Hungary

Global Governance Summer School students attend RECONNECT conference on democracy and the rule of law in the European Union

LEUVEN & BRUSSELS – The morning opened with an introduction to the European Union, presented by Michal Ovadek, a research fellow at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. An expert in the European Union legislative process, he provided an overview of the European Union architecture, and outlined the primary challenges to democracy in Europe. The session was designed to prepare students to participate fully in the rest of the day’s activities: a conference devoted to a research project aimed at reinvigorating core values of the European Union.

From left, Gamble Baffert, Charles Wells, Leila Knox, Emily Doumar, Maria Lagares Romay, Blanca Ruiz Llevot, Steven Miller, Alicia Millspaugh, and Briana Blakely.

The RECONNECT: Reconciling Europe with its Citizens through Democracy and the Rule of Law project, established by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, is supported by funds from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme. As part of the larger project, the Leven Centre convened the International Conference on Democracy and the Rule of Law in the EU. It gathered experts to discuss contemporary challenges to European Union integration, including judicial independence and rule of law, free press, and democratic institutions in countries like Poland and Hungary.

The conference took place in the Brussels’ beautiful Academy Palace, and opened with a welcome by Professor Jan Wouters (left), Co-Director of the Global Governance Summer School.

The conference featured keynote remarks by Daniel Keleman, Professor of Political Science and Law and Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Politics at Rutgers University, and Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union (right). Two policy roundtables also featured perspectives from academics and advocates from around Europe on democracy and rule of law in the European Union, respectively.

From left, Kathleen Garnett, Holly Stephens, Steven Miller, Alicia Millspaugh, Emily Snow.

Georgia Law welcomes LLM-linked partnership with Fulbright in Hungary

sonjajokaybpest2016cropA new partnership between the University of Georgia School of Law and the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission will provide exceptional scholarship opportunities for qualified Hungarian law graduates who wish to pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree.

Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge and Dr. Károly Jókay, Executive Director of the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission, signed the agreement. It follows meetings among representatives of both institutions, including the October 2016 meeting in Budapest between Jókay, depicted above at right, and Georgia Law Professor Sonja R. West (prior posts).

Administered by the law school’s Dean Rusk International Law Center, the Georgia Law LL.M. degree has deep historical ties in Europe, as well as an active network of graduates there. This Fulbright partnership promises to enhance intercultural exchange not only for foreign-trained lawyers who come to Athens to earn their LL.M., but also for the J.D. students with whom they interact, inside and outside the classroom (prior posts).

The Fulbright Program – established in 1946 under legislation introduced by J. William Fulbright, then a freshman U.S. Senator from Arkansas – funds international educational and cultural exchanges for students and scholars. It is administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department in more than 150 countries.

We look forward to welcoming Hungarian students and strengthening our connection to both Central Europe and the Fulbright Program.

1st Amendment Professorship to Sonja West, globally noted media law expert

cropsonja_lawrencefulbrighthu13oct16Very pleased to note the appointment of Georgia Law Professor Sonja R. West, an internationally recognized expert in media law,  the inaugural holder of the Otis Brumby Distinguished Professorship in First Amendment Law. News of the position, which is shared by the law school and the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, came in a university press release issued just before the holiday break.

Of her appointment, Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said:

“Sonja is a distinguished scholar in media law, and it is fitting that she be named to this professorship, which is devoted specifically to teaching and research about the First Amendment.”

As noted in a previous Exchange of Notes post, last October West represented Georgia Law in Budapest, Hungary, where she:

► Spoke on “Improving Press Coverage of the Courts through Communication” at the European Judicial Conference on Courts and Communication.

► Met with Budapest-based alums and representatives from the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission, with whom she discussed Georgia Law’s Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree.  West’s at that meeting the photo above; to her immediate left is Dr. Jessica Lawrence, who earned her J.D. from Georgia Law and now is a Lecturer at Budapest’s Central European University. Surrounding them are Fulbright representatives: at far left, Krisztina Kováts, and to the right of West, Dr. Károly Jókay, Körtvélyesi Zsolt, and Molnár Gábor.

► Visited the law faculty at Pázmány Péter Catholic University. In fact, West has accepted an invitation to return to that Budapest university in June, to take part in a Free Speech/Media Law Discussion Forum.

Professor West heads east: Upcoming media law lecture in Budapest

west-profileAmong the many University of Georgia School of Law professors whose work crosses national borders is Sonja R. West (right). In fact, Professor West will be traveling very soon to Hungary, to speak on Thursday, October 13, at the European Judicial Conference on Courts and Communication in Budapest, organized by Bíróság, Hungary’s National Office for the Judiciary.

Her talk, entitled “Improving Press Coverage of the Courts through Communication,” will examine various issues of failed communication between the press and the courts, as well as possible solutions.

It’s a topic well within her expertise. Professor West teaches courses in constitutional law, media law, and the Supreme Court at Georgia Law. Starting this spring, she will also teach media law at the university’s Grady College of Journalism, where she recently received a joint appointment. Her work on has been published in the reviews of Harvard, UCLA, Michigan law schools, among others. In recognition of her scholarship, the National Communication Association just awarded her its 2016 Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression.

She’s also has written for media outlets like Slate. Her other accomplishments include service as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and work as journalist in Illinois, Iowa, and Washington, D.C.

In addition to taking part in the judicial conference, Professor West plans to meet with Budapest-based alums of Georgia Law, and also with representatives from the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission and faculty from the law faculty at Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

Eastward bound, to meet potential LLMs in Prague, Warsaw, Budapest

Law students, lawyers, and legal academics in the Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic will soon have the opportunity for talk with a Dean Rusk International Law Center staffer about pursuing a degree at here at the University of Georgia School of Law.

logo-colorNext week, Laura Tate Kagel, our Center’s Director of International Professional Education, will take part in American universities fairs in Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest, sponsored by EducationUSA, an arm of the U.S. Department of State.

llm_coverShe’ll be on hand personally to discuss the career benefits and special advantages of earning the Master of Law, or LL.M., degree at Georgia Law. (See prior posts about our current LLM students, as well as our hundreds of LLM alums, here.)

Interested persons may show up at the times and places below. And feel free to e-mail Dr. Kagel at lkagel[at]uga.edu in order to assure one-to-one meeting – or to correspond, in the event you’re unable to attend one of the fairs.

Monday, April 18, Prague: 15:00-18:00 at the Alchymist Hotel, Tržiště 19, Prague 1

Wednesday, April 20, Warsaw: 12:00-15:30 at the University of Warsaw Library, BUW, ul. Dobra 55/66, Warsaw

Friday, April 22, Budapest: 15:00- 19:00 at the Budapest Marriott Hotel, Apaczai Csere Janos u. 4. Budapest 1052

Hope to see you there!