International and European Union Law
Law meets Practice
Reflections on current issues of International and European Union Law
Law Meets Practice is a new set of colloquia of the Master Programme International and European Union Law. The Colloquia are aimed at stimulating reflections on current issues of International and European Union Law by bridging academic knowledge with the legal practice. Practitioners are invited to present their own perspectives on a wide variety set of important topics and discuss their career path with students. Law Meets Practice is thus a new intellectual challenge as well as a unique networking opportunity for our students to prepare them for their future career.
Past events
IEUL guest lecture on 'Legal and ethical implications regarding the use of AI-based technology in an EU and international context' by Jonathan Ruff (Senior associate Loyens & Loeff Rotterdam)
On 11 September 2019, the IEUL Master Programme hosted Mr. Jonathan Ruff’s talk on “Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Ethics and Law. Exploring the Subconsciousness of the Law”. During the event, the guest speaker and the IEUL students debated over highly topical and polemical issues pertaining to the concepts of ‘subconsciousness’ of the legal order and ‘artificial intelligence’ as well as to their manifestations in practice. An interdisciplinary approach combining law, ethics and technology has been proposed by the speaker with a view to decipher the multifarious implications flowing from the use of modern and future technologies. A case in point during the discussion was the issue of legal personality of artificial intelligence robots and self-driving cars. Students were actively involved during the session, including preparing and presenting a group assignment concerning the marriage possibilities between humans and AI systems under international law, EU law and domestic legal frameworks.
About the speaker: Jonathan Ruff is an alumnus of Erasmus School of Law, the law faculty of Erasmus University Rotterdam. He currently works as an attorney (senior associate) for the law firm Loyens & Loeff, the Netherlands. He is specialised in matters relating to public international law, international arbitration and private international law, including human rights law, investment arbitration and commercial disputes. He is also active in the field of privacy law, in particular in the context of human rights, and the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence.
Guest lecture ‘State immunity and immunity of international organisations’ by Mr Jonathan Ruff (Loyens & Loeff Rotterdam)
On Friday 24 May, Mr Jonathan Ruff’s has talked on ‘State immunity and immunity of international organisations’. During this event, the origin, development and current state of the doctrines of state immunity and immunity of international organisations were explored. The guest lecture started with a brief outline of the concepts of ‘state’ and ‘international organisation’ under public international law, followed by an overview of the case-law of courts around the globe that gave shape to the doctrine of state immunity and immunity of international organisations. Also, the most notable international conventions in this field, as well as the human rights perspective and considerations concerning state immunity and immunity of international organisations have been discussed. In the context of the doctrine of immunity of international organisations, the position of the European Union has been given particular attention. The last part of the guest lecture has been dedicated to the case-law of the Dutch Supreme Court on state immunity and immunity of international organisations in the period 2012-2019.
About the speaker: Jonathan Ruff is an alumnus of Erasmus School of Law, the law faculty of Erasmus University Rotterdam. He currently works as an attorney (senior associate) for the law firm Loyens & Loeff, the Netherlands. He is specialised in matters relating to public international law, international arbitration and private international law, including human rights law, investment arbitration and commercial disputes. He is also active in the field of privacy law, in particular in the context of human rights, and the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence.
IEUL students experience the “real-life” work of a lawyer at the Law firm Loyens & Loeff Rotterdam
On 10 May, the prestigious Law firm Loyens & Loeff generously organised a working visit for a group of IEUL students at its headquarters in Rotterdam. It was not an ordinary visit, the purpose of this event being to familiarise IEUL students with the 'real-life' work of a lawyer. For this purpose, the IEUL students prepared in advance and solved during the visit an assignment mirroring a real case that a lawyer could encounter in practice. The assignment consisted of a simulation of arbitration proceedings concerning a jurisdictional dispute under a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the Netherlands and a third country. The students, organized in four parties (the Arbitral Tribunal; the company XYZ as claimant; The Netherlands as respondent; and the European Commission as amicus curiae) had 90 minutes to express their views, react to each other’s arguments and reach a final decision on the case. Lawyers of Loyens & Loeff monitored closely students’ performance and provided them with valuable and extensive feedback from a practitioner’s perspective. The event ended with a reception offering the students the opportunity to approach the Loyens & Loeff lawyers in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.
Student Study Trip to Brussels
Between 14-17 April 2019, sixteen IEUL master students went to Brussels on the yearly student-led study trip. The students were hosted by various European institutions and international organizations, such as the European Commission, the World Bank Group, the European Social and Economic Committee, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Energy Charter Secretariat and the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands.
During the visit, the IEUL students gained an insightful understanding of highly topical EU and international issues, such as Brexit and the upcoming European Parliament elections. The IEUL students also received extensive information and practical advice about career paths offered by European and international organizations, such as traineeships and internships. Overall, the balance of different presentations and institutions was very interesting and useful. It gave students an overarching and realistic picture of the post-LL.M. professional life and offered them the opportunity to establish valuable contacts with different European and international organizations.
The study trip also offered room for social activities to strengthen the bonds between the IEUL students. Among others, the group went to a Karaoke Bar, watched football games and participated in a Beer Tasting.
The trip was organized by a committee of six IEUL master students and generously supported by several grants from the Erasmus Trust Funds.
Visit of the IEUL Master Students at the International Criminal Court (ICC)
On 28 March 2019, the IEUL master students visited the International Criminal Court (ICC). They were received by the Office of Public Counsel for the Defense (OPCD) who gave a tour of the premises and presented Office’s work. The head of the OPCD, Mr Jean-Xavier Keita explained the function of the OPCD as an independent office assisting the defence teams with legal research and advice and advancing submissions on behalf of unrepresented suspects or on specific issues. Subsequently, Marie O'Leary, counsel for the OPCD, gave a presentation on the principle of complementarity that is central to the functioning of the ICC. Finally, Dragan Ivetic, an experienced defence counsel who has notably represented Ratio Mladić before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, held a lecture on fair trial rights of defendants. He also engaged IEUL students with a practical exercise; for an hour, the students put on the hat of a defence counsel and presented arguments to challenge the determinacy of indictments against their ‘clients’.
Expert talk on the "The conferral of delegated and implementing powers to the European Commission under Articles 290 & 291 TFEU" by Ms. Susanne Höke, European Commission
On 19 November 2018, we had the honor to host Ms. Susanne Höke, Deputy Head of the Unit ‘Institutional Affairs’ within the European Commission's Secretariat-General. She gave an expert talk for the students of the Master Programme International and European Union Law on "The conferral of delegated and implementing powers to the European Commission under Articles 290 & 291 TFEU". During her intervention, she unveiled the complexities of the Commission’s ‘technocratic’ decision-making and provided interesting insights from a practitioner’s perspective on the way in which this system works in the post-Lisbon era.
Guest lecture on EU and International law by former Dutch Prime-minister Jan Peter Balkenende
On 5 October 2018, former Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende gave a guest lecture for the students of the Master Programme International and European Union Law. On this occasion, he provided thought-provoking and insightful views on actual European legal and political issues, such as ‘Brexit’, the EU financial and refugee crises, EU trade and investment policy, Member States and EU in global institutions and fora, by linking them to wider international developments. During his talk, Prof. Balkenende actively engaged with the audience by challenging students to express their views and by answering challenging questions from students.