The Summer School was organized by EHU Legal Clinic (Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights) with the support of the Commercial Law Development Program (U.S. Department of Commerce).
The Summer School thematically consisted of 2 blocks:
- Legal expertise in international commercial law and arbitration
During those 6 hot summer days, 15 participants – EHU students and Ukrainian students were introduced to terminology, main legal concepts and acts of International Commercial Law and Arbitration related to the most worldwide spread sector of international commerce – sales of goods.
Participants received knowledge about the main legal instruments of International Commercial Law and Arbitration:
- UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG);
- Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (NY Convention);
- UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts;
- UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.
2. The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot introduction
The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vis Moot) is the most prestigious moot competition for law students to foster the study and practice of international commercial sales law and arbitration.
In the 2021-2022 academic year, the EHU student team participated in Vis Moot for the first time. This was also due to the kind support of CLDP.
The Summer School has the aim to encourage EHU students to improve their legal knowledge and debate skills, as well as legal English through participation in Vis Moot. So, separate classes were allotted for an introduction about what the Vis Moot is, what are the rules for participation, and how the process of participation takes place.
Experts of the Summer School have highly experienced practising lawyers from the EU and US:
- Nicholas Chan is an incoming associate attorney at a global law firm that focuses on complex commercial litigation matters. Mr Chan earned his Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Government and Asian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
- Jurgita Petkute is an experienced commercial, a litigation lawyer and works for Knoetzl law firm where she practices primarily in arbitration and ADR. The industries for which she works include, in particular, energy (oil, gas exploration, transport and supply agreements), engineering and construction (under the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction and other), transportation as well as shipping and insurance. Her experience as an arbitrator includes proceedings under the arbitration rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC) and the Vilnius Court of Commercial Arbitration (VCCA).
- Alexey Pirozhkin is a dispute resolution lawyer working as an Associate at Queritius law firm. Alexey has participated in advising and representing clients in the resolution of complex international disputes in, among others, the fields of international trade, construction, and pharmaceuticals under different arbitration rules, including SCC, VIAC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, CIETAC, The International Arbitration Court at the BelCCI. Besides, Alexey has experience working as an intern in the world’s leading arbitration institution and as an assistant to the judge at the international judicial body.
- Aliaksei Vashkevich is an experienced commercial lawyer working as an associate at Sorainen Law Firm. He mainly specialises in corporate and investment law. Aliaksei is also involved in the resolution of corporate disputes and is included in the Recommended List of Arbitrators of the International Court of Arbitration “Chamber of Arbitrators at the Union of Lawyers”. He is a former mootie and since 2017 has been coaching teams of the Belarusian State University for Willem C Vis Moot Court.
- Yulia Ashmian is an experienced commercial, litigation and IP lawyer. She has over 8 years of experience as a lawyer in cross-border dispute resolution, intellectual property litigation and international arbitration. She has more than 100 successful court cases and over 60 media and professional magazine publications. It is important to note that Yulia Ashmian is included in the Recommended List of Arbitrators of the International Court of Arbitration “Chamber of Arbitrators at the Union of Lawyers”.
- Сhristina Hyrla is a recent graduate from European Humanities University with cum laude distinction. She has participated in several moot court competitions, including Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Her background also includes an internship at European American Business Organization, specializing in international tax services, EU compliance services and IP law.
Let’s see some feedback from recent graduates of SS and get into the spirit of the Vis Moot competition.
“Many thanks, it was organized brilliantly and gave a lot of useful knowledge”, Ulyana Belaya, 2nd-year student, MA program “International Law and EU Law”, European Humanities University.
“Thank you so much for such a wonderful opportunity. All information is very useful and was explained easily”, Diana Deputat, 4th-year student, MA program “International Law”, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Summer School “diary” from the eyes of the participant at the link.
