N
ow in its sixth year, Washington University School of Law and Case Western Reserve University School of Law are pleased to once again jointly offer an exciting opportunity to study international and comparative law during the summer at Utrecht University in The Netherlands — home of many of the world’s most important international institutions.
Utrecht, founded by the Romans in 47 AD, has been a university town for centuries. Widely perceived as the most enjoyable and beautiful of Dutch cities, Utrecht has a lively medieval charm, featuring majestic cathedrals, cobblestone-paved pedestrian streets, and a series of winding canals, all of which date to the Middle Ages. The famed canal banks are lined with restaurants, bars, and night clubs, behind which rise magnificent homes built in the 16th and 17th centuries. With its pleasant summer climate and English as the prevalent second language, Utrecht is an ideal place for American students to study abroad.
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| >Participants have the opportunity to tour the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and to meet with judges and other officials. |
Most importantly, Utrecht is a short (30-minute) train ride from The Hague, which serves as the headquarters of the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, the European Police Office, the European High Commissioner on National Minorities, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and the European Patent Office. It is also just a two-hour ride from Brussels, headquarters of NATO and the Council of the European Union. The Summer Institute for Global Justice features field trips to several of these institutions in The Hague and Brussels as well as numerous guest presentations by their leading officers.
Taught by prominent experts in the field from Europe and the United States, including the former Chief Prosecutor of an International Criminal Tribunal, the six-week program focuses on courses related to comparative law and the international institutions located in The Hague. The Summer Institute is accredited by the ABA. It is open to students in good standing at ABA-accredited U.S. law schools and at non-U.S. undergraduate or graduate law programs, as well as graduates of those institutions.
Each student will enroll in three of the six courses offered during the program, for a total of six credits, transferable to most law schools. Students should check with their registrar’s office to determine the transferability of grades and credits earned in this program and to decide how the program fits into the ABA residency requirements. It is unlikely that participation in a summer program will accelerate graduation for a full-time student. Enrollment in the Summer Institute is limited to around 60 students to ensure small class sizes and intimate seminars in which students work and interact closely with each other and the faculty.
