Free online access to the summer courses on law has been offered to 21 Ukrainians in the framework of the EUI-wide initiative to provide funding opportunities to people of any nationality affected by the war in Ukraine.
The first of the courses, AEL’s course on Human Rights Law, began on 20 June and ended on 1 July. Five young Ukrainian law scholars and professionals joined the course.
Olena Hlushko was among the students attending the course. She was working on the hotline for displaced people from the Donbas region before she herself became a refugee in March of this year. Although she would have preferred to participate in Florence, the online course still had benefits for her: “The course on Human Rights Law has rather broadened my perspective on different approaches in different countries to the subject of migration and transitional justice.”
Olena appreciated the fact that the course not only discussed the sources of law and the court practice, but also questioned them. “I think it is quite important to discuss human rights law in that way, as it is clear that the system of international law itself may soon be changed quite drastically, and it would be nice to build it on healthier foundations,” she adds.
Liudmyla Yatsiv decided to stay in Ukraine with her family, including her 8-month-old baby. She believes the course will be an added value in her work: “Being part of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, I believe the knowledge that I get from this summer course on human rights can be really beneficial, in the context of the Ukrainian refugee crisis”, she says.
Yaroslav Halieiev says he appreciated “the extraordinary professionalism of the professors, in particular through the involvement of the audience in the discussion,” and he concludes: “I really liked the openness and warm atmosphere of the school. It was felt even online.”
Four other students from Ukraine have joined the Law Department’s summer course on Law & Logic which began on 27 June, while the second AEL’s summer course on the Law of the European Union, that started on 4 July, is attended by five Ukrainian law students and professionals.
Finally, the Law Department’s summer school on AI & Law, beginning on 7 July, will welcome seven students from Ukraine.