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Home » Search Programs » Short Term/Summer Programs » UA Faculty Led Short Term Programs » Russia: St. Petersburg Law Institute
Presented by: The University of Arkansas School of Law St. Petersburg Summer Law Institute
Travel Dates: June 30 - July 26, 2008
Program Description Admission, Financial Aid and Academic Credit
The St. Petersburg Summer Law Institute (formerly administered by the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law) presents English-speaking law students with the rare opportunity to study international and comparative law in the historic cities of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, Russia. Russian law students will also attend the Summer Law Institute, many of whom will reside with their American counterparts. Participating students will earn a total of 5 credit hours toward their law degrees (subject to any policies adopted by their particular law schools). The program will begin in Novgorod, a historic center of international trade located between Moscow and St. Petersburg, with arrivals expected Monday, June 30 and classes Tuesday, July 1. On Saturday, July 5 students will head to St. Petersburg for the remainder of the program. During the four weeks, lectures will provide an introduction into Russian law and focus on diverse areas of comparative and international law (see proposed course content areas). The St. Petersburg Summer Law Institute is sponsored by the University of Arkansas School of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. The Summer Law Institute represents a continuing educational relationship between the U.S. schools, the St. Petersburg State University Law Faculty and the Novgorod State University Law Facultythat has endured since 1993, through some of the most momentous times in Russia's ongoing transformation. The University of Arkansas School of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law are accredited by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. The St. Petersburg Summer Law Institute has been approved by the Accreditation Committee of the American Bar Association and has been operating continuously since the summer of 1995. Introduction to Russian Law taught by Valentina Grohotova from Novgorod State University. This unit will be an examination of the sources of law, the court system, the legal profession, criminal and civil procedures in Russia, and will also provide an overview of constitutional law and the protection of civil rigts in Russia. International Arbitration taught by Valeri Musin from St. Petersburg State University. This unit will examine methods and procedures of resolving international commercial disputes in non-judicial proceedings. Issues to be discussed include: United Nations and national laws; arbitration clauses; place and language of hearings; documentary evidence and expert witnesses at hearings; enforcement of awards.
Comparative Legal Ethics taught by Professor Howard Brill from the University of Arkansas. This unit will examine selected issues under the American, Russian, and European Union ethical standards. Issues include: admission to practice, confidentiality, fraud on the court, forbidden fruits, unauthorized practice of law, multi-disciplinary practice, disciplinary enforcement. Techniques include situational role playing and informal arguments.
Comparative Religious Freedom taught by Professor Alan Weinstein from Cleveland State University. This unit will use the constitutional and statutory protections for religious freedom in the United States as the lens through which to view how other countries have -- or have not -- sought to protect religious freedom for individuals and institutions. The course will examine both the formal protection of religious freedom, as articulated in constitutions and statutes, and the functional protection of that freedom as it is actually practiced in the countries studied. Examples will be taken from countries with divergent approaches to the issue of religious freedom, including: countries that do not have an official “state” religion,; countries that do have an official “state” religion; and countries that have an official – or unofficial-- policy that is antagonistic to religion.
International Criminal Law taught by Professor Linda Carter from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. The focus is the study of violations of the laws and customs of war, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The study of these crimes will include an examination of the forums in which the cases are adjudicated, including the historical basis in the post-World War II Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals and a study of the current tribunals created by the United Nations for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. The structure and jurisdiction of the new permanent International Criminal Court will also be covered. The topics will include the jurisdiction of the international tribunals; the substantive crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; theories of responsibility; defenses; the blending of civil law and common law legal systems; the current debate about the definition of genocide; and the multiple forums in which international crimes are adjudicated.
Comparative Anti Trust taught by Professor Phillip Norvell from the University of Arkansas and will focus on the development of the law of monopoly under Section two of the Sherman Act with a comparison of the European Union and Russian Federation Monopoly Law.
Howard W. Brill, A.B., J.D., LL.M., serves as the Vincent Foster Professor of Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility at the University of Arkansas School of Law. After graduating from Duke University, he taught English language and African literature as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sokoto, Northern Nigeria. Professor Brill earned his J.D. from the University of Florida Law School, where he was the editor-in-chief of the law review, and later earned a graduate degree from the University of Illinois. In addition to practicing with a small firm in Rock Island, Ill., he has taught at the Universities of Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. As well as teaching in the St. Petersburg Law Institute for two summers, he has taught law in Cambridge, England. Professor Brill teaches professional responsibility, remedies, civil procedure, and domestic relations. He also teaches a special topics course on baseball and the law Linda E. Carter, Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento, California. Her teaching and research areas are criminal law and procedure, evidence, capital punishment law, and international criminal law. Prior to entering academia, Carter litigated civil and criminal cases. From 1978 to 1981, she was an attorney in the honors program of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where she litigated voting, housing, and education discrimination cases. From 1981 to 1985, she was an attorney with the Legal Defender Association in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she represented indigent criminal defendants on misdemeanor and felony charges. Her most recent publications include two books, Global Issues in Criminal Law and a second edition of Understanding Capital Punishment Law. Recent articles include the topics of innocence in death penalty cases; the rights of detained foreign nationals in capital cases under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations; and the Gacaca proceedings in Rwanda. Prof. Carter recently served as a Visiting Professional in the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in The Hague and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. She is presently conducting a study of clemency practices in death penalty cases in California for the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice.
Valentina Grohotova, Associate Professor, Novgorod State University Law School, where she teaches International Law and Human Rights. She has a Ph.D., focusing on the Foreign Policy of the Labor Government of Great Britain in the 1930s. Prof. Grohotova has been an exchange professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She has done research and presented programs in Budapest, Strasbourg, Washington and Honolulu. Since 2001 she has served as the associate on-site director for the St. Petersburg Summer Law Program.
Valeriy Musin, Professor of Law, St. Petersburg State University. Professor Musin is one of Russia 's leading international business law experts who has frequently lectured in Russia and abroad on legal issues affecting international business transactions and foreign economic activity in Russia. He has served as chief legal expert to the St. Petersburg Mayor's Office Foreign Affairs Department, is a partner in Musin and Partners, a UK-Russian legal firm and has served as an Arbitrator of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Russian Chamber for Trade and Industry. Professor Musin is also Chairman of the St. Petersburg State University Civil Procedure Department. He holds his law and graduate law degrees from Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg State University). Phillip E. Norvell, Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law (Fayetteville). He received his B.A. (1968) and J.D. (1973) from the University of Oklahoma. From 1973 to 1975, he was a trial attorney for the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission (Washington D.C.). Since 1975, he has been teaching law at Arkansas with an emphasis on Natural Resources Law and Antitrust Law. Alan C. Weinstein, Professor of Law, holds a joint faculty appointment at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs and also serves as Director of the Colleges' Law & Public Policy Program. Prior to his appointment at Cleveland State, he taught at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning, the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center at Touro College, and Wayne State University Law School. Professor Weinstein’s education includes a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of City Planning (M.C.P.) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a law degree (J.D.) from the University of California, Berkeley.
Program Administration The 2008 Law Institute will be administered by the University of Arkansas in consultation with the other sponsoring institutions and the Institute’s co-founders and initial directors, Professors Emeriti Jane M. Picker and Sidney Picker, Jr. The 2008 On-Site Director will be Valentina Grohotova, Associate Professor of Law at Novgorod State University Law School.
Instructional Time and Field Trips For the first two weeks of the program, classes will meet from Tuesday, July 1 - Friday July 4; and Monday, July 7 - Thrusday, July 10; Final Exams on Friday, July 11. Students will attend 2 out of 4 lecture series: Introduction to Russian Law, Comparative Legal Ethics, Comparative Religious Freedom, and Comparative Civil Litigation. For the second two weeks of the program, classes will meet from Monday, July 14 - Thrusday, July 17; and Monday, July 21 - Thrusday, July 24; Final Exams on Friday, July 25. Students will attend 2 out of 3 lecture series: International Criminal Law, International Arbitration, and Comparative Anti Trust. With 4 units combined, students will earn 5 credit hours. The Institute will also plan weekend and periodic afternoon excursions to legal and cultural institutions in and around St. Petersburg and Novgorod. Additionally, the program has usually included guest lecturers and officials from such organizations as the IMF, World Bank, the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg and other relevant international organizations.
Written examinations will be given in all classes. Students will receive a single grade for the program, based on the University of Arkansas grading system. Students are advised to consult their home school policies concerning receiving credit for course work. Accommodations Novgorod: The Institute will operate in the Sadko Hotel, a 30 minute walk from the center of the city. Students are provided twin-bedded rooms each with private bath. Classes will also be held in the hotel. The hotel provides dining facilities. St. Petersburg: The Institute will operate in the St. Petersburg State Education Centre, an all-in conference facility which includes twin-bedded rooms (each with private bath and small refrigerator), classrooms, and dining facilities in a choice of cafeteria and cafe. The Centre is located near a Metro stop in St. Petersburg’s inner suburbs. It is 4 Metro stops (total 10 minutes) to the center of St. Petersburg.
The State Education Center has an elevator, but is not completely accessible to individuals with disabilities. St. Petersburg and Russia are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Further information will be provided upon request. Estimated Program Fee: $4,600 The program fee includes: tuition, reading materials, lodging (double occupancy), group excursions within Russia, overseas health insurance and emergency travel assistance; airport pickups at St. Petersburg International Airport on arrival (the closest airport to both St. Petersburg and Novgorod), and, for those electing the Novgorod option, bus transportation from St. Petersburg to Novgorod and back. Not included in the program fee: air transportation to and from Russia, Russian visas, meals (except for breakfasts in Novgorod), and personal expenses. Inexpensive meals may be purchased at the Institute and nearby locations; students are free to eat where they wish, and in St. Petersburg in-room fridges are provided. Single rooms are available for a single-room surcharge of $850 for the full program.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis but must be received no later than March 15, 2008.
Admission Admission is open to students who have completed one year of full or part-time law study, and who are in good standing at an ABA-approved or state accredited law school. Applicants must present an official letter of good standing from their deans or registrar or an official transcript from their most recently attended institution. The application at the top of the page should be printed out, completed, and returned to the University of Arkansas Study Abroad Office along with the transcript or letter of good standing and a non-refundable application fee of $300. Checks should be made payable to the "University of Arkansas". The application fee is non-refundable but will be applied against the balance of the program fee.
Financial Aid As an ABA accredited law school program, the Summer Law Institute qualifies for financial assistance in the same or similar manner as semester financial assistance at most ABA accredited U.S. law schools. Students receiving financial aid will need to send award verification from their financial aid officer if payments will be received after the due dates on the forth-coming payment agreement.
Academic credit will be awarded by the University of Arkansas School of Law. A student's home school will decide whether the credits earned in St. Petersburg are transferable. Grades will be determined by written examination. Note: Credits earned in the Summer Institute cannot ordinarily be used to accelerate graduation. Students should check with their own law schools regarding thismatter.
Participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to Russia. All participants will be met upon arrival in St. Petersburg, on June 30, for bus transfer to Novgorod that evening. Students may schedule their departure from St. Petersburg anytime on July 26.
Passports and Visas Every non-Russian participant (students, faculty andadministrators) must have a valid passport, good for at least six months beyond the expected date of departure from Russia. In addition to having a valid passport, all participants must obtain a Russian visa prior to departure from the U.S. While it is the responsibility of each person to obtain his/her own visa, the Institute has negotiated a reduced rate for the provision of visas and will provide all necessary information and instructions for the acquisition of visas.Note: A Russian tourist visa is valid for only 30 days. Students wishing to extend their stay in Russia beyond 30 days will need to apply for a business visa which may require a higher fee and more documentation.
Further Information
Laura Moix For additional information about courses or program content, contact:
The sponsoring schools reserve the right to cancel the Summer Law Institute for under-enrollment or any other reason. The Institute also reserves the right to modify the curriculum and faculty if necessary. Should it become necessary to cancel, the program will attempt to make arrangements for the student to attend a similar program, if the student desires. All money advanced by the student will be refunded with twenty days after the date of cancellation. The University of Arkansas is committed to the policy of providing educational opportunities to all qualified students regardless of their economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, sexual orientation, disability, verteran's status, age, marital or parental status, or national origin. Last modified 5/13/08
Office of Study Abroad, 722 W. Maple St., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm Monday - Friday, Phone: (479)-575-7582 studyabroad@uark.edu |
