Martens Summer School
Call for Applications — 29 April 2014
3rd Martens Summer School on International Law
A one-week intensive course organized by the Center for EU-Russian Studies (CEURUS), University of Tartu.
Location: Pärnu College, Estonia
Time: 27 July – 01 August 2014
Level: advanced undergraduate and MA students a professionals.
Objectives: The 3rd Martens Summer School on International Law, organised by the University of Tartu Centre for EU-Russia Studies or CEURUS in the Estonian coastal resort town Pärnu, will deal with the comparative aspects of international law and human rights, particularly focusing on the issues related to Russia and Eastern Europe. One of the underlying ideas is to bring together Western, Russian and naturally also Estonian international law scholars, practitioners and students. Each year we invite 4 distinguished lecturers from different countries and each lecturer will present 5 lectures over 5 days of the week.
The programme awards 2 ECTS with the option of 4 ECTS in case the student submits an individual research paper. This needs to be agreed upon with the programme academic manager Professor Lauri Mälksoo lauri.malksoo@ut.ee prior the course.
Pärnu is the birth town of Friendrich Fromhold von Martens (1845 – 1909), the world-known Tsarist Russian international law expert and hero of a novel by Jaan Kross, “Professor Martens’ Departure”. Thus, the summer course will be held under the motto: “Those peoples and languages, flags and nations were present and waiting for me in my innermost consciousness long before I encountered them in the river harbour of Pärnu.” (Jaan Kross, Professor Martens’ Departure, Translated from Estonian by A. Hollo, New York: New Press, 1994, p. 34.)
In 2012 and 2013, each time approximately 30 students from some 10 countries from all over the world attended the Martens Summer School in Pärnu.
Application procedure
Application deadline is May 31, 2014.
A letter of motivation and CV needs to be submitted together with the application.
Study fees
Tuition fees, the cultural and social programme as well as the other services in the framework of the Summer School are fully covered by CEURUS and the University of Tartu. We do, however, charge 325 EUR to cover application and accommodation (including breakfast) costs during your stay in Pärnu (5 nights for the period of July 27 – August 1, 2014). In case your application is confirmed, the fee needs to be paid by June 20, 2014.
We do not cover the cost of transportation to and from Pärnu.
Lecturers and topics in 2014
- Professor Erik Franckx (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) “The Soviet and Russian Approaches to the Law of the Sea”
- Professor Vera Rusinova (Higher School of Economics, Moscow), “The Interrelationship between Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law”
- Professor William B. Simons (University of Tartu), “Public and Private: Fundamental Rights and Property. Where is Russia?”
- Professor emeritus Christian Tomuschat (Humboldt University Berlin); Member of the Institut de droit international, “Are Human Rights Universal? Perspectives from Theory and Practice of International Law”
- The Annual Lecture will be held by Professor Lauri Mälksoo (University of Tartu) in the framework of the festive reception that will be offered by the City of Pärnu on July 28, 2014, and will address the theme of “Russian Approaches to International Law”. Professor Mälksoo is also the course director of the Martens Summer School.
Upon successful completion of the programme participants will receive the University of Tartu Certificate of Completion and an Academic Transcript.