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In the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project, the University of Luxembourg is supporting teaching capacities at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of the National University of Laos. In this regard the Inter-University Project invited Professor Dr. André Prüm to give a seminar on contract law.
The main objective of this 3-day seminar was to introduce the participants to the principles of contract law and specifically explore “the New Civil Code of Laos in light of International Practices”. The seminar was organized from 4-6 April 2023 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Vientiane.
The seminar focused on the definition of the contract from both domestic and international interpretation, freedom and enforceability of contracts, conditions for a valid contract, and contract performance. The Inter-University Project brought together lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the National University of Laos, lecturers from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of Vientiane, and Practitioners – namely lawyers, members of the Lao Bar Association; judges from Lao People’s Supreme Court; and prosecutors from the Lao Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor.
The first day of the seminar started with an opening remark and warm welcome from Assoc. Prof. Viengvilay Thiengchanxay, Dean of Faculty of Law and Political Science. The morning session of the seminar was dedicated to an introduction of the participants in order for Prof. Dr. Prüm to know the background of each participants, then Prof. Dr. Prüm started the lecture by recollecting the different legal tradition, especially drawing a distinction between civil law and common law systems. In the afternoon session, participants learned about the binding nature of contracts and compared of the specific article from the UNIDROIT principles of international commercial contracts (2016) with the New Civil Code of Laos.
The second day of the seminar was devoted to revisions and allowed participants to discuss their questions from the previous lesson with Prof. Dr. Prüm. This allowed for interactive discussions on the implementation of the New civil code of Laos, discussion also centered around the difference between Civil law and Common law traditions.
In the afternoon of the second day, FLP students and lecturers were invited to an open lecture on “Investor-State Arbitration”. This allowed students to learn more about the background and development of investor-state arbitration and many international treaties as well as the New York Convention and The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID Convention). The participants first explored foreign investment promotion laws in Laos. Prof. Dr. Prüm then explained the need for investor-state arbitration and the different recourses available to investors. He explained different recourses for investors in case of absence of an investment treaty and the difference in available recourses when a treaty has been signed. The participants looked at the relevant treaties signed by Laos DPR and learned about some international arbitration cases that have been brought under international treaties. The lecture concluded with the question of importance of arbitration laws to attract and secure foreign investment.
On the last day of the seminar, participants had the opportunity to learn more about offer and acceptance of a contract, void and voidable contracts and the effect of non-performance of a contract. At the end of the session, all participants were provided a certificate of attendance handed to them by Prof. Dr. Prüm.
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Congratulations to the Lao team participating in the 21st Red Cross International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot Court 2023 in Hong Kong between 8 – 11th March 2023, which was organized as a face-to-face competition, after a long period of restrictions due to Covid-19. The competition hosted 24 teams of law students from different universities in the Asia-Pacific Region. The University of Luxembourg has been actively supporting NUoL’s participation in this international competition! For this year, Dr. Perrine Simon supported the team and the project as Co-coach jointly with Ms. Paulina Baschton who is the Liaison Officer of Uni.lu.
The Lao team has been trained intensively until the last day of the competition after winning the National Round in December 2022. They worked extremely hard and put a lot of effort into this highly competitive moot court on International Criminal Law, entirely in English, to challenge universities from the Asia-Pacific region.
After four days of competition, with a total of 24 teams of law students from across the Asia-Pacific, the University of Adelaide (Team from Australia) won the competition. The first runner-up was awarded to the University of Auckland, Ms. Annalise Delic from the University of Adelaide was awarded as the Best Mooter of the Final Round. The best prosecution memorial was awarded to Brickfields Asia College of Kuala Lumpur and the best defense memorial went to Singapore Management University. For more details on the 21st IHL Moot Court competition results and announcement, you can find the link here: https://www.redcross.org.hk/en/moot21/results.html
The moot problem the participating teams faced this year focused mainly on the war-related environmental protection problems. This moot problem raised the team’s awareness on using chemical weapons in an armed conflict, particularly the use of natural environments as military targets, the deprivation of the fair trial rights of war criminals, and the forced participation of enemy civilians in military actions against their own country. The moot problem also incorporated relevant topics from current issues like the definition of mercenaries and their legal status.
During the days of the event, students also had an opportunity to attend the Keynote Seminar which was organized under the topic “The Use of Indiscriminate Weapons and Their Impact on the Environment”. The panel discussion of this Keynote Seminar was led by Dr. David Michael Baker (Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, HKU), Dr. Nishara Mendis (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo), and Ms. Kelisiana Thynne (Head of the Legal Department ICRC Manila). At the end of the session, participants also had a chance to raise their question to discuss more with the panelists.
Unfortunately, and despite best efforts the team from NUOL did not pass on to the quarter finals but the team received very positive feedback from the judges during the oral pleading of the general rounds! They also managed a good scoring in the written memorials with an average of adequate-good.
This Moot court organised by the ICRC is a great way to stimulate legal thinking, by learning how to develop legal arguments appropriately. Students also have improved their critical thinking and problem solving skills, analyzing skill, presentation skills, debating skills and also their English!
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In the Inter-University Cooperation Project framework, the University of Luxembourg is supporting the teaching at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of the National University of Laos.
In this context, a 10-hour seminar, dedicated to International Tax Law, has been held from 6-8 February 2023 at the FLP in Vientiane. We welcomed Prof. Werner Haslehner, the second professor from the University of Luxembourg to hold a seminar in Laos in 2023.
The seminar focused on introducing International Tax Law, Tax treaties, their interpretation, and their relevance. The Inter-University Project brought together ten lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of the National University of Laos, three lecturers from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of Vientiane, and Practitioners – namely three judges from Lao People’s Supreme Court; and three prosecutors from the Lao Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor.
Moreover, this marked the first time that the Inter-University Cooperation Project has organized an open lecture for FLP students on top of the seminar for the lecturers. The open lecture was disseminated to all FLP students, particularly business law and civil law students, and was very well attended.
The first day of the seminar started with an opening and welcome from Paulina Baschton, the new liaison officer for the Inter-University Cooperation Project, who began her first day as liaison officer in Vientiane with this seminar. The first day of the seminar was dedicated to the Introduction to International tax law, definitions and relation to domestic tax law. The different angles regarding taxation, and especially differences between Luxembourg tax law and Lao tax law were raised during the seminar and discussed interactively.
The second day of the seminar was devoted to International Tax Law as part of International Law, focusing on double taxation treaties, their relationship with domestic law, interpretation of tax treaties, and resolution of disputes on taxation. Especially the subject of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital were of great interest to the audience, explained by Prof. Haslehner with many practical examples and interactive exercises for the audience. This allowed for interactive discussions pointing at dispute resolution regarding taxation.
On the third and last day of the seminar, participants had the opportunity to discuss more on the treaty between Luxembourg and Laos and to understand its functioning; Prof. Haslehner briefly introduced the issues beyond tax to allow the participants to have an overview of transfer pricing, global minimum taxation, and tax transparency.
On the same day, in the afternoon, the open lecture occurred, focusing on the basic principle of taxation, to introduce the students to relevant principles, and deepen their understanding of functions, legislation, and policy regarding taxation. Nearly 30 students attended this open lecture and impressed Prof. Haslehner with an energetic atmosphere throughout the questions and discussions raised during the lecture.
The visit to the FLP of Prof. Haslehner significantly contributed to the teaching angle of FLP and strengthened the knowledge of all participants. With the success of the open-lecture initiative, the project will continue to engage the visiting professors from the University of Luxembourg in open lectures to the student in order to enhance the knowledge of both lecturers and students concurrently.
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On 23-27 January 2023, the Inter-University Cooperation Project Laos-Luxembourg organized a 5-day E-Resources Training and Facilitation Workshop at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of NUOL. It was the first face-to-face E-Resource Training organized by the Project.
16 FLP librarians and ICT volunteers attended the training led by Ms. Jevgenija Sevcova from the EIFL. Mr. Pathanaphone Nammalath, the Project Assistant for the Inter-University Cooperation Project, was in charge of the interpretation for all 5 days of training. The training follows the “train the trainer”-principle; the goal is to equip a group of volunteers with the relevant skills, so that they in turn can become E-Resources trainers at the FLP. The training focused on how to facilitate and organize the training on E-library. The FLP librarian volunteers also learned more deeply about searching on the E-library website.
The first day of the training was dedicated to the participants’ introduction. The trainees were also provided a self-assessment on learning, in which they discovered their best learning style by making a paper hat. Moreover, they were divided into five groups to assess the audience’s emotions and handle the participants’ bad behaviors through stimulation.
On day 3, the trainees explored the search platform more in-depth by doing practical exercises consisting of finding specific resources. On this day, Ms. Jevgenija invited a special guest. This allowed them to learn how to find resources for their classes and conduct research. They actively engaged with Ms. Jevgenija by asking questions and sharing their search results.
On the fourth day, the trainees leaned how to prepare and create the best presentation. Some presentation tips were also introduced to them. Sixteen trainees did exercises and applied all lessons learned to prepare a presentation on how to give the best presentation, the next day.
On the last day, the groups of trainees presented their presentation and were given feedback and comments on it. All participants did very well, and the feedback was really good.
All students received certificates after completion of the training.
This workshop is a tool to strengthen access to knowledge and a concrete tool for the library and ICT volunteers to prepare themselves to become trainers. Hopefully, we will witness a training from these future trainers for the FLP soon!
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In the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project, the University of Luxembourg is supporting the teaching at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of the National University of Laos.
In this context a 3-day seminar, dedicated to International Private Law, was organized from 17-19 January 2023 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Vientiane. We had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Thomas Mastrullo, a professor at the University of Luxembourg, to lead the seminar.
The seminar focused on resolving conflicts of jurisdiction in private international law, particularly comparing French and Lao law, and strengthening the participant’s teaching skills on international private law. The Inter-University Project brought together lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of the National University of Laos, lecturers from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of Vientiane, and Practitioners – namely lawyers, members of the Lao Bar Association; judges from Lao People’s Supreme Court; and prosecutors from the Lao Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor also attended our seminar.
The morning session on the first day of the seminar was dedicated to the Introduction of International Private law, which related to definitions and rules of private international law. In the afternoon sessions, participants were provided with general aspects of private international law, including the privilege of jurisdiction, clause conferring jurisdiction, and conflicts between procedures.
The second day of the seminar was devoted to revising and allowed participants to discuss their impressions and questions from the previous lesson with Prof. Thomas Mastrullo. This allowed for interactive discussions on legal principles on jurisdiction and procedure, legal certainty, and the meaning of certain provisions between French and Lao Law. The afternoon session focused on resolution of conflicts of jurisdiction.
On the last day of the seminar, participants had the opportunity to learn more about the recognition and effects of the foreign judgment in French Law. At the end of the session, all the participants were provided a certificate for attending this seminar by Prof. Thomas Mastrullo.
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The University of Luxembourg is proud to announce the opening of applications to grant two internships for a legal research stay in Luxembourg, which will take place in October and November 2023.
The Faculty of Law, Economics, and Finance (FDEF) of the University of Luxembourg will provide a friendly international environment in which the selected researchers can gain experience in research methodology, in presenting their research, attending seminars, and develop contacts with Professors of the faculty and other researchers. The research stay aims to enable candidates to finalise and publish an article or a research paper written in English in a law journal.
Criteria
The research stay programme is dedicated to Lao lecturers who desire to gain experience in an international environment to improve their academic and research skills in the legal field, in order to strengthen the capacities of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the National University of Laos. Applicants must be lecturers at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of NUOL, with at least a Bachelor’s degree in law or with a strong component in law. There are no criteria in terms of age. Candidates will be selected based on merit. The University of Luxembourg will have full discretion in selecting and/or rejecting the applications.
Supervision
The Project will provide thorough research guidance before and during the research stay program. The selected candidates will be supported to carry out their research and be supervised by the Project’s Liaison Officer and Project leader during their stay.
Selected candidates will be required to participate fully in capacity-building activities organised by the Inter-University Cooperation (seminars, research workshops, etc.) also University of Luxembourg. They will be committed to presenting and publishing their research papers in English in a law journal within the designed time.
Selected candidates shall ensure that their research complies with the University of Luxembourg procedures, particularly research ethics and plagiarism.
Administration
The project will facilitate the successful candidate with Visa and Housing applications. All expenses (travel, accommodation and per diem) will be covered.
The candidates will be entirely responsible for the management of the funding allocated; no extra-costs will be borne by the Project.
Application
The application must be written in English and should encompass:
– A CV with full contact details;
– A motivation letter;
– A description of the research subject and methodology (maximum 500 words).
Application deadline: 7 April 2023
The pre-selected teachers will be invited for an interview at the FLP.
Applications must be sent to the Liaison officer:
Paulina Baschton: Paulina.baschton@ext.uni.lu
We are looking forward to your papers and to welcoming you in Luxembourg!
Download our call of application: Click here
Would you like to have guidelines on Legal Research Methodologies? Click here
You can also to our MOOC to watch VDO and answer quizzes on Legal Research Methodologies to deepen your understanding!
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On the 14th of December 2022, the Lao National round of the ICRC International Humanitarian Law Moot Court competition took place at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) with the assistance of the University of Luxembourg.
This year, three teams, representing in turn the Defence and the Prosecution, competed against each other. As usual, the fictitious case on which teams were pleading in English was set before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Judges for this year’s national round of the competition included Dr. Papawadee Tanodomdej (Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University), Ms. Sophia Cason from The Asia Foundation (Chief of Party, Laos Legal Aid Support Program) and Mr. Phanthasak Mingnakone (Lecturer at Faculty of Law and Political Science, NUOL).
Exceptionally this year, the competition was organised and financially supported by the University of Luxembourg due to the ICRC’s shortage of staff. All the mooters were trained by Dr. Perrine Simon, Liaison Officer of the University of Luxembourg based in Vientiane, and Dr. Lawrence Siry who gave them a week-long intensive physical course on Mooting in October 2022. These were the first Students’ Moot Court training face-to-face after the pandemic and it is hoped that more teams will participate next year in order to keep supporting this significant Asia-Pacific competition.
This IHL Moot court is a great way to stimulate legal thinking, by applying legal reasoning and learning how to develop arguments appropriately. Students also improved their presentation skills, debating skills and English! After years of virtual pleadings, the winning team is going to Hong-Kong in March 2023.
Congratulations to all teams, especially the winning team Mr. Amphon Khammanyvong, Ms. Latdaphone Sorphapmexay, and Ms. Soumaly Sisouthammamnouny, which will be representing the FLP in the International Round of the competition in Hong-Kong!
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Under the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project Laos-Luxembourg, the development of the library at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of NUOL is given priority along with the research aspect.
On 9th of December, a ceremony for the handover of “Guidelines on Academic Legal Research Methodology” was organised at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP). The ceremony was attended by Assoc. Prof. Viengvilay Thiengchanxay (the Dean of the FLP), Dr. Somdeth Keovongsak, Mr. Bonkhong Phetdaohong, Mrs.Thatsanalone Sisunon (Vice Deans of the FLP), Dr. Lone Lindholt (CTA of LAO/031) and Dr. Perrine Simon (the Project’s Liaison Officer), along with other FLP lecturers. In total over 1000 printed copies have been handed over, in Lao and English, to the FLP, National University of Laos.
The “Guidelines on Academic Legal Research Methodology”, were drafted together by lecturers from FLP with the academic support of the University of Luxembourg and its Liaison Officer Dr. Perrine Simon in the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project Laos-Luxembourg and with the financial support of the LuxDev Project LAO/031.
The aim of developing and acquiring the guidelines is to provide the FLP lecturers and students with a comprehensive guide to conduct legal research. This marks a significant step in improving research skills and strengthening students’ and teachers’ legal higher education.
Would you like to have guidelines on Legal Research Methodologies? Click here
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Since 2017, the University of Luxembourg, through its Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance is actively promoting the Rule of law through legal knowledge in the framework of an Inter-University Cooperation Project (2017-2021) signed in 2015 between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
This project is a bilateral cooperation funded by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs. It provides assistance in the field of legal higher education to the National University of Laos (NUoL), specifically the Faculty of Law and Political Science. The Inter-University Cooperation Project seeks to foster a genuine legal culture and reinforce best practices for law students, lecturers and researchers at the Law Faculty in Vientiane. To learn more about what we do, see: https://cooperationlaos.uni.lu/.
We are looking for enthusiastic students – up to two – from the FDEF to intern with our Project for a two-months period. We will provide the intern with a friendly and dynamic working environment with a hands-on experience of a development cooperation project.
The intern will be assisting with the organisation of capacity building activities, act as mentor for Laotians students and will conduct research on a topic related to Lao law. The Intern will work under the supervision of the Liaison Officer at the office of the Inter-University Project at the Faculty of Law and Political Science-NUoL in Vientiane Capital.
The selected intern will be receiving a stipend of €700/month plus a travel allowance of 1500 EUR.
Criteria
Applicants must be enrolled at FDEF in a law degree. They must be either in the final year of their bachelor or in year 1 or 2 of Master.
Candidates should demonstrate interest in Rule of law development and display cultural sensitivity. They should have a strong track record of legal research and academic writing skills and knowledge of fundamental rights.
Application
Applications must be written in English and should encompass:
– A CV with full contact details;
– A motivation letter.
Application Deadline: 31st of January 2023
Selected candidates will be contacted an interview.
Applications must be sent to:
Prof. Stefan Braum stefan.braum@uni.lu
Ms. Paulina Baschton paulina.baschton@ext.uni.lu
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Under the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation project between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the University of Luxembourg and the National University of Laos are proud to announce the opening for applications to join our Master programme in Law during one year at the University of Luxembourg. The scholarship is open to graduates from the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the National University of Laos.
Year one – Master in Law at the University of Luxembourg
The University of Luxembourg offers six outstanding LL.M. specialisations including “European Union law and its litigation system”, “European Economic and Financial Criminal Law” and more. For more information, see:
https://wwwen.uni.lu/studies/fdef/ll_m_programmes/ll_m_programmes2.
The Master of Laws (LL.M. degree) provides opportunities for Law students to advance their specialisation and career in Law. All LL.M. programmes at the University of Luxembourg are oriented towards European law, with a common first year and a highly specialised second year.
The first year (M1) at the University of Luxembourg explores all six specialisations offered in the second year. It includes for example advanced classes on Institutional and Substantive EU law, International and transnational context, on International and European human rights protection. For more information, see: https://wwwen.uni.lu/studies/fdef/ll_m_programmes/ll_m_programmes2.
Why study for a Master at the University of Luxembourg?
The University of Luxembourg offers a unique multilingual and multicultural approach, reflected in the international student body and faculty. All masters programmes are taught in English (and French), with opportunities for students to acquire professional language skills and a competitive advantage in a globalised working environment.
Small class sizes ensure practical and personalised teaching by distinguished academic staff of the Research Unit in Law, supported by judges, legal practitioners and other professionals from the field.
Students can take part in international moot court competitions to gain practical experience and recognition. Clinical teaching is integrated into some of the programmes.
Our scholarship
We are happy to offer a grant covering all expenses (travel, accommodation and per diem) to study for one year in the Master in Law programme at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (FDEF) of the University of Luxembourg. The costs will be entirely supported by Inter-University Cooperation Project Laos-Luxembourg.
Our University will provide you a friendly and dynamic international academic environment at the heart of the Europe.
If the selected candidate is successful with the year one of the Master in Law, he/she will be able to apply for another one-year scholarship for the second year of the programme (M2).
Criteria
We are looking for enthusiastic graduates (or graduating this academic year) from the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the National University of Laos.
Applicants must at least hold a bachelor law degree or with a strong component in law. Candidates should seek to pursue their career in law, for example through teaching or practice in the future.
There are no criteria in terms of age. Candidates will be selected based on merit.
Criteria will be in particular the excellency of their grades, interest for studying law, the quality of their application and their level of English proficiency (B2 recommended). French is an asset.
The University of Luxembourg will have full discretion in the selection and or rejection of the applications.
Application
Applications must be written in English and should encompass:
– A CV with full contact details;
– A motivation letter.
Application Deadline: 22 of January 2023
Selected candidates will be contacted for a written test (short essay on a research topic) and if successful an interview in February 2023.
Applications must be sent to:
Ms. Paulina Baschton paulina.baschton@ext.uni.lu
and Mr. Patthanaphone Nammalath patthanaphone.nammalath@ext.uni.lu
Download our call for application: https://dropit.uni.lu/invitations?share=d680bbea1f895b7a02fe&dl=0
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Under the framework of the Inter-University Project Laos-Luxembourg, the University of Luxembourg is supporting students’ training for the ICRC IHL Moot Court Competition since 2016.
A one-week Moot Court training was organized from 24th to 28th October 2022 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of NUOL. After a long period of restrictions due to Covid-19, participants could attend the event face-to-face.
Dr. Lawrence Siry, who has been involved in the moot training for the past three years, gave a one-week intensive training to a group of 10-15 FLP students to prepare them for the Lao National Round of ICRC IHL Moot coming next 14th of December. The training focused on how to make convincing pleadings and critically present arguments. Students also learned more deeply about International humanitarian law and International criminal law, as well as its application to the Moot problem of this year relating to environmental damages.
The first day of the training was dedicated to the participants’ self-Introduction and an introduction of a brief history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
On the Second day, the training was devoted to teaching about the legal process of the ICC or how the ICC handles each different case.
On the third day, the training focused on how the participants could find evidence or references to support their legal argument, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Charter of the United Nations, the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.
The fourth day of the training was dedicated to analyzing the Moot Problem, where participants had to work in groups and design their legal arguments in preparation of their memorials.
On the last day of the training, all the participants had the opportunity to show their pleading skills by using all the lessons they had learned in the past four days, and everyone could also make progress!
Moot court competitions are an essential aspect of “Problem-based learning” and promote practice-relevant teaching. Students will not only develop their legal skills but also enhance their speaking and debating skills, as well as their English skills. All students received certificates after completion of the training.
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The Inter-University Cooperation Project organised its 4th Law Winter School from October 18th to 21th 2022 in Vang Vieng. Sixteen candidates were selected based on their interest in improving their legal knowledge for an intensive 3-day seminar. This edition included thirteen law lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science and three practitioners (one former judge, one prosecutor, and one legal officer).
The Law Winter School was dedicated to “Rule of Law Principles,” particularly the principle of legality, which is highly relevant for interpreting and implementing laws. The Winter School also dealt with the legal principles of proportionality, fair trial and the right to property. This Winter School was taught in English by Prof. Stefan Braum (University of Luxembourg) and Andrii HUBAI (PhD, Uni.lu), Melina ANASTASOPOULOU, (PhD, Uni.lu), Anna MORAITI (PhD, Uni. lu) and Dr. Perrine Simon (Liaison Officer of University of Luxembourg in Laos).
This Law Winter School aims to provide participants with both theoretical and practical knowledge, as well create a dialogue on Rule of law principles among participants. Each session included practical exercises connecting the theory with hypothetical legal problems. Selected lecturers also presented their understanding of Rule of law principles such as legality and proportionality in the Lao context, while other presented their research projects connected to the fundamental right to property.
Day 1 of the Winter School started by defining the role and function of legal principles with a presentation from Pr. Braum, and then identifying which legal principles Rule of law implies with a presentation from Andrii Hubai. Participants actively discussed the difference between “Law” and “principles” as well as “Rule of law” and “Rule by law.” In the afternoon, the focus was on the principle of legality with a lecture followed by an exercise on legal interpretation with hypothetical legal problems.
Day 2 was dedicated to the principles of fair trial and presumption of innocence (presentation by Melina Anastasopoulou) as well as the principle of proportionality (presentation by Anna Moraiti). Ass. Prof. Viengvilay Thiengchanhxay, the Dean of the FLP also joined the sessions opening discussions on law drafting.
In the afternoon, participants had to work and plead on a hypothetical case involving the application of Rule of Law principles. They were divided into three groups – judge, prosecutor, and defendant – to perform pleadings. These small moot exercises where concluded by Prof. Stefan Braum’s feedback on how to enhance the correct application of Rule of law principles in solving concrete cases.
Day 3 was dedicated to the fundamental right to property, starting with a presentation from Andrii Hubai. Participants then discussed in groups small hypotheticals involving violations of the right to property. Lathdavanh and Khamphiew then presented their research topic on compensation issues in Laos and the property of spouses insisting on the relevance of the right to property in their topic. This Law Winter School ended with a round-table reflection, which allowed participants to discuss how to enhance the teaching and research of Rule of law principles.
All participants showed enthusiasm and motivation during the event and energetically interacted with the guest speaker and each other. They learned to understand the importance of the rule of law principles. All participants were provided a reading list to go further with learning support materials to strengthen their knowledge.
For the next Law Summer School, it is foreseen to deepen discussions on the principle of legality by focusing on legal certainty, interpretation and law drafting.
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The University of Luxembourg actively supports problem-based learning (PBL) through Moot Court trainings. Following the success of our first and second Moot court ‘training the trainers’ in November 2021 and March 2022, Lao lecturers were eager to deepen their mooting skills and solicited another training with Dr. Papawadee Tanodomdej from Chulalongkorn University (CU). Ms. Tanodomdej is specialized in Public International Law and coach for Chulalongkorn’s team for the Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition and the Philips C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. From 12th to 14th of October, our third Moot Court Training for lecturers took place at the FLP in Vientiane.
The main objectives of this training were to build an understanding of IHL (International Humanitarian Law) and ICL (International Criminal Law) legal issues and pleading skills to prepare the lecturers in moot court coaching. The 3-day training was run in Thai language and attended by five lecturers as well as students who were potential mooters for the upcoming Lao national competition.
Morning sessions were primarily dedicated to lectures, whereas afternoon sessions included group activities and discussions. Participants were provided with the moot problem both in English and Thai language, presentation slides prepared by Dr. Tanodomdej and relevant international instruments.
The first day of the training was dedicated to introducing mooting and dealing with core IHL principles. In the afternoon, Dr. Tanodomdej introduced the participants to environmental protection during armed conflict. In addition, Dr. Tanodomdej provided the lecturers with a group exercise, dividing the participants into two groups to identify whether the Vietnam war and Gulf war could be considered as a war crime under article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the ICC Statute.
The second day of the training was dedicated to the analysis of the moot problem and search of reliable legal resources. Ms. Tanodomdej also briefed the participants on the methodology required to write the memorials for the ICRC/Red Cross IHL Moot Court Competition for Asia-Pacific region (IHL Moot). Information is available in English at: https://www.redcross.org.hk/en/moot20/index.html. In the afternoon, lecturers were divided into two groups to discuss “the war crime of excessive incidental death, injury, or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment” – article 8(2)(b)(iv). Dr. Tanodomdej also shared the best memorials from last year’s team and tips on how to make a good pleading. The participants were then split into two groups as Prosecution and Defense teams and had to prepare for the pleading next day.
On the last day, lecturers and students had the opportunity to practice actual pleading, while some were acting as judges allowing them to comment each other’s pleadings. Dr. Tanodomdej provided tips and suggestions to help the lecturers instruct the mooters in the future.
This practical aspect of the training helped the participants to gain an in-depth understanding of how moot court pleadings work!
We hope in the future to keep working with Chulalongkorn University and Thai colleagues on joint Moot court activities.
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Useful resources in Thai and English can be found online such as :
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl
For Thai language at:
https://blogs.icrc.org/th/wp-content/uploads/sites/104/2021/12/Additional-Protocols-THAI_web-version.pdf
ຂ່າວສານ
From 12th-17th September 2022, a delegation from Laos including Ass. Pr. Viengvilay Thiengchanhxay (Dean of FLP-NUOL), Mr. Somsack Silithip (Coordinator for the FLP), accompanied by Dr. Perrine SIMON (Liaison Officer of Uni.lu) and Mr. Patthanaphone Nammalath (Uni.lu’s Project Assistant) travelled to Luxembourg to attend the Inter-University Cooperation Project’s Monitoring Committee in Luxembourg City. This visit was very much awaited after the easing of travel restrictions.
The delegation was welcomed by Prof. Stefan Braum, the Project leader. The Monitoring Committee took place at the Faculté de Droit, Économie et Finance (FDEF) of University of Luxembourg on 13th of September 2022. The meeting was the opportunity to introduce Prof. Thomas Mastrullo, who will travel to Laos in January 2023 to the FLP and to discuss upcoming activities as well as Laotian research fellows’ progress and difficulties. Exchanges focused in particular on the enrolment of our first doctoral candidate and the need to identify subsequent candidate(s), and also on the need to take concrete steps in the development of an institutional repository for Lao legal research outputs.
On 14th September, the delegation also visited the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFEA) at the Direction of the Cooperation and met with Mr. Claude Jentgen, the Coordinator for Bilateral Cooperation. The delegation highlighted the milestones of the inter-university cooperation between Laos and Luxembourg and the willingness to deepen it in the future.
This “monitoring” trip ended by paying a courtesy visit to the Lao Ambassador in Brussels, H.E. Phoukhong Sisoulath. Dr. Perrine Simon reported on the achievements of the Project and explored how to reinforce synergies with the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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In the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project, the University of Luxembourg is supporting curriculum development.
A 3-day workshop dedicated to teaching skills was organized from 27th-29th July 2022 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, in Vientiane.
The workshop focused on legal teaching techniques and course syllabus design, taking examples from Criminal Law. This seminar was led by Prof. Yeo Meng Heong from the National University of Singapore and Prof. Chan Wing Cheong from Singapore Management University. This was complementary to the workshop on Substantive Criminal Law which took place from 18th-20th July 2022. It brought together again the lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of the National University of Laos, the Faculty of Law and Administrative (FLA) of the Champasak University, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet, who had attended this previous seminar.
The training dealt in particular with how to find the right level of teaching to create an effective learning environment for students through the strengthening of teaching skills.
Sessions combined lectures and group discussions. Participants were provided with a handout prepared by Prof. Yeo Meng Heong and Prof.Chan Wing Cheong giving in particular guidelines on teaching skills and techniques for finding the right level of law teaching through the method called Bloom’s Taxonomy and learning same as techniques for teaching in big and small classrooms, PowerPoint design, students’ participation, engagement, and assessment.
Participants discussed in groups some selected course syllabi included in the Handout and assessment plan. They looked at the differences and similarities of these syllabi to identify the pros and cons in comparison with their own syllabus and also discuss the possible integration of parts of it into the Lao curriculum.
The participation of the lecturers of the Faculty of Law and Administrative of Champassak University and of the National Institute of Justice was made possible with the financial support of the LuxDev Project LAO/031.
ຂ່າວສານ
In the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project, the University of Luxembourg is supporting curriculum development.
A 3-day seminar dedicated to Criminal Law was organised from 18th -20th July 2022 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, in Vientiane. We had the pleasure to welcome for the first-time academics from Singapore. The seminar was led by Prof. Yeo Meng Heong from National University of Singapore with Prof. Chan Wing Cheong from Singapore Management University.
The seminar focused on Criminal Law and Criminal Justice using Comparative Law to analyse Lao Criminal Law making references to Singaporean, German and Thai Criminal Law. The Inter-University Project brought together Criminal Law lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) of National University of Laos, the Faculty of Law and Administrative (FLA) of Champasak University, and from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet. 6 Practitioners – lawyers members of the Lao Bar Association, judges from Lao People’s Supreme Court, and prosecutors from the Lao Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor also attended the workshop.
Sessions were a combination of lectures and group discussions. Participants were provided with a handout prepared by Prof. Yeo Meng Heong and Prof. Chan Wing Cheong using a comparative legal method to analyse Criminal Law. The sessions focused on the elements of crime, standard offence of murder, as well as on participation, attempt and the defence/self-defence and insanity legitimation.
Participants discussed in groups many “hypotheticals” (small hypothetical legal cases to resolve) exploring provisions of the Penal Code of different countries. This allowed interactive discussions pointing at issues of legal certainty, actual meaning of certain provisions, pros and cons about the terminology used in Lao Law compared to other jurisdictions.
The participation of the lecturers of the Faculty of Law and Administrative of Champassak University and the National Institute of Justice was made possible with the financial support of the LuxDev Project LAO/031.
ຂ່າວສານ
From 21st-24th June 2022, Prof. Stefan Braum, the Project Leader of the Inter-University cooperation project Laos-Luxembourg could finally travel to Laos after the easing of travel restrictions associated with the COVID 19 pandemic. His visit started with the Steering Committee Meeting, which took place face-to-face for the first time in two years at the FLP on Wednesday, 22nd of June. The Steering Committee Meeting was attended by Sam Schreiner (Chargé d’Affaires of the Luxembourg Embassy in Laos), Anika Brück (Desk Asia, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Luxembourg partners including LuxDev and ILSTA). The meeting served to show the accomplishment of the Project’s phase 2 and to discuss the project planning and budget for 2022.
On 23rd June 2022, Prof. Stefan, Dr. Perrine Simon (Liaison Officer of Uni.lu) accompanied by Dr. Somdeth Keovongsack (Vice-dean of FLP), Somsack Silithip (Coordinator of the Project for the FLP) and Ms. Thongkhoon Xayyahong (Uni.lu’s Project Assistant) paid a courtesy visit to the National University of Laos, meeting the Vice-President and Prof. Dr. Houngphet Chanthavong, as well as to the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, where they met with the Minister Assoc. Prof. Phoud Simmalavong.
ຂ່າວສານ
In the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Project, the University of Luxembourg is supporting curriculum development.
A 3-day training dedicated to Legal Education Pedagogy dealing specifically with International Law & International Human Rights Law curriculum was organised from June 15th -17th 2022 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, in Vientiane.
The training focused on course syllabus of International Law & International Human Rights to strengthen the teaching skills of lecturers from the Faculty of Law and Political Science of National University of Laos, the Faculty of Law and Administrative of the Champassak University, and also National Institute of Justice Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Champasak.
This teaching skill training was organised in collaboration with Prof. Jonathan Liljeblad from the Australian National University and coordinated by Dr Perrine Simon (Uni.lu’s Liaison Officer).
Morning sessions were dedicated mostly to lectures and afternoon sessions included group activities and discussions. Participants were provided with a syllabus including references for teaching law International Law and International Human Rights Law and several templates of real syllabi from different universities around the world.
Participants discussed in groups the selected syllabi looking at their pros and cons, the differences and similarities with their own syllabus and possible integration of parts of it in the Lao curriculum.
On the last day of the seminar, Prof. Jonathan Liljeblad dealt with Teaching Techniques and Assessment Techniques, introducing them in particular to the IRAC formula used for legal reasoning).
The participation of the lecturers of the Faculty of Law and Administrative of Champassak University and of the National Institute of Justice was made possible with the financial support of the LuxDev Project LAO/031.
