Courses 2014

Austrian Arbitration Academy

Unit 1 & Unit 2

The Austrian Arbitration Academy is a new two-week intensive program within the Summer University for both regular students of the Summer University and participants who take part only in this special arbitration course.

It addresses the following groups of participants:

• Students and Law School Graduates interested in the world of international dispute resolution
• Young Practitioners looking for a comprehensive course giving them first-hand insights from the world of international arbitration

 

Professor Paul Oberhammer (Vienna/London/St. Gallen) acts as course director.

• Markus P. Fellner, Attorney at law at SCWP Schindhelm (Vienna)
• Christian Koller, Lecturer at the University of Vienna
• Christian W. Konrad, Attorney at law at Konrad & Partners (Vienna)
• Helmut Ortner, Attorney at law at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (London)
• August Reinisch, Attorney at law (New York), Professor at the University of Vienna
• Stefan Riegler, Attorney at law at Baker & McKenzie (Vienna)
• Maxi Scherer, special counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (London), Senior Lecturer at the Queen Mary University of London
• Anna-Maria Taminnen, Attorney at law at Hannes Snellman (Finland)

 

Classes will be held Monday to Friday mornings. In additional afternoon and evening workshops the participants will discuss salient issues of international arbitration with special guests from the international arbitration community.

On July 25 a written exam will take place. On the eve before the exam, a special Q&A session will help the participants to prepare for the exam.

 

The classes will cover the following issues:

• Introduction to International Arbitration
• The Arbitration Clause
• The Arbitral Tribunal
• The Arbitral Proceedings
• The Arbitral Award
• The Challenge of the Award
• The Enforcement of the Award
• Introduction to Investment Arbitration

 

 

 

European Monetary Union

 

In no other area has European integration advanced as much as in the monetary sphere. By joining the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), 18 countries of the European Union (as of 1 January 2014) have given up their national currencies and their monetary sovereignty and have created a common monetary area with a joint central banking system (Eurosystem) and a common European currency (Euro). With the introduction of euro notes and coins Europe also got a strong common symbol. At the same time, the US dollar received a competitor for its role as the dominant international currency.

The financial, economic and debt crisis has revealed fault lines in the design of EMU. Reforms to address these issues have been undertaken. However, many observers think more radical reforms are necessary. In this sense, EMU has moved center stage in EU’s on-going evolution and further integration.

The course aims at providing students with in-depth knowledge of institutional and economic issues related to EMU, so that they can form their own views on this and related topics. Former students appreciated the topicality of this course and its close correspondence to issues discussed in the political and financial community.

 

The course will cover the following topics:

• Stages, history and rationale of monetary integration in Europe
• Costs and benefits of a monetary union – past and future enlargement of the euro area
• The rationale of independent central banks
• The common monetary policy in practice – goals, principles, strategy, decision-making bodies and processes
• The implementation of monetary policy in the Euro system
• The transmission mechanism of monetary policy
• Fault lines in the euro area’s economic governance, and reforms in response to the crisis – outlook on future challenges

 

Requirements: Active class participation (20%) and a mid-term and final exam (40% each).

 

This course is regularly organized with the support of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).

 

 

 

The Institutional Framework of the European Union

“On paper” and “in practice”

 

The course will focus on the unique political system of the European Union. Students will be introduced to the main institutions playing a role in the policy process and to some of the main decision-making procedures. The course very much builds on the active participation of participants. Group work, open debates and simulations form an integral part of the program.

 

The first part of the course will focus on the Institutional Framework of the EU by examining:

• The main sources of Community Law and their possible repercussions on the institutional framework.
• The role of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Court of Justice within the EU’s institutional framework (and where relevant their evolution during the process of European integration).
• This section will conclude with a debate within small groups, where issues such as legitimacy of the institutions will be discussed.

 

The second part will concentrate on decision making within the European system by looking at:

• Some of the main decision making procedures with special focus on the ordinary legislative procedure
• The role of actors such as NGOs in the EU’s decision making process
• This part will close with a simulation on a Council Working Party where participants will “negotiate” on behalf of different member states. “Country-mandates” and instructions will be provided.

 

Requirements: Class participation including debate and simulation (30%) and an in class exam (essay questions) (70%).

It is recommended to take this course in conjunction with Prof. Schima’s course: European Union Law.

 

 

 

The Habsburg Monarchy 1815-1918

Powerful Empire or collapsing multi-national giant?

 

The Habsburg Monarchy – covering till 1918 a good part of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe – is an internationally extensively studied country which serves as a case study for many questions of nationalism, identity and power politics. The study of selected developments in the last century of the Habsburg monarchy will allow a deeper insight into the history of European politics leading to the First World War and its results with a large impact on the identity constructions of many European countries. Discussions about phenomena like Empire, multi-nationalism, national identity, minorities etc. between participants of different countries and cultures will allow comparisons and connect this class to problems of the present.

 

The course will focus on Central Europe in a broad sense of the term and will cover the following topics:

• The forming of the Habsburg Monarchy
• Territories and economic basis of the Habsburg Monarchy
• Discussion of the Empire-theories
• Was the Habsburg Monarchy a great Power?
• The Habsburg dynasty in the long 19th century (personalities, the court in Vienna, representation)
• Political participation in the Habsburg Monarchy during the long 19th century (constitution, party-system)
• Social problems in the Habsburg Monarchy during the long 19th century
• The nationality problem
• Aspects of culture of the Habsburg Monarchy

 

Requirements: Attendance and participation in class discussion constitute 20%, a short paper and the presentation of the paper 40% and a written final (essay-type) 40 % of the grade.

 

 

 

European Private Law - The Civilian Tradtion

 

The course offers a historical and comparative introduction to European Private Law.

Today’s variety of legal systems in Europe cannot be properly understood without reference to European Legal History. Thus, one part of the course will be devoted to the development of European Private Law and the specific contribution of the Civilian Tradition. Particular attention is given to the dominant forces of law making in the different legal systems: magistrates and legal experts in Ancient Roman Law, professors and clergymen in Medieval Law, judges in the Common Law and legislators in Modern Continental Law.

Furthermore, basic concepts of Private Law such as property, good faith in contractual dealings and the role of fairness in extra contractual obligations will be dealt with in this course in a comparative perspective. This will be done mainly in form of discussions about specific cases. Special emphasis will be placed on the discussion of possible solutions, the analysis of court decisions and the evaluation of legislative choices.

Two guest lectures by former Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) Prof. Verica Trstenjak will treat current issues of EU Private Law, outlining the pertinent legislation in the area of EU Consumer Protection Law and Copyrights, and presenting selected Case Law of the ECJ.

 

I. The Landscape of European Private Law: Diversity and Common Traditions

• Variations of a Theme: Transfer of Property in European Legal Systems
• Good Faith in European Contract Law
• Extra contractual Obligations: the Witty Genealogist’s Case

II. Lawyers, Judges, Legislators. The Making of European Law

• Roman and Medieval Law: The Jurists´ Role in the Development of Law as a Science
• Differences in Style and Substance: Codification(s) of Private Law in Continental Europe
• Common Law and Civil Law: Judges as Law Makers
• The Scope of Information Duties in Civil Law and in Common Law

III. EU Private Law: Guest Lectures by Prof. Verica Trstenjak

• EU Legislation: EC-Directives in the Area of Consumer Protection and Copyrights
• The Impact of the ECJ on the Evolution of EU Private Law

 

Requirements: Regular attendance and active participation in class discussions (25%), an open-book essay exam (50%) and a quiz exam (25%).

 

 

European Security after the Cold War

 

The purpose of this course is to enable participants to better understand the conceptual foundations of international security policy, the positive and negative developments in the area of security since the end of the Cold War, and the main institutions relevant to security in Europe.

 

1. Basic Security Strategies:

• collective defence
• collective security
• cooperative security
• neutrality

 

2. European Security after the Cold War, “9/11” and the Global Economic Crisis:

The new structure of the international system: between unipolarity and non-polarity.

• good news including:
  • the peaceful end of the Cold War
  • the new pan-European value platform
  • progress in the areas of European integration and security cooperation
  • arms control and steps towards disarmament
• bad news including:
  • cyber (in)security
  • new dimensions of terrorism and organized crime
  • ecological security: climate change as a security problem
  • energy security
  • food security
  • failed states
  • the return of piracy

 

3. Global, Transatlantic and European Security Institutions:

• the UN: its mixed record after the Cold War
• NATO: the “new NATO” – its litmus test in Afghanistan?
• the EU: economic giant – political and military dwarf?
• the OSCE: the possibilities and limitations of pan-European cooperative security

 

Requirements: Students will have a choice between a final oral or written exam on which the final grade will be mainly based; participation in class during the course will also be taken into account.

 

 

 

Documentary Photography and its Representation of Multicultural Realities

 

Documentary photography tries to capture social and political realities and often prides itself on its unmediated and direct response to reality. Nevertheless, these photographic recordings  follow their own media rules and  have to fictionalize data in order to bestow them with meaning.

Important representatives of this genre have developed signature styles of formulating visual statements and of expressing their viewpoints.

 

In the course, students will be familiarized with different documentary approaches in the history of photography and recent photographic production. They are provided with reading material which reflects upon the documentarist´s claim to authenticity and the special blend of fact and fiction characteristic of any documentary narrative.

Through the presentation of famous documentary imagery and discussions addressing the ambiguities at the heart of this genre, students will get inspiration for their own photo project. For their projects, they are encouraged to bring their multicultural backgrounds into play and let these cultural differences inform their work. The question will be who responds in which way to the Strobl experience. The photo project will also entail a written component that provides the conceptual undertaking of the project and is designed to result in an exhibition.

 

No prior background in photography or cultural studies is necessary. Students with a strong interest in visuals, their aesthetic qualities, and their analytic appeal will find this course stimulating.

Requirements: Attendance and participation (20% of the grade), oral exam on theoretical input (40% of the grade), photo project with a written introduction (40% of the grade).

 

 

 

European History between two Globalizations

(from the 1850s to the 1980s)

 

The main aim of the course is to compare ten formative developments in politics, society, economy and culture which have started between 1850 and 1870 with similar trends since the mid-1980s (the beginning of the “second globalization”).

World War I and World War II harmed international networks and transfers of the “first globalization” considerably. The geopolitical conflict between the two super power bloc systems of the USA and the Soviet Union perpetuated the nationalistic trends despite integration within the respective spheres of influence (as documented for example by the European Integration process).  This abrupt end of the first globalization is renegotiated since the 1980s with a large unexpected variety of continuities from the 19th century.

World War I and World War II, the Holocaust as well as the Cold War are the result of a longer development with a complex system of discontinuities and continuities as well as transformations. Like before 1900 the ongoing globalization is influenced by rapid technological developments with deep effects on economic, cultural and political transfers and transformations.

 

The course will focus on Europe in a broad sense of the term and cover the following topics:

• Introduction to the history of Globalization(s)
• Art, culture and science from the first to the second modernity
• Migration history (including forced migration)
• Social structures of Europe
• The “long way” of Democracy and the impact of Fascism, National Socialism and Communism
• Europe as a battlefield and war machinery – including the colonial wars in the 19th and 20th century,  the two World Wars, and the wars in Yugoslavia
• Economic booms and disasters and the effects of cycles of economic crisis since the late 19th century
• The long story of terror (from anarchists to the effects of September 11th)
• The construction of national and European values and European hyphenated identity
• European historical narratives (the Holocaust; Europe as a peace project)

 

Requirements: Attendance and participation in class discussions constitute 20%, a short paper 30% and a written final topical essay 50% of the grade.

 

 

 

European Union Law

The Contribution of the European Court of Justice of the EU

 

This course is designed to help students understand the system of judicial protection in European Union (EU) law and the importance of the contribution of the European Court of Justice to the development of constitutional principles of the Union.

 

This course will:

• discuss the various judicial remedies in the EU legal order with particular emphasis on the infringement procedure and the preliminary reference procedure
• show how the Court of Justice derived the basic constitutional principles of direct effect and supremacy, governing the relationship between EU law and national legal orders
• highlight how the Court of Justice in its case-law has contributed to making EU law more effective for the benefit of the individual by developing the concept of Member State liability for violations of EU law
• examine the Court’s contribution to the development of fundamental rights in the EU legal order
• study the impact of these principles by looking at concrete examples taken from different areas of substantive law (e. g. the internal market, Union citizenship).

 

Requirements: Performance will be assessed on the basis of a short quiz at the end of the first week and a written final exam. Class participation will be taken into account.

This course, which looks at European integration from a legal perspective, is recommended for students with prior knowledge of the institutions of the European Union or who have taken Christine Neuhold's course: The Institutional Framework of the European Union.

 

 

 

Transnational Organized Crime: International Law and European Perspectives

 

This course explores the international legal framework and best practice guidelines to prevent and suppress transnational organized crime, including drug trafficking, trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, and international law enforcement and judicial cooperation in this field.  The course outlines and examines the criminalization of these activities and, with a focus on European countries, analyses national, regional, and international efforts to investigate such crime and prosecute offenders.

The course is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of contemporary patterns and characteristics of transnational organized crime and relevant international conventions in this field.  The seminars, individual and team-based exercises, and assessment in this course invite students to gain insight into the levels and characteristics of various types of organized crime and critically reflect on international, regional, and domestic laws and policies designed to combat these phenomena.  The course enhances students’ abilities to research policy documents and legal material, critically analyze legislation, case studies and scholarly writing, present research findings to academic audiences, and elaborate practical recommendations for law reform and policy change relevant to the subject area.

 

Topics covered in this course include:

• Concepts and characteristics of organized crime;
• Criminalizing organized crime
• Drug trafficking
• Trafficking in persons
• Smuggling of migrants
• Law enforcement and judicial cooperation.

 

Assessment: This course involves two assessment components. Both components must be attempted. Class participation and exercises during each module throughout the course (30% of final grade), exam (70% of final grade).

 

This course is made possible through the generous support of Marina Mahler.

 

 

 

Law and Information Society in Europe

 

This course will focus on European and global trends in the legal regulation of information and communication. Specific attention will be attributed to access to information, copyright, identity management and privacy in a globalized information society. We will work on the relevant European directives and compare them with other legal, technical and social approaches.

 

Topics:

• Law as Code and Code as Law? The relations between technical, social, economical and legal forms of regulation
• Regulation of Information: The European approach
• Transparency, Privacy and Data Protection: outdated concepts in an information society?
• Identity, Authenticity and Security in a globalized network-environment

 

Recommended Reading: Lawrence Lessig, Code and other Laws of Cyberspace; additional texts and cases will be distributed throughout the course.

Requirements: Regular attendance and active participation in class discussions (40%) and an open-book essay exam (60%).

 

This course is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Brandl & Talos.

 

 

 

European Political Systems in a Comparative Perspective

 

This course familiarizes students with the major theoretical, empirical and substantive issues in contemporary European politics.

First, the course examines the different governmental institutions, electoral systems and party systems across the member states of the European Union and their impact on political processes and the society.

Second, it focuses on the different social cleavages in these political systems and their changes over time.

Third, the course analyzes the recent electoral behavior of the European electorate both in national and European Parliament elections and its repercussions on European party systems.

The course aims at deepening the understanding of the main debates in contemporary European politics using a comparative approach.

 

Requirements: Performance will be assessed on the basis of attendance and participation in class discussions (20%), an essay to be handed in at the beginning of week 2 (20%) reflecting critically on the impact of electoral systems on democratic institutions, and role play taking different party positions into account (20%) and a written final exam (essay-type) (40%).

 

 

Principles of International Economics - A European Perspective

 

This course covers both the (microeconomic) trade and the (macroeconomic) monetary aspects of international economics with European applications.

In the first part we examine standard trade theories (Ricardo, Heckscher-Ohlin, Krugman) and explain the gains from trade, the distributional impact of trade (internationally and among groups within countries), and the pattern of trade. The arguments for free trade and for trade restrictions are evaluated and different trade policies are discussed. EU trade policy serves as an example. We also discuss the conflicts between trade creation and trade diversion. Finally, we look into the economics of the internal market of the EU and the economic consequences of migration and factor movements.

The second part opens with a discussion of balance of payments accounting and analyses the determination of exchange rates and the development of international financial markets. Stabilization policies and their impact on output, employment, and prices in different exchange rate regimes and in different macroeconomic models (Keynesian and Classical) are examined in the final part of the course.

In short workshop sessions students will be invited to answer various questions in short presentations.

 

Requirements: The final grade will primarily be based on a written examination (80%) at the end of the course. Participation in class and at least one presentation in the workshop (20%) are also required.