International Programs

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law’s emphasis on comparative and international law has generated curricular innovation and numerous programs offering students and faculty opportunities to study and develop expertise in this growing field.  In addition to its many foreign summer programs, the College of Law now annually sponsors:

• A traveling seminar in Europe that tours the leading institutions of the European Union;
• A seminar/tour in Rome, Italy and Istanbul, Turkey that explores the most important historical sites of the Roman law and canon law;
• The Annual Visiting Michaelle Pitard Wynne program that brings in a distinguished foreign scholar each year to offer a special seminar in current issues of international law;
• An International Arbitration Moot competition in Vienna, Austria involving Loyola faculty and a team of Loyola students; and
• Regular visits of law faculty between Loyola and many foreign institutions.

This burgeoning activity produces many opportunities for the study of international and comparative law, including frequent scholarly events, such as public addresses and faculty colloquia, and many faculty publications in comparative and international law journals. Located in the only Civil Code jurisdiction in the United States, Loyola is one of the few law schools in the world with both Civil Code and Common Law Curriculum. This makes Loyola uniquely qualified to introduce American law students to the Civil Law tradition, prevalent in much of the world.

Foreign Summer Programs

Loyola’s foreign summer programs are an important component of Loyola College of Law’s international focus. Loyola currently sponsors foreign programs in six foreign countries: Austria (in cooperation with the University of Vienna Law School); Hungary (in cooperation with the Eötvös Loránd University College of Law in Budapest); Mexico (a three-week program in Cuernavaca); Brazil (in conjunction with the State University of Rio de Janeiro College of Law); Costa Rica (in conjunction with the University of Costa Rica College of Law); and Russia (in conjunction with Touro Law Center and Moscow State University). These sessions offer a broad selection of comparative and international law courses, with particular emphasis on those relevant to the host countries’ legal systems and cultures. In summer 2006, more than 190 students throughout the United States participated in these programs. Loyola’s foreign summer programs are open to students in good standing from any accredited law school.

Vienna, Austria

The University of Vienna College of Law is the site of Loyola’s largest foreign summer program. Six one-credit-hour seminars and one three-credit-hour comparative law course are taught by University of Vienna and Loyola College of Law faculty. Seminars vary each year but a typical representation from last summer included these: Introduction to European Union Law, Comparative Labor and Employment Law, International Economic Justice Issues, Introduction to European Private Law, Comparative Education Law, Comparative Human Rights. During 2007, 112 students studied at Loyola’s Vienna program.

In Vienna, visits to government institutions and special lectures complement the law curriculum. German-speaking participants have the opportunity to serve internships in Vienna law firms. Optional after-class walking and streetcar tours highlight the cultural life of Vienna. Side trips to Salzburg, Prague, and Venice enhance the weekends during the program.

Moscow, Russia

Loyola College of Law and Touro Law Center, in cooperation with Moscow State University, sponsor a three-week summer program in Moscow, Russia. The program affords students the opportunity to study law in a historic country whose legal, economic, social, and cultural institutions are undergoing a dramatic transition. Witnessing the evolution of the new Russian legal system and economy provides firsthand experience in comparative law. Courses, supplemental lectures, and tours allow students not only to study substantive legal issues, but also to compare the emerging Russian legal system with options from the United States and other common law and civil law jurisdictions.

Budapest, Hungary

In conjunction with the Eötvös Loránd University College of Law, the Budapest Summer Legal Studies Program presents a two-week, two-course comparative law offering for those interested in the evolving political and legal landscape of central Europe. Participants have the opportunity to witness firsthand the dramatic evolution of this dynamic Central European country as it prepares to enter the European Union.

The comparative law curriculum is complemented by visits to key legal institutions in Budapest, including the Supreme Court, the Parliament, and an international law firm. Classes are conducted at the distinguished Eötvös Loránd University law facility, conveniently located in the downtown area of the city, and students reside nearby in the university neighborhood.

Programs in Latin America

Loyola College of Law and Louisiana's sister Spanish colony, have historically had close legal ties with Latin America. The Civil Code of Louisiana is similar to the Civil Codes of the respective Latin America Countries, and in fact was used as a source in the drafting of many of them. Because of this, Loyola has a greater number of Summer Programs in Latin America than any other American Law School, and our programs are the longest running programs in each of the countries where they are offered.

Cuernavaca, Mexico

Loyola offers a three-week summer session in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Famous for its year-round agreeable climate, Cuernavaca is smaller and more manageable than Mexico City, yet is less than an hour away from the capital’s attractions via modern buses. Courses vary from year to year and include such subjects as: Comparative Law, Civil Law Tradition, Immigration Law, Regulation of International Trade, Comparative Administration of Criminal Justice, and Comparative Civil Procedure.

All courses include comparative instruction regarding Mexico’s legal system. Classes are taught by faculty from Loyola and other American and foreign law schools. The Summer Program in Mexico offers interaction with the Mexican legal community, including tours of judicial, legal, and government offices and a conference with the Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of Morelos. In addition, the program offers one of the only credit internships in a foreign court, where students fluent in spanish work in the trial courts of the State of Morelos, under the supervision of the Supreme Court of the State Supreme Court.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Loyola's program in Brazil, offered in cooperation with the State University of Rio College of Law, features a two-credit-hour course in Latin American Legal Systems. The course focuses on all elements of Brazil’s legal system: the substantive private law, judicial method, the judiciary, the legal profession, legal education, governmental structure, and public law. Classroom instruction is enhanced by visits to one of Brazil's leading law firms, the State University of Rio de Janeiro College of Law (where select classes are held), and various courts in the Brazilian judicial system. These visits allow opportunities for interaction with Brazilian attorneys, law students, and judges, and gives an overview of the entire Latin American legal system, with Brazilian model. We also offer another two-credit course such as Comparative Civil Procedure or Comparative Environmental Law, that focus on a comparison of the Law of Brazil with that of other jurisdictions. In addition a one hour course in International Commercial Arbitration with an emphasis on Latin American practice is offered.

San Jose, Costa Rica

Loyola's program in Costa Rica, offered in cooperation with the University of Costa Rica College of Law, also offers a two-credit-hour course in Latin American Legal Systems. The course focuses on all elements of Costa Rica’s legal system: the substantive private law, judicial method, the judiciary, the legal profession, legal education, governmental structure, and public law. Classroom instruction is enhanced by visits to one of Costa Rica’s leading law firms, the University of Costa Rica College of Law (where classes are held), and various courts in the Costa Rican judicial system. It is designed to give an overview of the entire Latin American Legal System, with Costa Rica as a model. We also offer another two-credit course such as Comparative Civil Procedure or Comparative Environmental Law, that focuses on a comparison of the Law of Brazil with that of other jurisdictions. In addition a one hour course in International Commercial Arbitration with an emphasis on Latin American practice is offered.

Annual European Union Seminar Tour

Each December since 1998, Loyola has offered a tour of the principal institutions of the European Union (EU) for students studying this developing area of transnational law. Arriving in Brussels, the group participates in lectures and tours at the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, as well as an evening reception hosted by an American law firm. The group then travels by rail to Luxembourg to witness an oral argument at the European Court of Justice (with a preliminary case briefing and instruction in the court’s procedures). The tour then travels to Strasbourg, France, featuring tours and instruction at the European Parliament and the Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights. The group then travels to Paris for a final weekend and return flights home.

Annual Rome, Italy, and Istanbul, Turkey Seminar Tour

Each May since 2004, after final examinations and before the Summer Session begins, Loyola has offered a nine-day Seminar/Tour entitled: “In Search of the Roots of the Civil Law.” Beginning in Rome, the group participates in guided walking tours of the Roman Forum and other sites where the law of the Roman Republic and Empire first evolved. The group also tours St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Renaissance palace where the highest canon law courts of the Roman Catholic Church are located. Other talks focus on the contemporary Italian legal system and legal education. The group then flies to Istanbul, the former “Constantinople,” which was the capital of the Roman/ Byzantine Empire from 330 AD to 1453 AD. There are guided walking tours of the magnificent church of Hagia Sophia, built by the Emperor Justinian, whose massive compilation of Roman law, the Corpus Iuris Civilis, has inspired codification efforts up to the present era. The Seminar/Tour then concludes with presentations on the contemporary legal system and legal education in Turkey and a leisurely cruise up the enchanting Bosphorus, the boundary between Europe and Asia Minor.

International Moot Court Team

Since 1995, Loyola’s Commercial Law Arbitration students have been invited to compete in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition at the University of Vienna College of Law in Austria. The invitational competition features teams from five continents and 28 countries, and more than 500 students. This Moot Court competition brings together 200 lawyers, jurists, and professors from around the world.

Certificates in Comparative and International Law

As described further in this bulletin, Loyola law students may also pursue special certification in the area of international law.

Visiting Faculty

In recent years, Loyola has hosted a number of distinguished visiting professors from such countries as Austria, Canada, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, and the United Kingdom. Loyola faculty have served as visiting professors and lecturers in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. In addition, Loyola faculty members have published books, articles, and papers with presses and learned journals in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and Malaysia.

International Programs Advisory Board

A special advisory board of foreign law scholars and practitioners has been established to offer guidance to Loyola students and faculty in pursuing studies and research in international and comparative law.