Many Maynooth University Law students are members of a society or group. While some activities are of a competitive nature, many are cooperative and networking ventures. They aim to enrich the intellectual community and provide focal points for engagement between students and the Department.
Further information on some of the student societies are listed below.
Maynooth University Law Society caters for over 500 law students from across all of the Department of Law's undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The Law Society is one of the biggest, most active, and most vibrant societies on campus, involving members from a wide range of departments and not merely Law.
Maynooth University Law Society is a student-run organisation that is dedicated to providing Maynooth University undergraduates and postgraduates with an opportunity to learn about the field of law and the career options it provides. The Society seeks to promote a greater awareness and understanding of these opportunities within the field of law by appropriate means such as publications, meetings, seminars, and other educational events.
The Society encourages professional development which is aided through the annual inter-varsity Silken Thomas Moot Court Competition. Students are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the role of a barrister, and, for the duration of the competition, students will argue a fictitious case against other students from different universities, both nationally and internationally.
Maynooth University Law Society also encourages students to enjoy themselves while they are studying law. The Society hosts many social events throughout the year, including the Law Ball, which usually takes place in December. Further details are available from the Committee Members, who can be contacted at law@nuimsu.com.
About ELSA International
Established in 1981 by students, ELSA now operates in over 200 universities in 41 countries. Ireland is one of the newest countries to join. In 2008, ELSA signed a Human Rights Partnership agreement with the Council of Europe. ELSA has developed strong bonds with firms and institutions. In 1994, ELSA was granted Consultative Status in Category C in UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation); in 1997, ELSA obtained Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council). In addition UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade Law) is inviting ELSA delegations to participate in their sessions.
Membership of ELSA Maynooth gives students the opportunity to partake in competitions and events organised on an international scale. Some of these include the International Focus Programme (IFP) Essay Competition on Health Law, EMC2 - the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law, and the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition. In addition, ELSA members have the opportunity of applying to the Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP) to gain invaluable working experience abroad.
Further information regarding international activities can be found on the ELSA International website.
The latest information about the Student Trainee Exchange Programme (STEP) can be found here.
ELSA Maynooth
ELSA Maynooth is a constituent member of both ELSA Ireland and ELSA International. As well as encouraging our students to participate in international opportunities available through the ELSA network, the ELSA Maynooth committee hosts local events, such as Human Rights Week, a Speaker Series, and, for the first time in 2015, the International Negotation Competition.
Further details can be obtained by contacting the committee via elsa@nuimsu.com or through the ELSA Maynooth Facebook page.
The Department of Law is proud to sponsor the third annual ELSA Maynooth International Negotiation Competition. The negotiation competition was the first of its kind to take place in Ireland: an international negotiation competition for current third-level law students.
Competition Overview
Participants will compete against each other in teams consisting of two persons (i.e. two teams, each consisting of two persons, compete against each other). In advance of the competition, each team will receive some mutual facts and some individual, confidential facts concerning a given case, in which they will represent one of the parties. Teams will be required to negotiate the resolution of an international dispute. The competition will take place across the weekend of 10 – 11 March 2017.
Prize
The winning team will be awarded €500.00, jointly. All participants will receive Certificates of Participation.
Why Negotiation?
Most disputes in which lawyers are involved do not end up in the courts. Instead, they are settled by way of some form of compromise between the parties - a negotiated agreement. In order to ensure that a client’s best interests are protected in the context of a negotiated, out-of-court agreement, it is imperative for lawyers to possess effective negotiation skills. This applies on both a national and an international level.
The ELSA Maynooth International Negotiation Competition is designed to foster the skills of negotiation in students of law at an early stage in their careers and to provide the opportunity to gain first-hand negotiation experience!
Further Information
For further information, you can contact the Organising Committee via email: elsamaynoothinc@gmail.com. And to keep up to date with the competition as it progresses, like the negotiation competition Facebook page.
The Golden Thread, launched in early 2010, is the first law-student run publication of the Department of Law. Now in its fourth year, its aim is to provide a forum for Maynooth's law students to publish views and opinions on contemporary legal topics and to offer an insight into life in our exciting intellectual community.
In a typical issue, you may read contributions from faculty, students and other members of the legal community outside the college.
You can contact the Golden Thread Committee via email at goldenthread@nuimsu.com.
Golden Thread Vol III Issue I
Golden Thread Vol III Issue II
Golden Thread Vol IV Issue I
Golden Thread Vol V Issue I
Golden Thread Vol VI Issue I
Golden Thread 7th Edition
Mooting is a fantastic way to meet new people and make new friends, while also boosting your academic credentials. It plays a vital role in legal education and at the Department of Law in particular.
Moot Court is promoted extensively to Department of Law students and we are one of the few universities in Ireland who offer Moot Court as a compulsory or elective course in our degree programmes. It is very much a part of law students' academic life; which is all the more reason to compete socially.
The best way to learn, not only the art of Moot Court, but several other skills such as team-work, researching skills, presentations skills, reactive skills etc., is through competition and practice.
ELSA organises two international Moot Court Competitions.
EMC2
The ELSA Moot Court Competition (EMCC) is a simulated hearing of the Dispute Settlement System of the World Trade Organization and deals with international trade law issues.The competition has been running for the past 12 years and is open to law students from all over the globe. Participants examine a fictive case and draft submissions for each party. In March of each year, teams are assigned to one of the Regional Rounds all over the world: America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa (since 2013/2014). The best students from each region progress to the Final Oral Round, which takes place in May/June each year at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Students get the chance to present their legal skills in front of the world's WTO law experts and, thus, have the opportunity to put theory into practice.
For more information, visit the official website of ELSA Moot Court Competition by clicking here!
HRMCC - Human Rights Moot Court Competition
In order to provide law students with an opportunity to gain practical experience in the field, ELSA organises a Europe-wide moot court competition on the European Convention on Human Rights, in cooperation with the Council of Europe. The competition simulates the procedure of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights: teams examine a fictive case and draft written submissions for each party. Teams are then evaluated on the basis of their written admissions and the best 16 teams progress to compete in the European Final at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
For more information visit the website of the competition: www.humanrightsmootcourt.org!
Free Legal Advice Centres take place every Tuesday evening during term in the Iontas Seminar Rooms at 7.00pm. The main areas of law in which the Maynooth University FLAC team currently offers advice are Landlord and Tenant Law, Employment Law, and Family Law.
For further information regarding the work undertaken in the FLAC clinics at Maynooth University, the committee can be contacted via flacmaynooth@gmail.com
Alternatively, you can get in touch with the Maynooth University FLAC team through Facebook or Twitter.
The Irish Law Journal is a student-run and peer-reviewed journal which strives to publish novel scholarship that will have an immediate and lasting impact on the legal community in Ireland and abroad. Advised by a faculty advisory committee, this publication highlights the progress of Maynooth University Department of Law and of its students.
If you have any comments or suggestions for our Editorial Board, please contact us at: questions@irishlawjournal.com.
See the Irish Law Journal's website for further details.