UNIL - BIICL ... a good idea of how trials are conducted in England and how different it is from ours..."
From 1st to 3rd of May, some of us, students from the University of Lausanne, attended the short course “Cross-border Commercial Dispute Resolution – Selected Aspects” in the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). This course has been a valuable experience, not only academically, but also socially.
The course covered various interesting topics, including:
Collective Litigation and Arbitration by Rhonson Salim.
These presentations were all very inspirational. On top of that it was a great privilege to be able to hear experts talk about their professional experiences.
The lunch and coffee breaks were a good opportunity for the participants to get to know each other. The presence of some students from other universities and of professionals from the UK Ministry of Justice and the Government was definitely a great opportunity to exchange ideas, points of view on the subjects, get some insides about their profession, and so on.
The limited number of participants also permitted a less formal contact with the Lecturers; whether it was with Prof. Bonomi during the coffee break or with Prof. Lein at the Pub, this course allowed the students to have a sort of more “privileged” and personal contact than at the University.
Finishing the seminar, students then visited the Royal Courts of Justice. It was really amusing to see the lawyers and judges with their wigs, discover the beautiful courts and learn about the English judicial system.
During the visit, we were also invited to participate in a mock trial, in which we were divided into three groups, namely, the Claimant, Respondent, and the Judges. The case was a hypothetical one but based on a real case, where Apple sued Samsung for breach of IP rights regarding its tablet product. This experience was very intriguing, it gave us a good idea of how trials are conducted in England and how different it is from ours.
Finally, thanks also to the optimal location of the British Institute (Russell Square), it was very easy for the participants to organize some after work activities like going to pubs and restaurants together, and discovering London.
Overall, this short trip to London has been enriching and very enjoyable. We would recommend it to students interested in discovering a different practice of the law while meeting new people and enjoying London.
Xiaofang MA, Claudio Colombi and Karolina Mici