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 How can European law schools better prepare students to become socially responsible lawyers devoted to the rule of law? How might education help infuse the legal profession and legal system with a profound respect for human rights? The Need for a New Law School, a recent international academic conference, grappled with these timely questions.
Held in Krakow on 19-21 June 2008, the conference was co-sponsored by the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI) and the Center for Foreign Law Programs of the Jagiellonian University Faculty of Law. The conference brought together thirty-two participants from universities throughout Europe (Spain, Poland and the Netherlands), the former Soviet Union (Russia, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan) and the United States. Participants presented papers on the following core themes:
- Optimal academic curricula and teaching methods
- Law school governance
- Academic careers in law.
These themes directed the participants' critical examination of the changes that must be made in legal education systems to transform law schools into centers of academic excellence, fortifying the competence of students as they go forward in the legal profession.
 The conference gave participants the opportunity to reflect critically on the progress of legal education reform in Europe over the last decade. They analyzed the challenges and lessons learned and exchanged ideas for enabling further change. What kind of a new law school does legal education need today? And what is the role of law schools in meeting the requirements? Concepts like "academic freedom" and "university autonomy" - well known in the academic world - are often used as shields against reform. These and other issues were explored at the conference.
The international reach of the agenda and the range of topics discussed allowed for valuable comparisons of legal education in different parts of the world. For some participants, the "New Law School" conference was their first possibility to present papers outside their own law schools. Thus, the opportunity to network across institutions, countries and continents at the conference was most welcome. For the list of participants, click here.
The "Need for a New Law School" conference is one of many activities designed to implement a major initiative of PILI's Legal Education Reform program. This initiative aims to promote sustainable higher legal education reform in former Soviet countries and is being realized with the generous support of the OSI Higher Education Support Program (HESP). The project will conclude in 2009. To read more about the initiative, click here.
A selection of the conference papers will be published in 2008 by PILI in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University. Please keep checking our Publications site for more details.
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