Class of 2022

Our 14th Summer Academy

The fourteenth IFLOS Summer Academy was held at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea from 07 August to 02 September 2022. As in the past, the event was held under the overarching theme of “Promoting Ocean Governance and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes”.

 

Participants

The Foundation welcomed 38 participants from 30 different States from around the world. With nationals originating from 5 countries which had not been represented at the Summer Academy before, our “Global Reach” grew to 133 nations with 487 Alumni on all continents. Six of the attendees were seconded by the Tribunal within the framework of the Nippon Program; 32 were chosen by the Foundation in cooperation with the Tribunal. As to the number of applications, the record number of over 100 submissions from 2018 was again achieved; as in previous years, the Foundation noted a continued high level of academic qualifications and professional achievement among applicants.

The 2022 session was supported by Edmund Siemers-Stiftung, the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and the Trust Fund for the ITLOS workshop for legal advisers (sponsored by the Republic of Korea). 6 full Scholarships were granted by the German Shipowners Association (VDR – Michael Behrendt Scholarship), the Hapag Lloyd AG, the Jens-Peter und Betsy Schlüter Stiftung für Schifffahrt und Umweltschutz and the Rashtriya Raksha University. The participation of 11 citizens of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was made possible by scholarships provided by the British High Commission, Singapore of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Nippon Foundation enabled 6 other participants to take part in the course. Another 4 full und 2 partial Scholarships were granted by the IFLOS general support sources.

 

Schedule

As its predecessors, the 2022 Academy covered a variety of law of the sea, maritime law and related topics and dealt extensively with specific subjects of interest such as marine environmental protection as well as oil pollution and its consequences. Based on the experience from previous Summer Academies, the schedule maintained a specific thematic session on maritime delimitation, where the traditional practical workshop was combined with courses on legal and political solutions. A copy of the Schedule is attached.

 

Faculty

During the four weeks of the program, participants had the opportunity to meet an impressive faculty of over 28 renowned individual personalities who were willing to share their expertise and experiences with participants on a pro bono basis. The Foundation is especially grateful for the invaluable contributions made by the members of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. With Vice-President Tomas Heidar, Judges David J. Attard, Ida Caracciolo, Liesbeth Lijnzaad and Helmut Türk as well as Registrar Ximena Hinrichs Oyarce and Marco Benetar, the Foundation was very pleased to record a high number of ITLOS representatives again. Many members of former faculties, consisting of legal and economic experts, natural scientists and experienced practitioners in maritime affairs, could be attracted to return to Hamburg.

 

Open Event

A well-attended open event, consisting of lectures given by Dr. Ekaterina Antsygina (Universität Hamburg), Professor Steven Haines (University Greenwich) and Oonagh Sands (Fietta LLP International), focused on „The UNCLOS in Perspective: Current Challenges”.

 

 

Exam Seminar

In contrast to previous editions of the Summer Academy, a mandatory exam seminar was held for the first time in 2022 instead of the traditional moot court. The moot court sometimes resulted in an uneven distribution of the burden among the participants: While some participants showed extraordinary commitment both in preparing the written memorials and preparing and conducting the oral pleadings, others tended to stay in the background, also with regard to the workload.

During the exam seminar, participants had to demonstrate that they had gained distinct knowledge in the law of the sea and maritime law. It took place in small groups of 4 to 5 participants and consisted of Q & A rounds in the form of an “exam conversation”, i.e., questions were passed on from one candidate to another, candidates were able to add to or correct what had already been said, or to further develop a topic, when called upon. Each examination commission consisted of a chair (Judge Helmut Türk, Professor Nele Matz-Lück and Professor Alexander Proelss) and a further examiner (Felix Bode, Tony Cabus and Moritz von Rochow), both of whom were entitled to ask questions. Each round of examinations lasted around 60 minutes; candidates were assigned approximately the same amount of time to speak during the exam. The performance of the participants was not graded. The participants were notified of their passing the exam after their respective round; individual feedback was provided during the break and after all exams were over.

 

Extra-curricular Activities

Although the schedule was tight, there was some time reserved for extra-curricular activities. Participants had the opportunity to do some sight-seeing in Hamburg and its vicinity during a very informative bus tour and a boat tour through the port of Hamburg. The Foundation also organized a trip the medieval city of Lübeck. The course programme was accompanied by various social events such as a “Night Out Bavarian Style” and an invitation from Frank Leonhardt to a reception at the premises of Leonhardt & Blumberg shipping company.

 

 

Senate Reception

At the close of the Summer Academy, the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg held an impressive and well-attended reception in the Town Hall, hosted by the Senator of Justice, Anna Gallina, during which the participants received their certificates. For the 14th consecutive year, IFLOS was honoured to be invited to Hamburg City Hall for the graduation ceremony and reception.

 

 

A Growing Network

Although the participants came from very diverse legal and cultural backgrounds, they quickly bonded, got along with each other very well and formed a very active and interested group. With their help, the Foundation will try to keep track on all of them to further facilitate networking, and to add the 2022 participants to the Alumni circle founded by the class of 2007. The feedback given by the participants was in every sense overwhelmingly positive, especially concerning the consistency of the group, the quality of the lectures delivered and the organisation.

 

Thank You

The Foundation should like to express sincere thanks to President Hoffmann, Registrar Hinrichs Oyarce and all the staff members of the Tribunal who have supported the team of the Foundation so well before and during the course of the Summer Academy.

 

After the Summer Academy is before the Summer Academy