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The graduation of the 13th Edition of the German Law School

June 18th, 2010 marked the end of the 13th edition of the annual course in German Law organised by the Jagiellonan University in co-operation with the Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg and the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. The celebration was inaugurated by words of welcome from the JU Rector Prof. Karol Musioł and the Directors of the German Law School. It was honoured by Prof. Peter Michael Huber, the Minister of the Interior of Thuringia who delivered a guest lecture entitled ‘The Renaissance of the State.' The whole ceremony was finished in a musical setting related to the year of Chopin, organised by Anna Rataj, a German Law School graduate.

In September 2009, there were about 80 applicants for the German Law School. During the winter semester (from October till 15 January), which precedes the main course of German law, the students attended Mrs Zofia Luranc-Mądry's course of German law language.

An additional form of linguistic preparation was the course ‘Introduction to the Study of Foreign Law and Comparative Law Analysis on the Examples of the Polish law and the German law.' This course was launched last year and focused on the historical and methodological aspects of the issues in question.

In January 2010, 32 participants passed the exam, which testified to the advanced level of German and were ready to begin the spring semester of the German Law School.

The 13th edition of the School was inaugurated on 15 January 2010 in the General Consulate of Germany in Kraków. The students were greeted by Dr. Heinz Peters, the General Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kraków, by Prof. Jerzy Pisuliński, the Vice-Dean for International Cooperation of the Faculty of Law and Administration, and Prof. Dr. Dieter Dörr, a lecturer at Mainz University.

In the academic year 2009/2010 twelve professors and lecturers from Heidelberg and Mainz gave lectures (nine and a half hours weekly from January till May, 2010) to German Law students in Kraków. They covered issues such as German constitutional law in Europe, introduction to the German civil law, collateral law (security law), fundamentals of the European law, methods of case solution in civil law – the example of agreements transferring rights, contract law, particular sales contract, administrative law, labour law, constitutional law in the light of jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court, commercial law, German and European company law with elements of bankruptcy law, and criminal law.

The lectures were delivered by professors and lecturers from Heidelberg: Christian Hattenhauer, Thomas Lobinger, Reinhard Mußgnug, Christian Schubel, Carl-Heinz Witt and Dr. Roman Guski and Dr. Friedemann Kainer and from Mainz: Dieter Dörr, Volker Erb, Reinhard Hepting, Jürgen Oechsler and Rolf Schwartmann. They concerned the main subjects of the German Law School: civil and public law. These introductory lectures enabled the students to understand more deeply the particular fields of law and created solid foundations for understanding these specific topics. The lectures focused on the methodology used to solve given cases, which is an important element of law studies in Germany.

The lectures, conducted in German, were accompanied by classes in Polish. During these classes the JU assistants helped students to assimilate the material. After each block of lectures and classes the students took written examinations in German, which checked their knowledge of the discussed legal issues.

During the graduation ceremony of the 13th edition of the German Law School, which took place in the Aula of Collegium Novum, the graduates received their diplomas. Mr. Kajetan Biernat, the best student of the third year of law, was awarded a scholarship, which will allow him to write his doctoral dissertation at the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg after completing his studies in Kraków. The second best alumni were awarded the possibility of professional training in two renowned German companies: Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Ingelheim) and Sanofi-Aventis GmbH (Berlin).

Finally, let me mention that the realisation of this edition of the German Law School was possible due to the financial support of our sponsors: the Foundation for Polish-German Collaboration (Die Stiftung für deutsch-polnische Zusammenarbeit), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Marga and Kurt Möllgard Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

 

Aleksandra Romanowska

Co-ordinator of the JU German Law School

Published Date: 22.06.2010
Published by: Leszek Śliwa
Uniwersytet Jagielloński