18th European Law Summer School – international experience and networking opportunities
The 18th European Law Summer School was held since September 6th to 13th. Students all week had been listening lectures on topic “Europe in a state of emergency – with what Law?” (ger. „Europa im Ausnahmezustand – mit welchem Recht?“, fr. „L’Europe en état d’urgence – avec quel droit?“).
This year, the annual event attracted almost 30 participants, including students from the VU Law Fcaulty, the J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and the Nanterre University of Paris. The lectures were given by teachers from the aforementioned universities, who discussed with the participants topics ranging from the aspects of the war situation in Ukraine to the peculiarities of digitalisation and the relevance of general principles of law in special situations. During the Summer Law School, the students visited the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania and spent a weekend in Trakai. Most of the students were visiting Lithuania for the first time, so their visit to Trakai gave them an insight into Lithuanian history and culture.
The school offers students valuable international experience and the chance to travel. “I was hoping to meet new people and be in an international environment,” – says Fion Neff, who has a Master’s degree in Law achieved in the J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, when asked why she was interested in this event. Fion adds that she was impressed by the centre of Vilnius and the old buildings of Vilnius University, which have a long history.
Matisse Lelievre, a political science student at Nanterre University in Paris, was happy to be able to ask questions of the researchers and discuss with them after the lectures. He noted another significant advantage of the school format: “For those who would like to go on research in the future, it is an opportunity to find and built new contacts.”
The event was open to students of all years. Emilė Šapkauskaitė, a first-year student at the VU Law Faculty, hadn’t started lectures when she heard more about law at the summer school. “I liked the fact that there is an opportunity to be involved as a first year student and that the Faculty itself provides opportunities that can be taken advantage of if you are willing to. For me, this whole week shows that there is still a lot to learn, but it is also great to know what you want to achieve”, – says the student.
European Law Summer School is an annual international project launched in 2004. The initiators of the project are Vilnius University Faculty of Law, University of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and the University of Paris Nanterre. Every year lectures of the summer school is held on different topic.
