LAW 540 - Transnational Offerings I, II and III.

This innovative International Law Practicum works with the Defense Support Section and the defense attorneys of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Karadzic defense team at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), works with other Tribunals as requested, and prepares case summaries from Transnational Tribunals. The role of the Practicum is to assist with the right to a fair trial and to support fair trials through effective representation of the accused. W&L students in the Practicum have been undertaking detailed legal and factual research and analysis for some of the most significant war crimes cases internationally. For the students, researching a broad range of issues under international law and human rights has been a challenge, as many of the questions involved have not been answered before. Five hours. Rice

Transnational Offerings II. Transnational Access to Justice:

Transnational Access to Justice is currently taught through the Liberia Human Rights Practicum as a joint program at Washington and Lee School of Law and the Louis A. Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia. The Practicum is taught in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.  In most semesters, four third-year law students at W&L and eight to twelve law students at Louis A. Grimes participate in the Practicum. The Practicum’s purpose is drawn from key provisions of UN ECOSOC Resolution 2007/24 “International Cooperation for the Improvement of Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, Particularly in Africa.” The Practicum culminates with the W&L students’ two-week travel to Liberia to work with their Liberian counterparts seeking to fulfill the Practicum’s broad goal of building greater access to justice in Liberia’s criminal justice system through focused training sessions with key actors in the Liberian Criminal Justice System.  Five hours. Rice

Transnational Offerings III. Transnational European Court of Human Rights - Serbia :

Students will study Human Rights issues through the cases and procedures of the European Court of Human Rights and will review potential cases of individuals for suitability for application to the ECHR.  This Practicum will be jointly taught with students from Union University School of Law in Belgrade, Serbia and/or other European Law Faculties by video conference.  Travel to Europe for a joint class followed by travel to the ECHR in Strasbourg France is anticipated.  We hope to function as a legal clinic for potential clients to present their issues but key issues with this portion are still to be resolved.  Our client focus will be on disadvantaged persons such as prisoners, and national minorities.  The potential cases will be reviewed by joint student teams who will be responsible for preparing a case memo and suitability analysis.  The case summary and analysis will be reviewed by all students to make final recommendations and drafting a proposed filing with the ECHR. Five hours.Rice