Skip to content | Change text size
 

Law semester begins in Prato

10 May 2006

The Monash Law in Europe program has opened for the fifth successive year at the Monash University Prato Centre, with nearly twice as many participants as last year.

More than 120 students are participating in this year's Monash Law in Europe program.

The program, which emphasises international, comparative and European perspectives, is being delivered by experts from the University of Florence, Osgoode Hall (York University, Toronto), Tel Aviv University and Monash, together with legal practitioners and current and former members of the judiciary.

A total of 125 students have enrolled in this year's program, including 30 from Osgoode Hall and five from Tel Aviv University, participating for the first time. Ninety-five Monash law students from second and later years have also joined the course.

Program leader Associate Professor Judd Epstein said the program gave students a unique opportunity to gain an international perspective.

"This program brings international perspectives and exposure to our students in a way that would not be possible operating solely from Melbourne," he said. "The students learn from faculties based in three continents and test their ideas both in class and out with students with deeply different assumptions and experiences."

The program, which comprises 11 units, is taught intensively from late April through to July, and law students who complete it are eligible to take up to a semester's credit towards their degree.

Since commencing, the program has featured a distinguished list of guest lecturers, including Australian Federal Court judges Ray Finkelstein and Mark Weinberg and academics from the universities of Florence, Modena and Bologna. Guest speakers have included Gough Whitlam and professors from the University of Macerata and the Sorbonne.

This year's lecturers include Justice Stephen Charles of the Victorian Court of Appeal, leading international comparative criminal law expert Professor Michele Papa of the University of Florence, and Monash alumnus Mr Rowan Russell, who is a partner in the London office of Mallesons Stephen Jaques.

Academic Director of the Prato Centre Dr Annamaria Pagliaro said she was delighted the law program continued to grow and thrive in Prato.

"It is an excellent educational model that underscores the uniquely strong international approach of Monash," she said.

"Classes are being held in the elegant new ground-floor seminar rooms, which opened this year with support from the Commune and Province of Prato and the local Chamber of Commerce."

Further details on the law program at Prato can be viewed on the Monash University Law website.