Good morning everyone,
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in Master’s land, complete
with presentations, Court visits and weekend trips. To start with, our SIM
clinic program wrapped up our final research project with a cool fifty-page
report to show for it – the culmination of two weeks intensive work filled to
the brim with group meetings and short deadlines. It is a bittersweet ending to
one of my favourite parts of the program. I’m happy to have the final deadline
out of the way, but I will certainly miss the interesting research work and
collaborating with the members of the team.
As timing would have it, I got the chance to celebrate the
end of the Clinic program with a short weekend away in Brussels. When you live
in Utrecht, it is entirely possible for classmates to have rented a car for an
impromptu weekend road trip to a nearby capital and if you’re lucky, for you to
join in the fun. Since integrating into
Utrecht life, I’ve heard plenty about the ultimate debate between the Belgian
and Dutch: who has the better mayonnaise? Yes, they take their fries seriously
and the mayonnaise is very, very important, so of course I had to check it out.
The verdict is still out on that one (although I am starting to see what all
the fuss is about), but I can say for certain the ease of travelling to other
cities is just one more thing I love about living in the Netherlands.
As beautiful as the Belgian capital is, the highlight of
last week definitely has to be a trip to the International Court of Justice. The
students in our LLM were able to attend part of the hearing of Serbia v.
Croatia (a longstanding case at the ICJ) at the Court in The Hague, just ahead
of the nuclear summit that is going on in the city at the moment. After a quick
lunch in the majestic building, we had the privilege of meeting Judge Cancado
Trindade to talk about the progress of the case to date (with no opinions, of
course), the workings of the ICJ and certain aspects of international law. An
afternoon well spent, and just one more piece of motivation, meeting those
whose jobs many of us might someday aspire to have.
Monday afternoon marked the second last presentation
required of our final Master’s classes. The presentations gave us a chance to
outline our in-progress final essays to the class, judge each other’s work and
receive feedback. Soon after, many of my classmates headed to the airport for
flights home, making the most of the fact that there are no classes for the
rest of the week. After the pang of homesickness that St. Patrick’s
celebrations brought about, I was happy to be on a morning flight to Ireland.
The course work comes with me, but it’s nice to have the comforts of home and a
change of scenery every once in a while.
While I make the most of home life, I look forward to a few
busy weeks ahead as the finish line approaches (of required courses, at least).
Moot practice will begin properly next week as the ICC Moot Court team gears up
for the competition in May. The many desktop folders on my computer are slowly
dwindling and I will soon be left with one entitled “Moot Court” and the
ever-so-daunting “Thesis” folder that has yet to be opened.
Until
the next time/Tot de volgende keer!
Erin
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| Outside the Peace Palace in The Hague |
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| LLM Human Rights and Criminal Justice students and teachers with Judge Cancado Trindade |
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