LAW DEPARTMENT

The Department's difference from law schools of other universities manifests itself in its striving to master European and American legal traditions; advanced-level study of international law and European community law; comparative character of teaching a series of legal disciplines; active collaboration with foreign colleagues on the exchange of educational technologies; a combination of professional training and intensive European language training; and a mastery of the new legal disciplines not traditional for the state legal education system.

The curriculum contains a wide choice of specialized courses on international law (International Contract Law, International Trade Law, European Tax Law, International Environmental Law and others ) and courses directed at studying the legal systems of Europe and the US (Comparative Law, The Legal Systems of Contemporary Society, American Constitutional Law and others).

The wide spectrum of national and international law courses joined with a good knowledge of foreign languages allows the students to work as practicing lawyers in legal firms, banks, state institutions, joint ventures, and international organizations.

Highly-qualified specialists in the field of law from Belarus, Russia, the US, France, and Germany are invited to participate in the training process. Younger faculty members take internships at universities in France (Bordeaux-1), Austria (Salzburg), Great Britain (Edinburgh), the US (Villanova, PA), and Spain (Alcala, Madrid).

One of the major directions of the Department's development is cooperation in the

framework of education and research programs with law schools in Europe and the US. The faculty members take part in education programs such as 'CEELI', organized by the American Bar Association, TEMPUS and others. Joint projects in the field of training international law specialists are supported financially by American and European foundations (e. g., the program 'The Development of Commercial Law Curriculum', funded by the Eurasia Foundation).

The students also develop international contacts. For the first time in the history of the New Independent States, a team of EHU law students successfully participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.