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'Hanse Law School' - A Promising Example of Transnational Legal Education? An Alumna's Perspective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2019
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Starting with the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and the establishment of the European Economic Community by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 with only 6 member states, Europe has since become a political and economic union of 27 Member States that has wide law-making competences and thus considerably affects daily life in Europe. With the overall aim of creating a common market for economic activities, borders are largely disappearing and people are free to travel to other Member States and stay, study or work.
- Type
- Section 3: ‘Inside-Out?’ Towards a Transnational Legal Education?
- Information
- German Law Journal , Volume 10 , Issue 6-7: Following the Call of the Wild: The Promises and Perils of Transnationalizing Legal Education , July 2009 , pp. 969 - 980
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2009 by German Law Journal GbR
References
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3 Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.Google Scholar
4 The EU is unique in being a ‘supranational’ entity that is characterized by the fact that Member States have voluntarily agreed to transfer originally national legislative competences to the higher entity, see the groundbreaking Case 26/62, Van Gend and Loos, 1963 E.C.R. 1, para. 12 where the Court held that ‘the Community constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the States have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields…'Google Scholar
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7 These countries were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.Google Scholar
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11 For more information, see, Hanse Law School, available at: http://www.hanse-law-school.de/, last accessed, 21 May 2009. HLS was not even the first Bachelor – in Greifswald in 2000 an LL.B. was introduced, see, 'Wieder einmal die Nase vorn: erster deutscher Jura-Bachelor – (LL.B.) – Studiengang in Greifswald,' available at: http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/62664/, last accessed, 20 May 2009; another LL.B. study is offered at the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, see, Jurastudium: Bucerius Law School, available at: http://www.lawschool.de/jurastudium.html?&L=0, last accessed, 20 May 2009. The Bachelors program there is, however, merely a first step on the way to completing the Staatsexam. Another Bachelors program integrated in the Staatsexam was recently set up in Mannheim: see, Carsten Schäfer, 'Bologna’ in der Juristenausbildung? – Das Mannheimer Modell eines LL.B.-Studiengangs' in Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW), 2487–2490 (2008). Conferring with a list of other possible LL.B.'s and their curricula it becomes obvious that the focus of the HLS is unique, Bachelor of Laws – Wikipedia, available at: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Laws, last accessed, 20 May 2009.Google Scholar
12 Please consider that the program started in 2002/03 and that three classes had already obtained their LL.M. and thus four classes had achieved their LL.B. Throughout the paper, I will refer to a survey ‘Facts & Figures’ that was carried out in 2007. The judgments that I will make are my personal opinion. They were, however, enriched by discussions with and emails to former fellow students from 2002 to 2004.Google Scholar
13 See, , Annette Keilmann, The Einheitsjurist – A German Phenomenon, 7 German Law Journal (GLJ), No. 3, 293 −312 (2006), available at: http://www.germanlawjournal.com/article.php?id=712, last accessed, 20 May 2009. The concept entails that every law student has to follow the same legal education independent of the legal professions he/she aims at.Google Scholar
14 I shall not go into details about the structure of the Staatsexam as it depends to a certain extent on the Bundesland (state) what the details look like. See homepage of the Federal Ministry of Justice, available at: http://www.bmj.bund.de/enid/1ae551402344f8412736d5f791bce952,0/Rechtspflege/Juristische_Aus_und_Fortbildung_16i.html (Federal Ministry of Justice), last accessed, 21 May 2009. However there are general principles in the form of federal legislation.Google Scholar
15 See statistics by the German Federal Ministry of Justice with most recent data from 2006, available at: http://www.bmj.bund.de/files/-/2457/Ausbildungsstatistik_2006.pdf, last accessed, 21 May 2009.Google Scholar
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17 Rott, Peter, Die Hanse Law School – Vorreiter mit Zukunft?, in: René de Groot/André Janssen (Hrsg.), Festschrift zum 60-jährigen Bestehen der Deutsch-Niederländischen Juristenkonferenz, forthcoming 2009, 1. See, as to the reasons for the establishment of the HLS, also ‘HLS Cahiers', Nr. 2 Methodology and its applications/La méthodologie et son application published by Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (2001).Google Scholar
18 Information provided by Tim Thorsten Schwithal, coordinator HLS (University of Oldenburg).Google Scholar
19 See, ZeVA, Hannover, Akkreditierungsbericht, 2006.Google Scholar
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21 Please note: The structure of the program has been exposed to changes over the last years in terms of study time and content. The most radical change has been the expansion of the Bachelor phase from 3 to 4 years in 2006. For the purpose of this paper the current study guidelines shall be described.Google Scholar
22 See, Ordnung über besondere Zugangsvoraussetzungen für den internationalen Bachelorstudiengang ‘Comparative and European Law’ der Hanse Law School an der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg und der Universität Bremen (Guidelines on the admission criteria). In 2008, for the first time, 35 students were accepted with a view to increasing the number of students that take up Masters study at the HLS. So far, only in-house students could fulfil the admission criteria for the Masters program.Google Scholar
23 See, supra, note 12.Google Scholar
24 The requirement can be fulfilled by a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test with a minimum of 79 points (Internet-based Test) or an equivalent test, e.g. IELTS. (Requirement: Band 6).Google Scholar
25 The reverse side of the coin is that this mentoring requires a lot of resources. However, exams etc. that have to be passed in different modules could be combined and merged and the workload for the university staff could be reduced.Google Scholar
26 Team teaching means that a German and a Dutch Professor lecture together about the same legal topic and illustrate the differences and similarities in approaches in the two legal traditions.Google Scholar
27 Lately also non-European universities, such as Melbourne and Calcutta.Google Scholar
28 See, section 4 (2) Examination Regulations, available at: http://www.hanse-law-school.de/, last accessed, 21 May 2009.Google Scholar
29 See, section 4 (6) Examination Regulations and generally: Internship Regulations. Aims of the internship are listed in para. 2 of this regulation.Google Scholar
30 See, Hanse Law Review, available at: http://www.hanselawreview.org, last accessed, 20 May 2009.Google Scholar
31 In Germany there is only one profession: Rechtsanwalt. Google Scholar
32 Those students that spend one semester of their Masters degree, but not necessarily their Bachelor degree, in Groningen receive a German-Dutch double Masters degree.Google Scholar
33 For Germany, see, sections 2, 11 EuRAG – Gesetz über die Tätigkeit europäischer Rechtsanwälte in Deutschland (Law regulating the activity of European lawyers in Germany), available at: http://www.brak.de/seiten/pdf/EuRAG.pdf, last accessed, 21 May, 2009.Google Scholar
34 The four fundamental freedoms are the free movement of goods; the free movement of persons (and citizenship), including free movement of workers, and freedom of establishment; the free movement of services; and the free movement of capital.Google Scholar
35 For the evolution of the free movement of professionals in particular see supra, note 8.Google Scholar
36 The Dutch term for lawyer.Google Scholar
37 The same is true for a full legal qualification in any other European Member State.Google Scholar
38 See, supra, note 34, Art. 11Google Scholar
39 This is set out in 112 a DRiG (Deutsches Richtergesetz – The German Judiciary Act) and to a certain extent divergent in the different Länder. The first graduate will undertake this exam in July 2009. It follows particularly from the ECJ case, C-313/01, Christine Morgenbesser v. Consiglio dell’ Ordine degli avvocati di Genova, 2003 E.C.R. I-13467 and Lubina v. Land Nordrhein-Westfalen AZ 10 K 7279/04 before the National German Administrative court in Düsseldorf. See, for an overview, supra, note 8.Google Scholar
40 As these courses are very expensive it is advisable to organize a training contract with a law firm and have them pay the expenses. Alternative ways via other European Member States can be explored. The Civil Effect will, however, always be advantageous.Google Scholar
41 The drop-out rate in the HLS study is less than 10%.Google Scholar
42 See, supra, note 12.Google Scholar
43 See e.g. Franz Christian Ebert, available at: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,549857,00.html, last accessed, 20 May 2009. Other examples include: EDCTP (European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership), The Hague or the European Design and Trademark Office, Alicante.Google Scholar
44 See, for some examples of experiences of students and alumni brochure, Hanse Law School', by Hanse Law School, Oldenburg, forthcoming 2009, 17.Google Scholar
45 See, University Calendar 2008/9, available at: http://www.hanse-law-school.de/, last accessed, 21 May 2009, p. 5.Google Scholar
46 Four former HLS students of that year have not yet entered the labour market because they merged the Staatsexam study.Google Scholar
47 See, supra, note 13, Keilmann at 297: “First and second year courses with 400 or 500 students are not at all rare.”Google Scholar
48 See, statistics by the Federal Ministry of Justice, available at: http://www.bmbf.de/pub/studienabbruchstudie_2002.pdf, last accessed, 21 May 2009.Google Scholar
49 See, supra, note 15.Google Scholar
50 Even though the range of grades that can be achieved goes from 1 to 18, the slogans are ‘4 wins’ and ‘9 is magic'.Google Scholar
51 See, supra, note 15, in 2006 this grade was reached by 12.2 % in the First State Exam and 14.2 % in the Second State Exam. Depending on where you want to apply the grade of the first or the second state exam or even single grades from civil, public or criminal law will be decisive. It is, furthermore, interesting that despite alleging that the exam is organized at the federal level, the exams of students in one State are downgraded when applying for posts in another.Google Scholar
52 See, Schönmann, Von Jochen, Angriff auf den Dinosaurier, Spiegel (20 March 2008), available at: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,542687,00.html, last accessed 20 May 2009.Google Scholar
53 It is here referred to the normal way and not to special qualifications like the effectus civilis. Google Scholar
54 Some students, who during their studies felt that they want to become lawyers often used the chance to merge the Staatsexam after 3 years of HLS. Nearly all their courses were recognised, and they were able to continue with their studies having an LL.B. up their sleeve already.Google Scholar
55 This became clear in exchange with colleagues during internships.Google Scholar
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57 'Drei Jahre Pause: Bachelor und Master fuer Juristen', azur (25 November 2009), available at: http://www.azuronline.de/azhtml/stud_intro.html, last accessed, 21 May 2009.Google Scholar
58 See, supra, note 40. It is in particular referred to students that do not acquire special qualifications like the effectus civilis in the Netherlands. A possible solution lies in the ECJ case; see also, supra, note 8.Google Scholar
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