New for the summer semester: International Legal Studies

A conversation with Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime (Chair African Legal Studies) and his ILS team (from left) Freda Louwes, Isabelle Zundel, Prof. Kaime, Julia Reiher.

How did the idea for the supplementary course come about?
Today, we live in a world that is becoming more and more economically and technically interconnected, whereby different legal systems always clash and legal solutions have to be found on an international level. In connection with this, the global interrelationships of jurisdiction and also the developments of the most diverse legal systems are gaining in importance. We as the ILS team are therefore interested in developing this area as comprehensively and practically as possible in our programme of studies.

As preparation for future working life or international internships and stays abroad, we not only promote above-average language skills, but it is also important to us to provide all students with insights into globalisation and to supplement their education with interdisciplinary offers. The aim is to look beyond one's own nose when doing otherwise purely German law studies. We already see the perfect opportunities to establish a new successful model here in Bayreuth through other additional studies and the international orientation of the University. That is why the already existing supplementary courses are now to be joined by a programme with an international orientation.
With International Legal Studies, students have the opportunity to design their additional learning individually according to their personal interests through three different elective modules. In addition to the compulsory language module, students can choose between comparative law, business & corporate law, and African legal systems and perspectives. 

Why is the University of Bayreuth exactly the right place for this supplementary study programme? 
Based on the flagship internationalisation strategy of the University of Bayreuth, the new supplementary programme aims to expand knowledge and understanding on an international stage among students of the University. As one of very few universities (Würzburg and Freiburg) in Germany, we aim to manifest the status of the law degree programme with an international orientation. In general, the many different supplementary courses offered by the University have long been a trademark of our university and, despite their partly recent history, are well-known and respected in many law firms and companies. 

For whom would it be worthwhile to complete the supplementary study programme and what skills are taught?
International Legal Studies focuses on the concept of internationalisation. It is important to us to detach the academic view of the students from a national orientation of law and to direct it into a cosmopolitan light. The aim is to broaden students' own knowledge horizons to include international and, above all, interdisciplinary perspectives. With insights into the most diverse legal systems, their historical and social backgrounds, students learn, among other things, adaptability skills in order to be able to respond to current legal changes in the world. Despite the high level of legal education at the University, there has been a lack of an international and application-based approach to global legal issues - until now. This is because International Legal Studies opens up the possibility for anyone interested to delve deeper into relevant questions of contemporary jurisprudence. So, if you are interested in globalisation and internationalisation and how these two constructs affect political, economic, and social contexts, then ILS is the right place for you. The supplementary study programme is not limited to law and how we deal with norms, rather it offers us the opportunity to understand the law beyond these boundaries. Where does it come from? How did it come into being? What effect does law have and where does it apply? Above all, linking a wide range of disciplines helps us to understand current developments in the world. These are fundamental questions that we try to answer with International Legal Studies.

To what extent does the supplementary study programme qualify you for your personal career?
Law is a degree that prepares us for a wide field of the job market. From counselling, to becoming a lawyer, to becoming a judge, to becoming a journalist, law studies offer many opportunities. At the same time, competition in the labour market is constantly increasing and individualisation is becoming more important. So how can we prepare and specialise to work in our preferred professional field?

With International Legal Studies, we enable students to deal with international issues in a more differentiated way. Students deepen their ability to use subject-specific English, a skill that should not be underestimated in the current job market. Furthermore, students learn to critically question the context of origin of legal systems and legal norms and to adopt a comparative perspective. This enables them to stand out among other students because they are well versed in questions of international law and can apply their knowledge not only within the framework of German law. International Legal Studies imparts the ability to transfer knowledge that has been learned to foreign contexts, which means that graduates can easily be placed in new subject areas and can act competently and flexibly there.

We are not only concerned with increasing legal knowledge. Interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the supplementary course and we are pleased that the students learn to expand their point of view with other knowledge such as sociology, ethnology, political science, and economics.

Until when can one enrol and what is required?
The new supplementary study programme will be open to students from the 2022 summer semester, so lectures from the ILS directory can be attended from that time onwards. Students of law and the LL.B. Law and Economics have the opportunity to enrol for the new supplementary degree programme semester by semester. The enrolment deadline for the 2022 summer semester is 25.05.2022.

Since International Legal Studies is an English-language supplementary programme, students are required to have successfully completed English for Lawyers I and II for the language module. Existing English skills can be improved in the language courses and expanded depending on language level. An interest in political and social perspectives of law will form the core of the training.