Summer Seminar 2010
Patron: Thomas Winkler, Under Secretary for Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
As in previous years, ELSA Copenhagen is convening its annual summer seminar entitled, “Maritime Piracy – Legal Perspectives.” The seminar will take place August 10-15, 2010 in the Danish capital city of Copenhagen.
The seminar will be held in English and its target audience is suitably qualified Danish and European law students as well as graduates who have an interest in legal and social issues that go beyond the syllabus and wish to use their education across borders. The seminar also provides an opportunity for committed students to meet peers from the Universities of Aarhus, Lund, Copenhagen and the rest of Europe.
In the seminar we will focus on the causes and consequences of the exponential growth of piracy attacks and other assaults against the transport industry in recent years. Furthermore, the seminar will center on the legal challenges in using existing set of rules in practice and counter-threat initiatives within this area, nationally as well as internationally.
Subjects that will be touched upon are, among others, the legal status of and consequential jurisdiction over captured pirates, extradition procedures, detainment and human rights compliance, how the industry at the present protects itself despite the difficulty of implementing legislation, and the potential need for supra-national norms or agreements, possibly including joint military reaction forces. In brief, we will examine what is being done at national, European and global levels to combat sea-borne piracy, and to what extent it affects international trade.
The draft for the lesson plan is as follows:
1st topic: Introduction to piracy and the current threat assessment
2nd topic: The international law and supranational policy initiatives
3rd topic: The national law aspect and jurisdiction
4th topic: Compliance with human rights
5th topic: Security measures and commercial sector initiatives within the transport-security field
6th topic: A panel discussion on the need for new legislation
To achieve the highest levels of academic excellence in the seminar a number of the lectures will be delivered by eminent professors as well as international jurists with many years of experience in international law. Patron Thomas Winkler will also act as the introductory speaker during the seminar.
In addition, we have made plans to conduct visits to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Maritime Authority and a major Danish shipping company. The Council of Europe will, in its capacity as ELSA International’s permanent partner, as previously put at our disposal an international expert with specialized knowledge in the field.
Furthermore, by way of extramural activities, the seminar will contain a number of social events, designed to provide variation during the day, whilst also giving the participants opportunities to get to know each other across national boundaries. The social events will include a series of tours of our beautiful capital and corporate visits relevant to the topic discussed. At the last day of the seminar, a ball will be held to mark the closing of the whole event.
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