Legal Co-Operation
Research Scholarships for Lawyers from Developing Countries and Countries in Transition to a Market Economy
Description
The library of UNIDROIT is an exceptional source of documentation which has made it possible for the organisation to provide assistance in the training of high-level lawyers from developing countries and countries in economic transition (university professors, judges, practitioners, Government officials or consultants entrusted with domestic legislative reform). This Programme strengthens the process for the harmonisation and modernisation of business law and contributes to greater legal security for private law relations.
Lawyers that have benefited from the Programme include researchers who link current regional harmonisation initiatives (for example in Africa, in Latin America, in the Asia-Pacific region) with the universal instruments prepared by international organisations, or who apply the new international instruments produced by UNIDROIT and other organisations (for instance on contract law, secured transactions, and transnational civil procedure).The stay of researchers (which may at times be organised jointly with university or research institutions in conformity with the purposes of each institution) in general leads to the drafting of legislation for national authorities, to the preparation and up-dating of university courses, the writing of monographs or of articles disseminating ideas and information (in particular in the Uniform Law Review/Revue de droit uniforme published by UNIDROIT).
In the Programme’s ten years of existence (1993 – 2003), 130 researchers from close on 50 countries have been hosted for a period of between 6 weeks and three months each.The scholarships have to a great extent been funded by external donors and cover, in whole or in part, the expenses of the stay of the visiting scholars in Rome, as well as, in certain cases, travel costs.
Donors are invited to contribute to the general Programme by instalments of € 18,000 or € £36.000, which on average permit the funding of two or four scholarships of three months, and travel expenses, to specify where necessary any condition for the providing of the funding that they require to be met: e.g. conditions regarding research subject-matter, geographical origin of the visiting scholar, professional background, etc. Special sponsorship programmes may be agreed with UNIDROIT in relation to specific projects (a minimum of six scholarships are recommended).
Who Benefits?
Senior University Staff Graduate and post-graduate students Practitioners Civil servants involved in the legislative reform process
Opinion
"My experience at UNIDROIT with the UNIDROIT Research Scholarships Programme is a landmark in my academic and professional career. I discovered an outstanding setting for developing legal research together with the best human resources, always willing to support scholars and help them in all possible ways. It was an extremely interesting experience to participate in the Institute’s every-day life.The relationship with the other researchers, coming from countries with different legal systems, has greatly enriched my experience. As a law professor I profit from my experience at UNIDROIT every day. As a lawyer I fall back on my experience at UNIDROIT in counselling and in litigation" (Cecilia Fresnedo de Aguirre, Associate Professor of Private International Law, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, UNIDROIT Scholar 1998).
"I have an unforgettable memory of the two months that I spent conducting research in the UNIDROIT library.The results of this research still today assist the researcher and Under-Director of Legislation (Civil, Commercial, Social and Traditional) that I am. It is auspicable that a greater number of researchers and functionaries involved in the drafting of legislation have the opportunity to spend time at UNIDROIT" (Gaston Kenfack Douajni, Sub-Director of Civil, Commercial, Social and Traditional Legislation Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice of Cameroon, UNIDROIT Scholar 2000).
Funds Needed
€ 90,000 per annum to provide ten scholarships a year for lawyers from developing countries
