Old Members Trust Travel Grant Report – Emilie McDonnell, Bachelor of Civil Law

The Old Members’ Trust Travel Grant allowed me to visit The Hague in the Netherlands from 5 to 7 of March as part of my Bachelor of Civil Law option, International Dispute Settlement. It was a study trip to the International Court of Justice hosted by our teacher, Professor Antonios Tzanakopoulos.

Our group visited the International Court of Justice and sat in on the provisional measures hearing titled: Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, (Ukraine v. Russian Federation).

We met with three Judges from the Court over the course of the trip: Judge Greenwood, Crawford and Gaja. In our meetings, we were given the opportunity to ask them questions relating to topics we had been learning about in our course, their role as a judge and pertinent legal issues raised by the case.

We also met with Legal Counsel from both Russia and the Ukraine and had the opportunity to question them about their strategy before the Court, who engaged them as Counsel and any problems they foresaw. We had dinner with the ICJ interns and legal officers, where we asked questions about what it was like working at the World Court, their qualifications, role and relationship with the judges.

Following all our meetings we engaged in in-depth discussion with each other and our Professor and explored pertinent legal questions, which has proved useful in writing later tutorial essays. Other activities included meeting with the Court’s Registrar, touring the Peace Palace Gardens and visiting the Hague Academy and library.

This study trip was an excellent opportunity to apply what we had learned from our readings, seminars and tutorials, and explore how International Dispute Settlement works in practice. I am grateful to the Old Members’ Trust for allowing me to partake in this valuable experience.

Find out more about the range of travel grants and scholarships available to assist Univ students on our Travel Grants page or read further travel reports.

Published: 8 August 2017

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