Carte postale de Trento
3 mars 2018
Voilà aujourd’hui un mois que mon aventure en Italie a débuté. Je suis arrivée le 5 février pour faire un échange à la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Trento. Mes cours sont très intéressants et mes professeurs, encore plus ; un des professeurs a servi comme juge à la Cour internationale de justice pendant six ans.
La ville de Trento est magnifique; elle a été fondée il y a 2 500 ans. On peut y découvrir des ruines romaines, des bâtiments datant de la contre-réforme et des petits cafés. Je partage un appartement sur une des collines entourant la ville avec de merveilleux colocs. Je profite de mon échange pour voyager un peu. À l’allée, j’ai fait une courte escale à Londres, j’ai visité Munich, et pris du soleil en Sicile. Je planifie découvrir Milan, Dublin, Prague, et d’autres destination d’ici la fin de cette merveilleuse expérience !
Emma Predan-Lépine, étudiante au BCL/LLB
Imagining the future of judicial institutions
According to law student Viva Dadwal, (3L, B.C.L./LL.B.) the twelve-year-old Dubai International Financial Center Courts are proof that legal institutions need a vision: “In today’s world, having judicial excellence isn’t enough; there is a critical need for service excellence, innovation, and connectivity.”
An English language common law judiciary, DIFC Courts constantly interact with Dubai and the rest of the UAE—which follow civil law with core principles drawn from Sharia law—as well as other jurisdictions around the world. Embracing transsystemic thinking as a way to innovate, the Courts also invest in customer service, continuous education, and technological excellence to be competitive at a global scale.
Viva Dadwal was chosen to participate in this student clerkship opportunity at the DIFC Courts in a joint initiative between the Faculty of Law and the Courts. Dadwal’s day-to-day goes from attending court hearings (including the famous “Luna” case, a matrimonial battle over a $540m Russian superyacht), to conducting legal research on the topic of blockchain enabled recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements and arbitral awards; and shadowing court leadership.
Earlier this year, the Office of the Associate Dean (Academic) revived and officialised this unique international program, which had been an ad hoc clerkship up until that point. Then law student, Aly Háji, BCL/LLB’18, MBA’18, helped liaise with the staff at the DIFC courts and the Student Affairs Office. “The Faculty of Law is delighted to partner with the DIFC Courts in Dubai for a student clerkship,” Associate Dean (Academic) Vrinda Narain said. “The transsystemic nature of the DIFC Courts will allow students to gain insights into the law from theoretical and administrative perspectives, which will nicely complement the student’s legal education acquired at McGill.”
This collaborative program provided a perfect opportunity for Viva Dadwal to pursue her interest in the future of disputes. “I had been thinking about how different governments and commercial actors often compete with each other to promote the use of their own laws and dispute resolution mechanisms—which I knew was a theme of particular importance to the DIFC courts.”
“I have come to realize the important role that smaller courts can play in impacting judicial and service excellence around the world,” Dadwal concluded. “While it is true that the DIFC Courts have a smaller caseload compared to the Montreal courts, the ambitions of the DIFC Courts are nevertheless global—for example, they have set out a five-year plan to be one of world’s leading commercial courts. It was humbling to contribute what little I knew towards this milestone.”