On the 8^th of March 2016, the Cyprus Committee of the European Students Association (ELSA) gave a presentation to UCLan Cyprus to elaborate on the “Objectives and Benefits of ELSA”.

ELSA was founded in 1981, and today is one of the largest Law Students organisations, with members in 41 countries. Its main goal is to bring Law schools from the various countries together in order to provide its members with experiences that will help them in their later careers.  The motto of ELSA is “All different, all together”.

Academic activities organised by ELSA include International Moot Court Competitions between member Law Schools. In light of this, we were informed that there is going to be a mooting competition between Cyprus Universities that are members of ELSA in the coming months.  The European Law Moot Court is another activity ELSA takes part in; this gives students from European countries the opportunity to compete with each other and travel the continent.

ELSA has also created a Legal Research Group, where students collaborate with each other in order to prepare working papers on legal matters. Moreover, ELSA organises visits to international courts and institutions of the European Union. This year’s annual trip will probably take place in October and ELSA will be visiting European institutions such as the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

What is more, an ELSA delegation participates in Model United Nations Conferences, where maters of Human Rights, Racism and other law topics are discussed between the various delegations. The delegations participating have no voting rights, they are merely speakers and listeners, but through their propositions they can contribute to the development of the law.

Another important benefit of being an ELSA member is the opportunity to attend summer schools organised by it. These are attended and taught by students and lecturers from all over the world. Cyprus will be hosting its first ever ELSA Summer School this summer, which will focus on Competition Law.

Further, the Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP) is another important programme of ELSA. It offers members the opportunity to receive a traineeship in a European country and enhance their knowledge and understanding of law in that country.

Finally, ELSA organises seminars on various legal topics, where legal experts are invited as speakers.

Registration costs €20 initially and the annual membership fee is €50.

More information about ELSA and its programmes can be found at: http://elsa.org/

Written by Konstantinos Alexandrou