Dear ThinkSwiss,
Thanks to your support, I was able to attend the Lucerne Academy this summer. Undoubtedly, the Lucerne Academy program was one of the most unique experiences I have ever had academically. With a focus on human rights law, the academy brings together students of law from around the world to present courses focusing on the topic of the year. In 2017, our topic was business and human rights. Through the courses we took and the conversations we started, we learned about the discourse between modern corporate and transnational practices and human rights. What I learned, primarily, is the attention needed to be paid to indigenous people and groups in countries, because of the high risk they face of being extorted by companies and governments who wish to not honor certain territorial boundaries and natural resources that belong to those groups. I also learned how to give a close reading to John Ruggie’s General Principles on Business and Human Rights. As a class, we dissected Ruggie’s wording and structure to understand the flaws and strengths behind the documents, which has yet to have any sort of binding authority on States or businesses. The second half of the program involved a moot court competition. What was unique about the experience was that the students were divided into teams chosen by the directors of the program. We were encouraged to work with people from different parts of the world on a single human rights dialogue. This created a new sense of camaraderie between us. We started as students who huddled into groups based on borders and nationality. South American, African, European – everyone began on the first day by finding the people they seemed to have the closest territorial identity with. Thanks to the grouping system and encouragement, we were all intermingled by the end of the program, freely discussing policy with people from around the world. The system of groups, therefore, helped shatter our first-day comfort zones and made it easier to build global friendships. The moot court program itself challenged students to work with a new rule of law under the European Convention of Human Rights. As a system of stare decisis seemed to rule the writing and oral process, it gave me, an American student from a common-law country, an advantage. It also helped me assist my team mates who were from civil law countries to learn how to use precedent and case law to build arguments instead of a strict application of law. The oral arguments were possibly the most challenging portion of the program. Not dissimilar to the ones American students practice in our law schools, these dealt with a different system of law. Familiarizing myself with ECHR cases, down to the wording and legal weight was hard yet rewarding. Being able to bring my own understanding and apply it to a new system was incredible as a law student. Finally, all the formal parts of the program seemed to be unmatched to what happened after classes and university. As students, we all lived in one building together and shared kitchens in our own flats. The most unforgettable moments we had in Switzerland were the evening we spent together. We made friendships and ties that are still strong a month later. We gathered in kitchens, and made one dinner together, while talking and debating topics of interest. We united under one roof to create food and an environment that was our own. With formalities finished after a day of classes, we could unwind and gather together in one kitchen. It wasn’t long because people didn’t even have to ask whether or not they could come to one flat or the other. We simply intermingled. It only took by the end of the first week for us to feel that returning to the flats was like “coming home”. Considering all our different backgrounds, beliefs, and studies, that was possibly the most incredible and rewarding part of the program – the fact that I could go to any continent in the world right now and have a friend there. Thank you again for your support and for making this program a possibility.
Yelizaveta Kotova