The first week of our summer abroad began with the Cambridge trip rite of passage known as Legal London. This whirlwind week included studying the process of lawmaking in Parliamentary Government and the adjudication of civil and criminal cases in England. The ten students who attended were led by Professor Ed Gaffney of Valpo Law.
For our first night together in London, Professor Gaffney arranged for the entire class to attend a production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” at the internationally known, Globe Theatre. Viewing “King Lear” was meant to show students what happens in a lawless society and introduce us to the concepts which we would be covering in Gaffney’s week-long class.
The first day of our course was aimed at studying comparative constitutional law between the United Kingdom and the United States. This included a trip to the Houses of Parliament to view judicial committee hearings and an informational meeting with Leslie Tsou, a diplomat on the staff of the United States Embassy. Later that evening at Ramsay Hall, our residence for the week, Professor Gaffney introduced us to international and transnational law in order to prepare us for the rest of the week’s agenda. This agenda included having tea at the Houses of Parliament with Lord Woolf, Former Chief Justice of England and Wales, a meeting with two international corporate lawyers at the London office of Bird & Bird and a visit to the Royal Courts of Justice.
Professor Gaffney focused much of the week enlightening students of the issues associated with the ongoing Israeli – Palestinian conflict, which stems from a dispute over national identities and land-claims of both groups.
To further our understanding of this conflict, Professor Gaffney arranged for us to meet with foreign dignitaries such as Egyptian Ambassador Gehad Madi and the Palestinian General Delegate to the U.K. Manuel Hassassian. Students also spoke with Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International about possible solutions which could be utilized in resolving the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.
For the final day in London, many students opted to attend the Changing of the Guard at the Forecourt of Buckingham Palace, and visit major tourist attractions such as Tower Bridge and Harrods’s Department Store. Following their visits, students boarded a train to what would become their new home for the remainder of the month at Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Professor Gaffney’s Legal London exam was held that Monday after which students began two courses; Comparative Criminal Law taught by Professor Geneva Brown, and Comparative Consumer Protection with Professor Alan White.
Professor Brown’s Criminal Law course focused on international criminal law with an emphasis on the Bosnian and Rwandan conflicts. Professor White’s class examined the similarities and differences between the European Union and United States legal systems treatment of consumer protection laws, focusing on such topics as advertising, distance sales practices and the regulation of credit. Professor White invited several local speakers to our class including Peter Cartwright, a Professor of Consumer Protection Law from the University of Nottingham who gave a detailed explanation of market discipline and consumer protection in banking.
The next weekend the group traveled to the Netherlands where Professor Geneva Brown introduced students to International Criminal Law material she would be teaching. That Friday, the class boarded a plane bound for Amsterdam, later traveling by train to Den Haag, also known as “The Hague.” The Hague is home to over 150 legal organizations, including the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the International Court of Justice (also known as the World Court or ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The class received an exclusive tour of the Peace Palace which houses the ICJ and serves as the principal judicial body of the United Nations. The group then met Professor Penelope Andrews at the International Criminal Court and attended the arraignment of former rebel leader and Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo.
Back in Cambridge, classes resumed their Monday through Thursday schedule at the Valparaiso University (VU) Center. Classes were held in the same location where students were staying, making it convenient to walk across the hall to attend class lectures. The early morning classes allowed students the rest of the day to study and explore the Cambridge area.
After making friends with local bartenders, some students found entertainment as regulars at Sir Issac Newton Pub and The Pickering Inn. Both conveniently located within walking distance of the VU Center. Students took advantage of the long weekends by traveling to places such as Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Prague, Scotland and Israel.
The weeks in Cambridge flew by as students jet-setted across Europe and “studied” late into the evenings. For the final night in Cambridge, students took it upon themselves to organize their very own pub crawl as a final sendoff to a great summer. While some students greatly anticipated their return home to the United States, where they could once again enjoy the luxuries of showering without flip-flops, driving to the grocery store, and not needing to find exactly twenty pence to use the clothes dryer, Cambridge was a great learning experience and is strongly recommended to any interested student.
Summer 2008 Cambridge Attendees:
Professor Gaffney, Professor Brown, White, & Professor Andrews, Masha Bijedic, Nikki Camier, Lara Craveiro, Charles Eggert, Danny Hodgkinson, Heather Looby, Liz Plank, Adam Pope, Evan “Easy” Wheeler, and Shellana Welch.
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