For this first time ever, the doors of the Union opened in July 2009 for the students of the Lucerne Academy for Human Rights Implementation. In total, seventeen students from all over Switzerland and the world – including Israel, Togo, Uzbekistan, and European countries – came to Lucerne to attend the summer program’s inaugural year. “What we wanted was to offer not just a simple program where students merely attend class, but a chance for them to benefit from a variety of academic and practical experiences,” Academy Director Professor Alexander H. E. Morawa noted. First, students were offered a choice out of several courses on different areas of human rights, including “Global Security”, “Rule of Law in China”, “The Israeli-Arab Conflict in International Law”, “Human Rights Protection in the EU”, and “Rights of the Child”, apart from a mandatory introductory course, all taught by experienced and high-profile faculty. “The Summer School was one of the best experiences I have ever had during my first three years of study at University of Lucerne. We have not only learned a lot about the field of human rights, but how to use this achieved knowledge in daily work,” said Melanie Fopp, a 2009 Lucerne Academy participant.

Throughout the summer school, participants prepared for a program-wide moot court competition, the centerpiece of the program. At the very beginning, students were given a hypothetical scenario on a cutting edge human rights issue: in 2009, this involved a state’s response to the outbreak of a deadly flu and the effects the measures had on a particular family. They were also able to draw on the knowledge they received in all of their classes in their research. “I was amazed at how the students pulled together everything they learned. The performance of the teams that made it into the semi-finals and in particular the final were of a quality that one would expect in a professional international moot court, where students have a semester or even a year to prepare, not merely three weeks,” Prof. Morawa said.

At the end of the second week, the students were treated to a three-day excursion to Geneva. While there, participants visited the United Nations Headquarters, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Commission of Jurists, and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT). There, practitioners and advocates who deal with human rights from different angles on a daily basis briefed students about the challenges and prospects of human rights implementation through litigation and advocacy. The goal of the excursion was to get students thinking about ”the real life” of human rights procedures and institutions and to give them a chance to meet with key players in the field. The trip was eye opening - learning about how the organizations work together, and sometimes compete, and how they contribute to a culture of human rights all over the world.

At the end of the three weeks, students participated in the moot court competition. The faculty and judges were particularly impressed with the amount of talent all of the students possessed and the amount of work they put into their pleadings. It was without a doubt the most exciting two days of the program. The final round, held in the Obergericht (court of appeals) in Lucerne, pitted the two best teams together in front of a five-judge panel. Both teams performed exceptionally well and it was truly a task to pick a winner. In the end, the team of Fabio Manfrin and Markus Stehle won the team portion of the competition. However, the second place solo team consisting of Ivana Simic was not without consolation. Ms. Simic won the prize for overall best participant (based on her scores from the written and oral pleadings). The winner for best overall participant received a 3-6 month internship with the OMCT in Geneva.

Of course, the summer school was not all about work. Students improved their English, learned more about other countries, and realized their own potential. The closing and awards ceremony, held in a beautiful hotel overlooking the lake, capped what was no doubt a whirlwind three weeks, filled with friendships, intense work, and chance to experience a field of law up close. “I can highly recommend the Lucerne Academy to all students who are willing to learn more about human rights, those who want to meet students from all around the world as well as to those who want to learn what it really means to represent a client in real life before a court,” Ms. Fopp said.

For the 2010 session, the Lucerne Academy for Human Rights Implementation plans to welcome even more students from home and abroad, as well as offering a new set of fascinating courses for students to choose from. We invite all interested students to contact us with their questions and to regularly check out the website where information will be posted and updated as we plan the 2010 session, which will be held from July 19 to August 6, 2010. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis beginning in January, so the earlier you apply, the better.