is one of the best platforms for the development of the current democratic systems. Its main advantage is based on the fact that it gathers participants from various fields, from various jurisdictions and from many countries all over the world. Participants get a chance to get in touch with politicians, experts, civil society activists, representatives of business, media and others. The primary aim of the Conference is to discuss key challenges for democracies worldwide. However, the exact focus of the meeting is different every year. This year it was the clash between the freedom and control:

"Democracies across the world feel increasingly vulnerable to a diverse range of threats – from violent extremism to economic, technological, environmental and geopolitical risks. Fear, and particularly the fear generated by violent attacks such as those carried out in 2015 in Paris, Copenhagen and in other parts of the world, destabilises societies. The lack

24

1. http://www.coe.int/be/web/world-forum-democracy/home

International Focus As it is clear from the quotation above, that the world is currently facing a crucial question. What is of a higher value, individual freedom or a surveillance carried out by public institutions aimed at the protection of individuals? This question was a cornerstone of the debates during the plenary.

“

What is of a higher value, individual freedom or a surveillance carried out by public institutions aimed at the protection of individuals?

Nonetheless, workshops went much deeper and were very practice-oriented. The panels dealt with topics such as encryption, freedom of the Internet, mass surveillance, migration and other related topics. What surprised me most was the fact that almost during the whole meeting, all the participants shared the same opinion and the workshops usually unanimously agreed on a final outcome even though some topics were very controversial. This leads me to a conclusion

that some of the issues actually are not that difficult to solve.

However, the problem probably comes from the implementation and unwillingness of the responsible subjects.

The aim of the ELSA delegation was to be committed to Human Rights awareness, Human Rights education, and the respect of the Rule of Law strictly from a legal, academic and impartial point of view. Therefore, the role that we had during the whole conference gave us a bigger and broader overview of the whole issue and allowed us to contribute in a practical way to the outcome of the whole meeting. Our delegates had the honour to be the rapporteurs of all the individual sessions. Our task was to summarize the course of the workshops and to note down their outcome, which was later used by the panellists as the official outcome and reported to the final plenary. In addition to that it will also be featured in the official report of the whole World Forum.

Therefore, on behalf of the International Board of ELSA, I would like to highlight the importance of our partnership with the Council of Europe, as the main platform for the development of our members in the fields of Human rights and Rule of law.

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ALL AMERICAN REGIONAL ROUND OF ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION Date: 2nd-6th March 2016

MARCH

BALTIC SEA EXCHANGE Date: 29th February-1st March 2016 Place: Stockholm, Sweden & Helsinki, Finland Working Language: English E-mail: vpsc@elsasweden.org

EUROPEAN REGIONAL ROUND OF ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION Date: 21st-25th February 2016 Place: Passau, Germany Working Language: English Website: elssamootcourt.elsa.org

HUMAN RIGHTS MOOT COURT COMPETITION - FINAL ORAL ROUND Date: 15th-18th February 2016 Place: European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France Working Language: English Website: www.humanrightsmoot.elsa.org

FEBRUARY

L AUNCH OF STEP TRAINEESHIPS Date: 11th April 2016 Website: step.elsa.org Application deadline: 8th May 2016

EUROPEAN REGIONAL ROUND OF ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION Date: 6th-10th April 2016 Place: Passau, Germany Working Language: English Website: elssamootcourt.elsa.org

APRIL

AFRICAN REGIONAL ROUND OF ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION Date: 29th March - 1st April 2016 Place: Grahamstown, South Africa Working Language: English Website: elssamootcourt.elsa.org

LXIX INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING (ICM) Date: 20th-27th March 2016 Place: Malta Working Language: English Website: icmmalta.org

Events Calendar 2016

ELSA

VI SUPPORTING AREA MEETING Date: 7th-11th September 2016 Place: Lviv, Ukraine Working Language: English

VI KEY AREA MEETING Date: 31st August-4th September 2016 Place: Münster, Germany Working Language: English

SEPTEMBER

LII INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENTS’ MEETING Date: 24th-28th August 2016 Place: Tallinn, Estonia Working Language: English

AUGUST

TRANSITION BARBECUE Date: 16th July 2016 Place: Brussels, Belgium

JULY

Co-funded by European Youth Foundation

L AUNCH OF ELSA L AW SCHOOLS Date: 15th March 2016 Website: lawschools.elsa.org Application deadline: 1st May 2016

ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL ROUND OF ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION Date: 11th-15th March 2016 Place: Singapore, Singapore Working Language: English Website: elssamootcourt.elsa.org

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPARATIVE L AW Date: 10th-12th March 2016 Place: Warsaw, Poland Working Language: English E-mail: vpsc@warszawa.elsa.org.pl Website: warszawa.elsa.org.pl

Place: Kingston, Canada Working Language: English Website: elssamootcourt.elsa.org PRIVACY MAT TERS - AN INTERNATIONAL

ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION FINAL ORAL ROUND Date: 7th-12th June 2016 Place: Geneva, Switzerland Working Language: English Website: elsamootcourt.elsa.org

JUNE

FINAL INTERNATIONAL FOCUS PROGAMME CONFERENCE Date: 16th-21st May 2016 Place: Trieste, Italy Working Language: English

MAY

Date: 15st April 2016 Place: Stockholm, Sweden Working Language: English E-mail: vpsc@elsasweden.org

SEMINAR WITH MANNHEIMER SWARTLING

facebook.com/elsa.org

and follow us on

www.elsa.org

For more upcoming activities, go to our website

Will be announced soon!

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER

LXX INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING (ICM) Date: 16th-23rd October 2016 Place: Coimbra, Portugal Working Language: English

OCTOBER

International Focus

The EMC2 goes Regional Rounds

Creating future trade lawyers worldwide since 2002

T

he ELSA Moot Court Competition (EMC2), a simulated hearing of the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system, started in 2002. Since then it has become one of the most important Moot Court Competitions in the world, and the only global one on World Trade Organization Law. The EMC2 is constantly providing students with the unique possibility to stand in front of the WTO experts and defend cases just like in real life. The Competition was designed to enhance the knowledge of international trade law, especially to enhance the capacity for meaningful engagement in multilateral trade in the long term. The main aim of is to assist countries to develop their technical legal capacity by preparing the next generation of trade lawyers and negotiators.

It is an honour to be the Head of the Organisation of the 14th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition and to push the personal boundaries every day, working on the project that reaches out to students from all around the world, and actually makes a difference.

Ada Gawrysiak Vice President for Moot Court Competitions, ELSA International 2015/16

The first edition of the EMC2 started with participants from 38 countries, 5 National Rounds and big finals at the WTO Headquarters. The vast interest shown in participating in the EMC2 had by far exceeded the expectations, which made the second edition possible. The Competition expanded to two Regional Rounds, organized for the first time

28

in USA and the Pacific. First European Rounds were organised during the 4th edition of EMC2, and were hosted in Vilnius and Rome. The next change came along during the 7th edition, when the Finals were moved outside of Geneva, and organized in Taipei, Taiwan and the next year in the Dominican Republic. Finally, the Competition moved back to its roots in Geneva for good in 2012/2013. Since that time the National Rounds were completely dominated by the official Regional Rounds coordinated by ELSA International with the help from other students’ organizations and universities.

The Competition is constantly growing. Its development throughout the years is astonishing.

International Focus

“

Today the Competition consists of five Regional Rounds – two European ones, one of the AsiaPacific, an All-American Round and finally the newly established African Round Nowadays, EMC2 is gathering participants from all over the world during its elimination Rounds, called the Regional Rounds. From the end of February until the beginning of April EMC2 will visit Germany, Canada, Singapore, South Africa and Czech Republic to select the best 20 teams for the Final Oral Round, which will be organized in Geneva, Switzerland. Today the Competition consists of five Regional Rounds – two European ones, one of the Asia-Pacific, an All-American Round and finally the newly established African Round. Every Regional Round gathers around 16 teams and 12 Panellists and lasts for five days. Every Round consists of two days of the preliminary rounds where the 16 teams present their arguments; once for the complainant and once for the respondent of the fictive dispute. After the preliminary rounds, the best four teams go to the semi-finals and then by knockout to the Grand Final where the best two teams present their skills in front of the most famous trade law experts in the world. Every year ELSA issues an official call for the hosts of the Regional Rounds.

mic stakeholders in Africa, the WTO and private donors, launched the inaugural African Regional Round. We have had two successful African Regional Rounds, both of which took place in Johannesburg. The three best teams were able to travel to Geneva, Switzerland to compete on the world stage with the best law students from other part of the world – all with the participation costs covered thanks to our collaborators. By organising the African Regional Round, we are able to fulfil our social responsibility goals globally, providing students with a lifetime chance to make their dreams about an international career in trade law come true. We strongly believe that some of them will be arguing cases on behalf of their governments in the World Trade Organization or working in the institution itself in the future.

Without any doubts the best experience organising the 14th edition of EMC2 is to see the development of the participants from the first pleading at the Regional Rounds to the famous Grand Final pleading at the final stage of the Competition in Geneva. Soon, the annual EMC2 adventure begins again and I can’t wait to see where it will take us!

“

By organising the African Regional Round, we are able to fulfil our social responsibility goals globally, providing students with a lifetime chance to make their dreams about an international career in trade law come true

Since 2013 the big focus of the Competition is on Africa, where ELSA International, in co-operation with acade-

29

International Focus

35 years of ELSA,

32 years of student exchange

F

or 35 years, ELSA has been actively contributed to legal education and in preparing law students for professional life in an international environment. For 32 years, we are achieving these aims by, among others, providing our members with traineeship opportunities within the Student Trainee Exchange Programme STEP. Vedran Stanković Vice President for STEP ELSA International 2015/16

This would not be possible without the invaluable support from our world-wide partners, who are, recognizing the importance of the international legal traineeship exchange as one of ELSA's main activities, participating in

STEP and offering traineeship spots for law students and recent graduates. Each traineeship is an opportunity for the law students to gain practical legal knowledge and skills abroad, and for the employer to develop a diverse and innovative working environment.

Last year, in 2015, almost 200 different employers in 35 countries all around the Europe and beyond, cooperated with ELSA by participating in STEP, offering close to 300 traineeships to our members and becoming STEP employers.

We would hereby like to express our appreciation to them and their contribution in the development of the legal career and cultural exchange in the world.

STEP employers 2015: AUSTRIA

and Social Innovations

CYPRUS

- bet-at-home.com Entertainment GmbH - Bezirkshauptmannschaft Innsbruck - Bezirkshauptmannschaft Schwaz - Bundeskanzleramt Österreich IfSV - Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs - Federal Ministry of Interior - Grama Schwaighofer Vondrak Rechtsanwälte GmbH - Magistrat Graz

BELGIUM

- Harris Kyriakides LLC - The Law Offices of Dr. Christos A. Theodoulou LLC

AZERBAIJAN

- Atlantic Grupa - Law office CIKAČ - Odvjetnički ured Mišo Zivaljić - Odvjetnica Dijana Zoričić - Roma National Council (RNC)

- Consigliere Law Firm - Ekvita Legal and Tax Services Firm - Innovation Center - State Agency for Public Service

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- Deloitte Consulting Belgium - Kocks & Partners - Liaison Office of the Council of Europe BULGARIA - Popov & Partners Law office CROATIA

CZECH REPUBLIC - Advokátní a mediační kancelář law4U s.r.o.

- Advokátní kancelář Zrůstek, Lůdl a partneři v.o.s.

- bpv Braun Partners s.r.o.

- Clifford Chance Prague LLP, organizační složka - Czech Helsinki Committee - Faculty of Law, Masaryk University - Feichtinger Žídek Fyrbach advokáti s.r.o.

- Holubová advokáti s.r.o.

- Kyjovský, Blažek & kolegové

- PIERSTONE - PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal s.r.o., advokátní kancelář - Randl Partners - RD Legal - Schaffer & Partner Legal s.r.o.

- Supreme Administrative Court - Švehlík & Mikuláš advokáti s.r.o.

- The League of Human Rights - The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic - Zilvarová Ctibor Hladký v.o.s.

DENMARK - Guretruck Scandinavia ESTONIA - IT Law Programme at the University of Tartu

International Focus FINLAND

IRELAND

- Åbo Akademi University, Institute for Human Rights - The Faculty of Law of the University of Turku - University of Eastern Finland, Law School

- Department of Law at Maynooth University

FRANCE - Cabinet Adam-Caumeil - Council of Europe - EUROGROUP GEORGIA - Center For Crime Prevention - Georgian Copyright Association - Georgian Lawyers for Independent Profession (GLIP) - House of law - International Black Sea University - International Law Bureau (LBC Group) - Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia - Training Center of Georgian Bar Association - United Airports of Georgia (UAG) GERMANY - Arendts Anwälte - Institute of Eastern European Law of the University of Cologne - Institute of Private International and Comparative Law - Kbz Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater - König, Strässer & Partner GbR - LexDellmeier IP Law Firm - Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH - Mannheimer Swartling Advokatbyrå AB - Ministry of Justice of the State Saxony - MLP Finanzdienstleistungen AG - Noerr LLP - Petersen Hardraht Rechtsanwälte Dresden - Piening Personal - Professorship of Public, International and European Law - Seitz Weckbach Fackler & Partner mbH - University of Bayreuth – Chair for Civil Law, Intellectual Property - University of Regensburg – Chair Prof. Dr. iur. Jürgen Kühling, LL.M. - Walther Schücking Institute for International Law - WSS Redpoint Rechtsanwälte GREECE - Centre of International and European Economic Law - DEUTSCH – GRIECHISCHE ANWALTSKANZLEI KIORPELIDOU - D. Kordellidis – M. Kostopoulou – N. Bakas Law Firm - Iason Skouzos and partners - Mr Nestorides' law office - Potamitis Vekris

ITALY - Aprigliano International Law Firm - European Center for Law, Science and New Technologies (ECLT), UNIPV - GDlegal - LAWLINGUISTS - Portolano Cavallo Studio Legale - Sinatore&Associati - Legal and Management Consulting - Studio Ettore Tabai - Studio Legale Aquaro Mansullo - Studio Legale e Commerciale Trimboli & Trimboli - Studio Legale Gava - Studio Legale Perrone - Studio Legale Pinelli Schifani - Studio Ubertazzi LITHUANIA - MB “HOROS” - METIDA Law Firm of Reda Zaboliene - Mykolas Romeris University, Faculty of Law - Rödl & Partner - VARUL LUXEMBOURG - Bonn & Schmitt REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA - EOS MATRIX DOOEL Skopje - Macedonian Young Lawyers Association MALTA - Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates - GANADO Advocates MOROCCO - NACIRI & ASSOCIES ALLEN & OVERY NORWAY - Finnmarkseiendommen - Onesubsea Processing AS - SAPA AS - The Directorate of Fisheries West Region Måløy POLAND - CMS Poland - dLK Korus Okon - EIPiUS - European Institute of Law and Social Security - Jara Drapała & Partners Sp.k.

- Kancelaria adwokacka Proniewski Przybylka s.c.

- Kancelaria Prawna dr Marek Jarzynski & Kornel Novak - Law office advocat Zbigniew

Cichon - MASIOTA - adwokaci i radcowie prawni - Noerr Sp. z.o.o. Spiering Sp.k.

- RGW Roclawski Graczyk i Wspólnicy Adwokacka Spólka Jawna - Stanek LEGAL - The Rule of Law Institute PORTUGAL - Cruz, Menezes, Castelo Branco e Associados - Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. (CCA) - Gabinete de Erasmus e Relacoes Internacionais - Gama Lobo Xavier, Luís Teixeira e Melo & Associados - Soc. Adv. R.L. - Gastão Cunha Ferreira, Lda. ROMANIA - Adrian Doroftei Private practice - B.E.J Aştelean Florin-Sergiu - Bulboacă și Asociații SCA - Cabinet avocat Bogdan Tulbure - Cabinet Avocat Opris Mihai Daniel - Cabinet de avocat Nicoară Laurenţiu - Cabinet de avocat Vasii-Kolla Claudia - Cabinet Individual Szocs Sandor Attila - Costas, Negru şi Asociaţii - SCA - Emil Tatu Law Office - Ionescu Adrian Law Office - Iordan-Cioran Cabinet asociat de avocaţi - Law Firm Anca Preda - Law Office Costin Udrea - Law Office – SCP Mazilu şi Asociaţii - Lawyer Office Haiduc Alexandru - Marcel Gaftoneanu Law Office - Mediation Office Anca Iacob - Negoita Danut - NTMO Attorneys at Law in association with KPMG Legal - Pangrate Alina Law Office - Paul-Filip Ciucur Law Office - Săuleanu şi Asociaţii – SPARL - SCA Budușan & Associates - SCA Chirita şi Asociaţii - SCA Cuntan&Banea - SCA Ionescu, Ponta and Associates - SCA Turculeanu şi Asociaţii - SCPA Ceparu and Irimia - Stegaroiu şi Asociaţii SCA - Timișoara Ombudsman Institution Regional Office - Trandafirescu Bogdan Law Office RUSSIA - Higher School of Economics – Skolkovo International Laboratory for Law and Development SLOVAK REPUBLIC - Noerr s.r.o.

- Taylor Wessing e/n/w/c advokáti s.r.o.

SPAIN - Guretruck SL SWEDEN - Gärde Wesslau Advokatbyrå - Sirius International Insurance Corporation - Umeå Tingsrätt SWITZERLAND - Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd THE NETHERLANDS - deLex BV - Wolf Legal Publishers TURKEY - ACTECON Competition & Regulation Consultancy - Albayrak & Arslan Law Firm - Altas Attorney Partnership - ALTAS Attorney Partnership - Aygün Özterzi Karoğlu Attorneys at Law - Birsel Law Offices - çınar&çınar Law Office - Çukur & Yılmaz - Erikel Office - Gökçe Attorney Partnership - Gün+Partners Law Firm - K&P Legal Law Firm - KARAKAYA LAW FIRM - Kaşka International Law Firm - KULA LAW FIRM - Poyraz Law Firm - Serap Zuvin Law Office - TUNCA Law Office - Turkoglu & Part. Law Firm UKRAINE - Dutka & Partners Attorneys at Law - Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group - PRO BONO Legal Clinic (The National University of Ostroh Academy) UNITED KINGDOM - University House Legal Advice Center USA - Butzel Long

NEW

STEP

TRAINEESHIPS COMING OUT ON APRIL 11, 2016 STEP.ELSA.ORG

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The ELSA Network

Looking closely at health data

Big crush for Big Data?

W

e are witnessing an increase in the computerization of the professional sector, which brings with it security concerns regarding the increasing amount of health data that is produced.

Sara Duque Member of ELSA Porto, Trainee at the Council of Europe, Data Protection Unit

New devices, such as Wearable devices, the so called “mHealth”, Electronic Health Records, etc contribute to the production of the rapidly growing volume of data, generally referred to as “health data”, which also includes “medical data”.1 If we think about the information of a woman who has broken her leg (Case of Lindqvist)2, information about smoking and drinking habits, data on allergies disclosed to private entities (such as airlines) or to public bodies (such as schools) and the mere mentioning of the fact that somebody is ill in an employment context, are all examples of data concerning the health of individual data subjects.

In this regard, it is worth noting the case of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as ECtHR) Radu v. the Republic of Moldova3, in which the applicant complained about a State-owned hospital's4 disclosure 1. Which is deemed to be produced by health professionals 2. http://curia.europa.eu/juris/showPdf.jsf?text=&docid=48382&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=ls t&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=774347 3 . h t t p : / / h u d o c . e c h r. c o e . i n t / e n g # { % 2 2 a p p n o % 2 2 : [ % 2 2 5 0 0 7 3 / 0 7 % 2 2 ] , % 2 2 i t e m id%22:[%22001-142398%22]} 4. When the medical institutions, where the applicants underwent treatment, are public hospitals, the State is the responsible for those acts for the purposes of the Convention- see Glass v. United Kingdom, no. 61827/00, 71, ECHR 2004-II

32

of medical information to her employer. The applicant was pregnant and hospitalized for a fortnight due to a risk of miscarriage. Despite providing a sick note certifying her absence from work, her employer requested further information from the hospital, which was subsequently provided. The information was widely circulated at the applicant’s place of work; afterwards she suffered a miscarriage due to stress. Indeed, the disclosure of such sensitive details about the applicant’s pregnancy constituted an interference with her right to private life. As the Court asserted, a doctor would not be entitled to disclose information of a personal nature even to the applicant’s employer without her consent.

Consent and confidentiality This leads us to the issue of “consent”. The agreement of an individual to the use, sharing and exchange of his/ her personal data is essential. The data subject should be informed beforehand and his/her consent should be free, explicit and informed. This issue of consent has already given rise to a myriad of cases. For instance, the Case of Avilkina and others v. Russia of the ECHtR, is particularly interesting.

The applicants, members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation in Russia and three individual Jehovah’s Witnesses, complained about the disclosure of their medical files to the Russian authorities following their refusal to have blood transfusions during their hospitalization in public hospitals. The Court held that there were other possibilities available to ob-

The ELSA Network

tain the applicants consent to disclose this information. It is always important to strike a fair balance between interests at stake, i.e. the applicants’ right to respect for private life and the protection of public health.

Respecting the confidentiality of health data is vital not only for the protection of a patient’s privacy but also for the due preservation of his or her confidence in the medical profession and in the health system in general. More and more personal data are being collected, processed and shared in more sophisticated and potentially intrusive ways. The health sector is not an exception to this rule.

One may ask: “What is medical data? Is it solely the data relating to a person’s health (prognosis, samples, diagnosis, state, medical treatment, etc.)? Or is it non-medical data that leads to health information? And, in this case, should it be treated the same way?

Some countries, such as Albania, do not make any distinction between medical data and data that lead to a person's health identification. Others, such as Austria, consider that non-medical data that leads to medical information should be treated in the same way as medical data, e.g. to confidentiality issues at workplace. Estonia goes even further and states that the non-medical data that leads to medical information needs to be treated the same way as medical data, because this data may reveal the patient’s sensitive data and,

“

What types of data are collected and for what purposes? If hospitals and clinics employ non-medical devices to collect data from their patients, are there enough safeguards to protect this data?

therefore, cause his/her damage to person. In Germany, for instance, there is no distinct definition for medical data. But medical data includes data from which the state of a person’s health indirectly arises.

How sensitive are you with “sensitive data”?

Medical data is considered “sensitive data”5 as it is, in general, likely to have more severe consequences on the individual’s fundamental rights, such as the right to privacy and non-discrimination. Misuse of health data may be 5. Article 29 Working Party, Advice paper on special categories of data (“sensitive data”), April 2011,URL: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy

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The ELSA Network irreversible and have long-term consequences for the individual as well as his or her social environment. A good example of this is the Case Biriuk v. Lithuania, in which Lithuania’s biggest newspaper published a front-page article concerning a possible “AIDS threat” and, later, medical staff from an AIDS centre and a hospital confirmed that the applicants were HIV positive. The disclosure of such sensitive data seriously affects a person’s private and family life, as well as their social and employment situation, by exposing them to a risk of ostracism.6

by healthcare systems of developing nations (high population growth, high burden of disease prevalence, low health care workforce, etc.) and the recent rapid rise in mobile phone penetration in developing countries are factors responsible for the rise in mHealth. This constitutes a major topic sitting at the intersection of technology and data protection in the health sector.

A more recent issue concerns the use of “apps”, most of them on mobile phones, which are designed to collect personal data, and in practice often process medical data, such as heartbeats, sleep patterns, and fitness information.

Faced with this technological development, particular concerns arise: What types of data are collected and for what purposes? If hospitals/clinics employ non-medical devices to collect data from their patients, are there enough safeguards to protect this data? Are there any requirements to implement privacy by design in the development of medical apps?

Other concerns have also been raised, namely the relation with the Internet of Things. Have you ever thought about the information that a fridge can reveal something about you? In fact, a fridge can easily inform about the type of food stored and thus the diet of an individual. Therefore, a fridge can provide data that can subsequently lead to information concerning one's health. The same applies to other common devices, such as cars, ovens and microwaves. The first question arising in this context is, therefore, whether the countries provide any regulation of the Internet of Things and what are the security standards that need to be employed by these devices when collecting personal data.

In that respect, the role of mHealth7 must be underlined.

It has been pointed out that the myriad constraints felt

A fridge that reveals something about you… Really?

6. See the ECtHR Case Z. v. Finland, no. 22009/93, 25 February 1997.

7. mHealth is an abbreviation for mobile health, a term used for the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices.

Join AIJA NOW to prepare your TOMORROW. Do you dream to become a successful lawyer, defend the rule of law and join a unique international community? Become a member of the International Association of Young Lawyers and build as from now your future professional success!

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34 Adv_future_lawyers_ELSA_190x130_def.indd 1

12/01/16 14:04

The ELSA Network

Revenge Porn

An international challenge Revenge proves its own executioner.

- John Ford

Leanne Digney Vice President for Academic Activities, ELSA DCU 2015/16

Introduction

As society evolves, so must the law.

Criminality develops on par with technology and the rapid increase in the development of technology in the last twenty years has resulted in law-makers having to play catch-up. Unfortunately, this game of cat and mouse leaves individuals vulnerable to crimes without remedies. In a study regarding cybercrime undertaken by the European Parliament, it was found that ‘the key challenge for law enforcement is the lack of effective legal framework for operational activities that guarantees the fundamental rights principles enshrined in EU primary and secondary law.’1

nography as the distribution of sexually explicit images that were either taken without the victim’s consent or were taken with consent but were distributed without consent.2 Thus we have two notions; lack of consent and distribution without consent. More often than not ‘Revenge Porn’ cases have involved couples who have traded intimate photos of each other in the course of the relationship but when the relationship breaks down, the jilted party shares the explicit images online. This is done without the consent of the person in the picture in an attempt to seek ‘revenge’ out of spite, or scorn.

In the 21st century more and more criminals are exploiting the anonymity of the internet and indeed the absence of both physical and virtual borders. Because cyber offences are not conventional offences, it is important not to rely upon conventional remedies. One such cyber offence that falls under this category is that of ‘Revenge Porn’, or ‘non-consensually shared pornography’.

Criminality develops on par with technology and the rapid increase in the development of technology in the last twenty years has resulted in lawmakers having to play catch-up.

Defining Revenge Porn

“

Mary Anne Franks defines non-consensually shared por1. Directorate General for Internal Policies Policy Department C: Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs – The law enforcement challenges of cybercrime: are we really playing catch-up? http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/536471/IPOL_STU(2015)536471_EN.pdf (accessed 28/11/15)

2. Mary Anne Franks ‘Combatting Non-Consensual Pornography: A Working Paper’, [2014], Social Science Research Network, (accessed 02 August 2015)

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The ELSA Network Proposed Remedies There is a distinct lack of legal harmony between jurisdictions with respect to revenge porn. Currently, many legal jurisdictions are in disagreement with each other, and a level of uncertainty exists regarding the best legal route to take in responding to the offence. Legal scholars have also differed in their opinion on how to deal with the revenge porn issue. Some say the criminalisation of the offence is the only way to deter perpetrators and protect victims, while others see it as unnecessary, as victims may file a civil suit against the perpetrator. Others have argued that revenge porn should be treated like other forms of online harassment and not as a unique and separate offence.3 There have also been scholars who have advocated for the use of data protection and copyright laws, which would offer a remedy that provides takedown procedures, civil liability for uploaders and websites, and the threat of damages.4

The Right to Privacy vs. The Right of Freedom of Expression Revenge porn is yet another issue that brings, to the forefront, the compromises that must be made between the right to privacy and the right of freedom of expression.

This is particularly an issue for the US where the First Amendment affords constitutional protection to free speech. In the groundbreaking case of Reno v. ACLU,5 the US Supreme Court held that interfering with the rights of adults to communicate and receive indecent and offensive material over the internet was a violation of the First Amendment. Since the revenge porn debate started, many scholars and legal practitioners have criticised advocacy for the criminalisation of the offence, as they see it as a violation of one’s right to freedom of expression. Lee Rowland, (an attorney specializing in speech and online privacy for the ACLU) said that “a bill that criminalises sharing an image of nudity, infringes on free speech”.6 Essentially, the argument being made is that the First Amendment protects all freedom of speech, even if it causes emotional distress or is seen to be offensive or distasteful.

However, a balance must be struck.

Take for example the case of PH v XYZ & Ors,7 the issue at hand was the balancing of rights; the plaintiff ’s right to private and family life under the ECHR8 and the defendant’s somewhat conflicting right to freedom of expression, also enshrined under the ECHR.9 The Honourable Mr. Justice Popplewell found that there is no discernible public interest in the publication of personal, explicit images, and so the right to privacy in these cases overrides the right of freedom of expression.

The International Challenge With the added challenge of the international nature of the internet, a new complication exists with respect for regulating and remedying the offence. The anonymity of the internet and the absence of physical and virtual border are obstacles that must be overcome. Generally, the lack of a successful remedy may be in the difficulty in finding the perpetrator, as offenders can hide behind the jurisdictional limits of different countries, or States, as they simultaneously cause irrevocable harm to victims thousands of miles away.

One of many examples are various web pages on which users can publish explicit photographs of people, wi-

3. Linkous Taylor, ‘It’s Time for Revenge Porn to Get a Taste of its own Medicine: An Argument for the Federal Criminalization of Revenge Porn’, [2014] Richmond Journal of Law & Technology, Vol. 20, Issue 4.

4. Amanda Levendowski, ‘Using Copyright to Combat Revenge Porn’, NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law, Vol. 3

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5. Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, [1997] 521 US 844 6. Peter Rugg, ‘An ACLU Lawyer’s Free Speech Argument Against Federal Revenge Porn Laws’, [2015] https://www.inverse.com/article/5379-an-aclu-lawyer-s-free-speech-argument-againstfederal-revenge-porn-laws 7. JPH v XYZ & Ors, [2015] EWHC 2871 (QB) 8. Article 8 ECHR [1953] 9. Article 10 ECHR [1953]

The ELSA Network

“

Some say the criminalisation of the offence is the only way to deter perpetrators and protect victims, while others see it as unnecessary, as victims may file a civil suit against the perpetrator.

thout their consent. The images have most likely been supplied by former partners who wish to harm their previous partner. Some web pages even go as far as publishing victim’s real names. Those web pages make their money through a form of blackmail - victims who wish to have their image(s) removed from the site are required to pay a fee.

The fact that such websites still exist clearly shows that this is not a well-developed area of law and that law enforcement mechanisms just do not exist in respect to combatting revenge porn offences.

The Need for International Cooperation Evidently, an internationally recognised law that establishes an effective legal framework, whereby a person or entity may be held liable for the distribution of non-consensually shared pornographic images, is absolutely necessary in the digital age we live in. Under this proposed uniform law both the individual responsible for uploading the image and the internet service provider should be held accountable for the display of such non-consensual images.

Alternatively, a worldwide treaty could also be effective in combating the jurisdictional issue. Establishing an international law or a worldwide treaty on the issue would both serve as a deterrent, as it would likely prevent individuals from uploading such images in the first place, and would also create a legal instrument that can be utilised to destabilize revenge porn websites and ultimately hold their creator’s

accountable. Having such legislation in place, as a deterrent, would be pre-emptive in nature and is more desirable than any recourse which is currently available to victims, for example seeking damages or copyright.

At the end of the day, the individual who seeks such remedies in court has already suffered the humiliation and shame of being so personally violated on a worldwide medium. As Barrister Fergal Crehan has stated, the criminalisation of Revenge Porn offences sends out a message that it’s “not just a bit of laddish fun” but is “actually closer to a sexual offence”.10 Conclusion The internet is an ever-expanding universe, and with its rapid growth comes an array of new issues. The Convention on Cybercrime,11 was the first attempt made at an international level, to address internet criminality by harmonizing national laws, and increasing cooperation between jurisdictions. This treaty, established in 2001, is now, in 2016, outdated and does not include offences such a revenge porn.

As stated above, the law must evolve and develop on par with technology, or else the victims will be left without protection and the perpetrators without accountability.

10. Cormac O'Keeffe, ‘Data Protection Law ‘Needs to Criminalise Revenge Porn’, [2015] Irish Examiner, http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/data-protection-law-needs-to-criminalise-revengeporn-324169.html 11. Convention on Cybercrime 2001

37

The ELSA Network

ELSA Armenia: the path to membership

The 40th Member of ELSA

E

LSA Armenia is the 40th full member of ELSA. It President ELSA Armenia 2015/16 seems that this sentence expresses everything but at the same time it includes so many feelings: fears, disappointment and tears of happiness that cannot be seen by a person who has not gone through this long process. Sometimes I start to think how and why it started and my memory drives me back to the summer of 2011. Could we have imagined that the announcement of a summer school could change the whole rhythm of our everyday life? But thanks to that announcement, we found out that there was an association for law students called ELSA and after that our minds were overwhelmed with the idea of creating an ELSA group in our country too. At first the idea of becoming a full member was so unrealistic. Most of us could not even believe that we would eventually succeed, but the drive can get over any fear.

Ani Atanesyan

As a result, we applied for observership in the International Council Meeting (ICM) in Opatija, Croatia in 2013.

Not only was it our first International Council Meeting in the framework of ELSA, but it also was our first contact with the world and people of ELSA. Everything was so new, interesting, exciting and even strange, that we lost our self-confidence and the feeling of doubt started to chase us making us ask ourselves if we could do it all or not. But day by day, by taking part in workshops, social events or simply talking with different students, we realised the whole role of ELSA and how much time in this association our country lost the past years by not being a member of ELSA. Systematically, we

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“

ELSA is not just an association. It is also a lifestyle and even spending one week in that atmosphere is enough to change your whole life, making you come back again. understood the importance of ELSA for law students, we saw the importance of our actions but in the meantime, taking into account the questions asked during the workshops we realized that the final plenary would be more depressing and difficult. The final plenary was on the 2nd of November and even the beauty of the wonderful sea next to the conference premises could not reduce the tension, which did disturb us a lot. When I look back, reviewing our speech, questions and answers in the final plenary I am sure that we could have had a better presentation if we had preserved the self-confidence we had had before going to ICM Opatija. At midnight the results of the election were announced and even though we had 47 votes in favour we did not get the 2/3 majority, which was 62 votes. Even though we received the sympathy of many members after the plenary and we felt real support from our new friends, we left Croatia with a sense of deep disappointment. But ELSA is not just an association. It is also a lifestyle and even spending one week in that atmosphere is enough to change your whole life, making you come back again.

The ELSA Network

And we did come back again next year, at ICM Bodrum, Turkey with a new observership application. ELSA was awaiting us and we felt that from the very first warm welcome we got from the other participants. The ELSA Network did not forget us. It believed in our return. Thanks to the faith that we had in ourselves, our self-confidence and the help of our noble friends we got the observership status on the 25th of October 2015. We had dreamed about that moment for so long that for a few hours we could not understand what had happened. To tell the truth, when I compare the emotions in ICM Bodrum and in ICM Batumi, I realise that we were more emotional because we had reached the moment that had felt so unrealistic for us before. The ELSA Network decided to give us a chance to test our abilities and it was the best thing that could have happened to us at that moment.

“

We had dreamed about that moment for so long that for a few hours we could not understand what had happened.

The feeling that our country had already missed much time and opportunities, that many Armenian law students graduated from law faculties without even attempting to join ELSA and taking part in ELSA’s activities made us apply for the membership in ICM Batumi exactly one year after ICM Bodrum. In Batumi some national groups could not understand why we had applied for membership so early if we could have waited instead. It was difficult to explain to them that we had waited so long that it was high time we acted. Baring in mind our previous experience in Opatija, I was not sure that we could become a full member from the first time and I knew that the National Groups – the official members of ELSA International - were more fastidious to membership, however, we had done a lot of work after ICM Batumi and I hoped that it would be respected. Luckily, I was not mistaken. The ELSA Network acknowledged and valued our efforts.

We became the 40th full member of ELSA. After this long process our dream was finally fulfilled. We gave the Armenian law students a chance to get involved in the activities of ELSA from the beginning of their education. When I observe the activity of our members, when new membership applications arrive to us every day and when the students systematically come to our ELSA-office just to get more information about the activity of ELSA and its network, I truly understand the importance of our actions.

Photo credits: Mikołaj Świcarz

Taking a look back at all this journey, I would like to express my appreciation to all the National ELSA Groups, to individuals who believed in us from the very beginning and who were with us until the end of this process. Without their support and encouragement our dream would have never come true.

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The ELSA Network

ELSA Dresden Law School: “Intellectual Property – an (un)justified monopoly”

Discovering new horizons

I

n 2014, ELSA Germany celebrated its 25th anniversary. For 25 years, German law students have been organising events and activities for their fellow students in Germany and for students from all over Europe to enhance their legal knowledge and skills in an internationally open-minded spirit.

Robert Vierling President ELSA Dresden 2014/15

The German ELSA Network had been motivated to establish its first ELSA Law School for several years, thereby granting over 30 law students from Europe and beyond the opportunity to experience a weeklong high-profile academic programme as well as the German lifestyle and culture.

The idea to change that situation and to thereby bring the international ELSA Spirit to the local group of ELSA Dresden had been appealing to me from the moment I heard about ELSA Law Schools. A network like ELSA lives from and for the opportunities we as individuals create for others.

I knew that a project of such size would be challenging and ambitious, yet, having in mind the words “you miss every shot you don’t take”, I thought it was the time to take the risk and create such an opportunity.

One of the greatest things about being part of a huge network is the capacity to share knowledge; to be strong by supporting each other. This is the spirit over 6000 active ELSA members share every year. We had the great pleasure to experience that spirit directly by receiving the support of 40

the current and previous National Boards of ELSA Germany, who had just decided to organise an ELSA Law School as well - the ELSA Germany Law School on Banking and Finance.

The idea reached us by the fact that two experienced ELSA members, namely the President of ELSA Halle, Melina Mannebach, and the President of ELSA Austria, Erik Muckenschnabel, came all the way to Dresden to become a part of our Organising Committee and to share their ELSA Spirit with our participants.

“

One of the greatest things about being part of a huge network is the capacity to share knowledge; to be strong by supporting each other.

This is the spirit over 6000 active ELSA members share every year.

The foundation of our project lies in the support of the Dean, Professor Götting, and Junior Professor, Lauber-Rönsberg. After sharing with them our idea of hosting a week-long international project in Dresden, they became greatly interested and invited us to further introduce our idea.

Within three hours of the second meeting, we found the topic and the date of the ELSA Dresden Law School, as well as a

The ELSA Network

potential schedule for the week. The professionalism of that meeting was inspiring and it also characterized our further cooperation. The ELSA Dresden Law School: “Intellectual Property – a(n) (un)justified monopoly” was born.

From the beginning,, our goal was to create a proper atmosphere to enable our participants to learn more about the law of Intellectual Property and how the regulations affect the economy and to finally discuss whether these effects are negative or not.

We chose the field of Intellectual Property law since it is one of the fastest growing and most challenging fields of law. Nowadays, technology is developing faster and faster.

It reaches borders that sometimes need to be crossed. New inventions are made and they need to be protected. On the other hand, it should also be possible to use such new inventions freely for the greater good of the society and the economic growth. Media plays a much bigger role in the modern society as the use of pictures, logos and trademarks is much more common now than before. It is also much easier for everyone. All this led us to the very question: can - and should - we regulate and protect the rights of the owners and creators? And to what extent?

In order to discuss the aforementioned question we had the honour to cooperate with many great speakers from various law firms, institutions; especially the IGEWeM of the University of Technology Dresden. Throughout the week, the participants learned about Patent Law and its relation to

Cartel Law, discussed the current challenges of the Trademark and Copyright Law and were introduced to the process of technology transfer in life science. One of the main focus points was the protection of Personality Rights. The speakers combined the theoretical knowledge with a strong practical approach and insight in their daily work. Different points of view were discussed with the participants, which led to vivid discussions even outside of the lecture halls. Finally, we learned that there simply was no single and concrete answer to the main question.

“

All this led us to the very question: can - and should - we regulate and protect the rights of the owners and creators?

And to what extent?

With the financial support we received from the law firms Bird & Bird LLP, who also provided us with a great keynote speech by Dr. Matthias Meyer, Battke Grünberg, Schaffrath & Metzmacher and IQB Career Services were indispensably helpful when organising that special week in September.

The ELSA Dresden Law School was a week of unique inspiration for all of us. Everyday we got to know the 41

The ELSA Network

“

For everyone who is considering taking up a similar challenge, I can only encourage you to do so. So if you have something in mind, take the risk, seek the help of the ELSA network around you, and go for it. participants better. We could see a group of strangers starting to bond and become friends. To see our participants unanimously stating that they would like to skip one of the evening programmes just to use the extra time to prepare themselves for the final negotiation exercise was truly rewarding.

By the end of the week, and even afterwards, when

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looking at the pictures taken and reading the evaluation sheets, we got the answer to the questions we had been asking ourselves during the organisation process: “Why am I doing this?” “Why did I not simply study without the extra burden of organizing such a project?” The answer is that what we learned during this journey, we would have never been taught in law school. The memories we made will last forever and the people we met will keep inspiring us.

What is there left to say? For everyone who is considering taking up a similar challenge, I can only encourage you to do so. Not everything will go the way you will expect it to, but there is always the option to improve for the next time.

So if you have something in mind, take the risk, seek the help of the ELSA network around you, and go for it.

The ELSA Dresden Law School has been a greatly successful pilot project and it fills me with joy and pride to be able to say that the project will continue.

The ELSA Network

The 1st ELSA Slavic Officers Meeting

Strenghtening the ties between ELSA Groups

N

owadays we can observe the times of globalisation and integration. This is not only an advantage but also a necessity. Therefore, we have decided to support the increasing involvement of our members and to establish a stronger co-operation in our area, an area that holds such a rich history.

Michaela Majorová President ELSA Slovak Republic 2015/16

Aiming to build up a new annual project in the context of raising the level of legal education and soft skills of ELSA officers from Central and Eastern Europe, we started to brainstorm about our possibilities and potential. That’s how an idea became a reality. ELSA “CESOM”, or “The Central and Eastern Slavic Officers Meeting”, is an internationally oriented project connecting law students from seemingly similar, yet different, cultures to share ideas, embrace cooperation between nations, to solve crucial issues of our region and last but surely not least, to make long-lasting friendships within the ELSA Network.

Due to the fact that many of the Central and Eastern European countries, also known as the Slavic countries, often share similar paths and backgrounds, we wanted to make use of the international aspect of our association and to establish a closer regional cooperation between the National ELSA Groups in the region; a cooperation that would result in tangible results. In order to achieve this goal, ELSA Slovak Republic created CESOM as a forum for exchange that offers our members a great opportunity to actively participate in ELSA-related discussions, to improve the know-how of the officers and to make progress

in strengthening our connections and legal skills annually.

The 1st edition of CESOM will take place from the 4th to 6th of March 2016 in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where ELSA Slovak Republic will host 50 participants from nine countries and hold workshops mainly focusing on collaboration and implementation of new joint ELSA projects. The academic and the social programme will provide

“

We wanted to make use of the international aspect of our association and to establish a closer regional cooperation among the National ELSA Groups in the region; a cooperation that would result in tangible results participants with an insight into regional and national legal education, culture, traditions and cuisine. During the sightseeing events all the participants will have a chance to get familiar with our lovely capital and with some parts of the great country of Slovakia. Thanks to the support of our partner and patron of CESOM, the internationally based law firm “Taylor Wessing,” professional discussions will be held with the involvement of experts from the field of practice and the academic sphere aiming to offer legal education and training to the participants.

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The ELSA Network

ELSA Delegation to the Council of Europe Conference

Freedom of Expression: still a precondition for democracy?

Inés Cañibano Vice President for Seminars & Conferences ELSA Spain 2015/16

Natasha Renzetti President ELSA Roma 2013/14

Jessica Allen President ELSA Nottingham 2015/16

O

ne month had passed since the day we received the great news: our delegation applications had been selected by the selection committee. We were selected to represent ELSA at the Council of Europe (CoE). There we were, early October, in the stunning Franco-Germanic city of Strasbourg, eager to start our adventure.

The first part of the experience was to finally meet all the members of the team in person. To our delight we discovered that our colleagues were incredibly nice and as highly-motivated as the previous online discussions we held in order to prepare for the event had proved. One thing that makes ELSA Delegations particularly appealing to students is that they offer you a unique opportunity to work in an international team, with members from different backgrounds, but all sharing the same ELSA vision. We got on quickly and spent the rest of our first evening arranging the final details before the official start of our ELSA Delegations' experience.

As the sun rose, so did our excitement: the opening day of the Conference on ‘Freedom of Expression: still a

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precondition for democracy?’ had arrived. We were ready to enhance our knowledge of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and get an insight into the daily work of the CoE that works incredibly hard to protect this freedom we all have the right to. We were welcomed by the organising committee and entered the parliamentary hemicycle a few moments before the Conference started. A tip that may come in use to future delegates is to try to be there at least twenty minutes before the commencements of the session, in order to avoid being in a rush or late due to any unexpected and unforseeable events. It also means that you will have the time to explore the venue a little before the session starts.

The feeling you get when walking through the doors of the Council of Europe cannot be put into words – it is an amazing experience, especially for those who are interested in the protection and development of human rights.

We were charmed by the busy atmosphere and the inspiring environment. It was truly amazing to be part of a committed audience of 400 participants; composed of Member State representatives, parliamentarians of the Cuncil of Europe, judges from the European Court of Human Rights, journalists, professors, activists and students.

The conference comprised of six different sessions, in addition to the opening keynote speech and the plenary, each of them dealing with a variety of relevant and pertinent topics discussed by notable experts of the field. The aim of the conference was to analyse the most important issues

The ELSA Network

related to freedom of expression in order to raise awareness of problems that the Member States are currently facing and to find possible solutions to those matters with respect to the principles of democracy and the ECHR. After an intense day of fruitful discussions, we attended a reception hosted by the Turkish Government in the building of the Cuncil of Europe. This reception was a special added value of this Delegation: we were personally welcomed by Mr.Erdoğan Şerif Işcan, Turkish Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, and we were surrounded by diplomats, ministers, representatives of the most important international organisations (such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe itself) as well as renowned journalists and professors from some of the world’s leading universities. We were catapulted into the supreme sphere of international affairs where we witnessed how States and international organisations conduct diplomatic relations outside of institutional venues. The speeches of Mr. Işcan and Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, were particularly enlightening.

We seized the opportunity to talk to Mr. Jagland, as well as other guests in order to spread the word about ELSA International and the projects it organises. It was a unique opportunity for all five of us to get acquainted with the mechanisms of international relations, something you can only

experience by taking part in projects like ELSA Delegations.

The reception was the perfect occasion to build new platforms and relationships through social networking.

The second day of the conference was arguably even more exciting than the first, since we had acquired the necessary confidence to approach the speakers and experts in the audience after speaking with Francoise Tulkens, an ex-judge in the European Court. She expressed great interest in the work done by ELSA throughout Europe, such as the Legal Research Groups and the European Human Rights

“

She expressed great interest in the work done

by ELSA throughout Europe, such as the orgnisation of the Legal Research Groups and the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition, as well as our own personal backgrounds Moot Court Competition, as well as our own personal backgrounds. It was our pleasure to proudly share the array of current projects taking place throughout the ELSA network with such renowned human rights defenders, and reassuring

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The ELSA Network to hear that we were evidently representing an active and hardworking association of law students.

Between the later sessions, we managed to take some time to explore the buildings and wander around the temporary photography exhibition. In the corridors, we could not help but notice all the photos and portraits of key international personalities. We even found a replica of the Magna Carta from 1215! It really felt as though we were at the heart of human rights protection in Europe. After the plenary session, we made sure to thank the organising committee for coordinating such an interesting and diverse range of sessions and for inviting us to attend.

Since returning from the conference, four out of five members of the team have become involved in the new Legal Research Group on the topic of Freedom of Expression, the Protection of the Journalistic Sources. Besides our Head of Delegation becoming the International Coordinator of the project, two delegates became National Coordinators for ELSA Ireland and ELSA Italy, whilst another one was appointed as the National Linguistic Editor for ELSA France.

Though the experience was over far too quickly, some-

“

Since returning from the conference, four out of five members of the team have become involved in the new Legal Research Group on the topic of Freedom of Expression thing we could not help but reflect on during our long journeys home, was how much we were able to learn.

Not only will we always be grateful to have been given this opportunity by ELSA and the Council of Europe, but we are also thankful for the dedication and proactivity of the preceding law students who have contributed to ELSA’s remarkable reputation amongst other international organisations. As a result, ELSA International was granted participatory status within the Council of Europe in 2000 and signed a Human Rights Partnership agreement with the Council of Europe in 2008. This development has proved to be the key to our involvement in the conference.

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The ELSA Network

Experiencing ELSA's Student Trainee Exchange Programme

Being one STEP ahead

O

ur life is a path consisting of various steps – sometimes away, sometimes backward, but at the end of the day, always forward. To make such a step forward, towards a professional and personal self-realization – this is what ELSA provides law students and young lawyers through its Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP). STEP enables ELSA members to work as trainees in a law-related sphere of their own choice. To put it in a nutshell, my STEP experience was about two months of true excitement.

Kateryna Shokalo

Vice President for STEP ELSA Ukraine 2015/16

Was it about practical legal experience? Being a trainee at the IT Law Programme of the University of Tartu, Estonia, I had the chance to enhance my analytical, research and legal writing skills. To be more precise, my tasks included, among others, analysis of articles and treaties by outstanding international professors in the field of legal theory and philosophy, constitutional law, economy, and, of course, IT law. Furthermore, I compared various components of education in the field of IT law from all over the world.

I also got a chance to try myself in the field of marketing, which is proof of the versatile scope of my assignments. In general, I had every opportunity to plunge into a life of an IT law student by attending compelling lectures and workshops, as well as by communicating with students and professors.

As a result, I gained adequate background to be able to generate practical ideas for the development of this rapidly developing programme. However, what I valued the most, was working with the highly professional and kind people in an

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atmosphere of mutual respect, comfort and support. I would like to thank the Director of IT Law Programme, Dr. Helen Eenmaa-Dimitrieva and my colleagues for being so open and approachable, for providing me with both interesting and challenging tasks, for giving me profound feedback, making my adaptation easy, baking the sweet cake for my birthday and just for being so kind, attentive, friendly and inspiring.

The open and innovative nature of the university should be emphasized as well. It was a pleasure to be invited to the study visit to the Supreme Court of Estonia, to enjoy dinners

“

The starting point of my ELSA trip was splendid. I was warmly welcomed in the ELSA House in Brussels, Belgium by the President of ELSA International with professors and students at the University Café, to stay updated about both thought-provoking lectures at the Law Faculty and cultural events in Tartu. In addition to getting experience in cyber law and IT, I gained credits in Alternative Dispute Resolution and spent lots of hours delved into the books in the comfortable library.

Was it about travelling? The starting point of my ELSA trip was splendid. I was warmly welcomed in the ELSA

The ELSA Network

“

House in Brussels, Belgium by the President of ELSA International, Anna Haipola. Then, it was about visiting Lithuania, Georgia and Sweden in one week in addition to discovering Latvia. Of course, exploring various corners of Estonia undoubtedly constituted the core part of my journey.

Was it about plunging into the culture of another country? Despite the fact that I had visited more than ten European countries, it was my very first cultural shock. I still remember my admiration for the so elegant, traditional and colourful – lightly pink, green and blue – Estonian buildings. The colorful wooden windows and doors I was passing by every morning on my way to the office, balanced with the modern Estonian architecture inspired me. Watching films about Estonian history or listening to Estonian live jazz music contributed to my positive impression of this country. The way of living as such, the way of organization of the society and the level of its efficiency constituted the key component of my perception of Estonia.

To put it in a nutshell, my STEP experience was about two months of true excitement!

Was it about the ELSA spirit and support? Making a set of photos with the Vice President for Marketing of ELSA Tartu during the lunch break or being presented with a sweet farewell package with an Estonian passport (a souvenir, of course) serve as a good examples of this. Therefore, I would also like to express my great gratitude to my Estonian colleague, Vice President for STEP of ELSA Estonia, Mirko Vavrenjuk.

To conclude, all of this is merely a part of what this STEP experience was for me, both personally and professionally. I genuinely encourage every law student and young lawyer to apply and get the experience of being one step ahead. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to ELSA in its 35th anniversary for making such a chance possible. I do believe that all together we will continue making our common steps towards a just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity.

Was it about practicing a foreign language? I believe that getting approximately 100 points at the TOEFL exam with no special preparation but doing my traineeship explicitly answers this question.

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The ELSA Network - Opportunities

Dynamic and Enterprising:

Experience China as a Study Abroad Location

S

tudents are increasingly opting to study abroad as part Academic Programmes and of their academic progress Partnerships Manager CBL International due to the variety of benefits this experience provides. The advantages of educational travel include personal growth and intercultural development, as well as forming new valuable contacts and lasting connections.

Jola Merkaj

Our outstanding partnership with ELSA International offers ELSA members an exclusive scholarship to study abroad on CBL International’s China Law School. The China Law School is a two-week programme providing comprehension of Chinese legal systems and frameworks in this exciting and dynamic region. As a participant of the programme, you have the option to choose the location: Beijing and Tianjin, or Shanghai and Hangzhou. Alternatively, you can extend your programme to four or six weeks and experience all four locations.

We had the opportunity to speak to an alumnus of China Law School and an ELSA member, who took advantage

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of this opportunity. Jorn Mort, who participated in China Law School in 2014 and returned for our exclusive law programme in Dubai last year, explained: “Whether you have been to China or not, I’d say it is really a once in a life time experience. You get to know the country and culture in an intriguing way; meet other students - ELSA as well as nonELSA members or alumni - and professionals from different cultures, all together creating a great and highly valuable adventure.”

“We visited several famous places and tourist attractions, but also some really stunning exclusive excursions to companies, such as Airbus and Baosteel. The different social activities, in my opinion, is the key for a successful programme and social cohesion of the group,” he underlined.

Additionally, the law programme combines a number of important aspects to provide participants with those all-important components. A two-week session includes an insight into two important Chinese financial and commercial centres, a taste of the region’s language and culture, company visits to our corporate network, as well as a strong social schedule for the participants to enjoy. Sven Fortuin, an ELSA

The ELSA Network - Opportunities

We are offering ELSA members a 30% scholarship for China Law School, for the following three sessions:

Shanghai & Hangzhou: 12 - 25 June Beijing & Tianjin: 26 June - 9 July Shanghai & Hangzhou: 10 - 23 July

member, explained: “What I really liked about the CBL International programmes is the fact that you visit a lot of companies and make a lot of valuable contacts on the way.”

“The organised cultural and social activities are truly amazing. You get to know people really well, in a short period of time,” he added. You’ll be taking courses and interacting with students from our partner universities in China, adding value to the overall programme. China is a wonderful place in terms of culture and monuments;

Editor

Dagne Sabockyte

Assistant

Andreja Friškovec

Proofreading Team Sascha Goslin Froso Drakopoulou Ruth Azzopardi Olivia-Madalina Ghiorghiu Olga Koumpouri

ELSA International Address: Blvd. Général Jacques 239, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Phone: +32 2 646 26 26 e-mail: elsa@elsa.org

there are various opportunities for sightseeing, networking and learning something new.

All ELSA members can receive their exclusive 30% scholarship with the promo code: ELSA2016China. For more information on how to apply, visit: www.elsa.org/page/chinalaw-school and include the promo code in the correct field on your application.

ELSA Members x 42,000 ELSA Local Groups x 300 ELSA National Groups x 43 ELSA International

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