PUBLICATIONS

International Focus Programme:

Concept & General information

   The International Focus Programme (IFP) was introduced in 1994 to give a global dimension to the work of ELSA. The idea was to present a specific theme, on which the entire ELSA Network could focus its efforts over a three-year period, providing a forum that allows continuity within ELSA, and setting a common focus to work towards.

   The theme covering a "hot legal topic" gives ELSA the chance on local, national and international level to have an impact on law students, society and the international community.

   The IFP includes organisation of a series of local, national and international events, such as seminars, conferences, legal research groups, debates, moot court competitions, publications and traineeships. During the final year of a given IFP, ELSA organises an International IFP Final Conference based on the work of the previous two and half years, with each theme culminating into a publication.

   The IFP also gives the possibility to law students and young lawyers to work with major law-related institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the world.

Objectives

   The main objectives of the International Focus Programme are:

Current theme

Intellectual Property Law

   The New International Focus Programme (IFP)!

   At the ICM Prague, at the BEE and S&C joint workshop National Groups came up different general topics and subtopics for the new IFP, such as: “Protection of refugee rights, Human Rights, Internet law, Law of the Sea, Business law environment.”

   The workshop finally decided to choose the general topic of “Intellectual Property Law” as the new IFP. The duration of the new IFP is bewteen 1st November 2007 until Spring ICM 2009 and the final result of the IFP will be a conference and a publication.

Previous themes

International Focus Programme 1995-1997 :

   "A Just World: A new role for lawyers, legal education and law in development"

   The theme facilitated ELSA's involvement with UNESCO in promoting legal education. In consequence ELSA organised two important conferences on legal education, one in Oxford and one in Bologna. Furthermore, it facilitated ELSA's involvement in the Coalition for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (CICC). This allowed many ELSA members to participate in the preparatory committees at the United Nations in New York.

   Approximately 60 international and national seminars, conferences and law schools took place across Europe during this period. The conclusions of these events are gathered in the publication " - A Just World :Legal education, law in development and the new role for lawyers".

International Focus Programme 1997-1999 :

   "The Law of Peace in the Year 2000 - current violations and effective enforcement of international law; the reform of international organisations"

   This theme was chosen in order to complement the curriculum of law students in Europe in the areas of international law and international humanitarian and criminal law. It facilitated ELSA's involvement in the Hague Appeal for Peace in 1999, which was a civil society movement that organised several events to celebrate the centennial of the First International Hague Peace Conference.

   ELSA organised the final IFP Conference, The Power of Peace, in The Hague under the patronage of UNESCO and within the Hague Appeal for Peace. The Conference coincided with the 100th anniversary of the First International Hague Peace Conference that brought together more than 8000 participants from around the world, of whom more than 100 were law students from 20 countries.

   Furthermore, ELSA contributed towards the establishment of an International Criminal Court by attending the preparatory committees in New York, as well as the UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court gathered in Rome in 1998.

   Under the IFP 1997-1999 around 50 international and national seminars, conferences, moot courts and law schools took place in more than 20 countries. The conclusions of the IFP 1997-1999 are gathered in the special publications "International Law in the New Millennium".

International Focus Programme 2000-2002 :

   "Information Society - the Legal Challenges: Application of New Technologies, Protection of Individuals and the Legislative Response."

   The rapid development of science and technology has also brought new challenges for lawyers. The new technologies have already conquered the business world and are revolutionising our domestic lives. Legal systems have to face these changes by developing national and international regulations that would be appropriate. Also the legal education has to be updated with new challenges. Therefore, ELSA decided to participate in this revolution.

   The theme "Information Society - the legal challenges" intended to cover all legal problems and challenges related to these new developments. It included the Internet as the new revolutionary medium that developed from a military communication network, to a network for universities and researchers and finally to a worldwide network used by everyone. The use of Internet for commercial purposes produced a whole new group of legal problems. Furthermore, the theme covered the new challenges that resulted from telecommunication as the medium for the distribution of information. Also, the field of hardware, software and computers and the related legal questions are embraced by the current theme.

   The IFP Final Conference was organised in April 2002 in Munich, Germany under the Patronage of Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission, Dr. Edmund Stoiber, Prime Minister of the State of Bavaria and Professor Dr. Andreas Heldrich, Rector of the University of Munich.

   Between 2000-2002 throughout the whole ELSA Network around 50 IFP projects were organised, among them international and national seminars, conferences, legal research groups, debates and moot court competitions.

   As the conclusion of this IFP Topic, the IFP Book is beeing prepared by the International Board in cooperation with National Groups of ELSA. This publication will contain articles written by representatives of academic world, students and practitioners from the whole Europe.

International Focus Programme 2003-2005 :

   The IFP Topic for 2003-2005 was: "Trade Law - a Way for Sustainable Development". It focused on trade related issues of national and international legislation with special attention to the use of new technologies such as Internet and telecommunications. Some examples of subtopics were:

   The IFP of 2003-2005 did not get as positive response from the Network as previous IFPs which in the end lead to the temporary cancellation of the programme due to lack of implementation.

International Focus Programme 2006 :

   At the ICM in Malta, autumn 2005, the IFP was reintroduced and approved by the Council. The new IFP was approved with new provisions and the most important one was that the IFP should be a recommendation to the Network, not an obligation. During the ICM in Malta the new topic with subtopics was chosen. The topic was set as following:

   “25 Years of Legal Development” with the following subtopics:
   “The UN in the 21st Century, Harmonization of the EU Law in the Transition of Legal Systems, and Environmental Law”. Duration was chosen between 1st January 2006 until 31st December 2006. The Final IFP Conference - 25 years of Legal development - was organised in Oslo, Norway, between 5th-9th December 2006.

   During the joint Workshop between S&C and BEE at the ICM in Alanya November 2006, the first evaluation of the IFP 2006 was conducted. During this session it was clear that the IFP 2006 had not been a success. After a roundtable among the participants in the Workshop the results showed that only 6 out of 16 National Groups had organized at least one IFP event (locally or nationally).