Current Law Clinic
WT 2023/2024 Law Clinic Transformation Law
Radical societal change is needed to contain the advancing climate crisis. Responsibility for the socio-ecological transformation lies with all societal actors, including universities. On January 25, 2023, activists from the group "End Fossil Occupy! Würzburg" presented the University of Würzburg with a corresponding list of demands. In it, they demanded that the university make climate catastrophe the focus of research and teaching and make every effort to achieve climate-neutral operation by 2030.
Become active in the Law Clinic Transformational Law!
The Law Clinic Transformation Law is an experimental research and teaching format that offers students the opportunity to explore the potentials of law and jurisprudence for socio-ecological transformation together with research assistants and professors. (More info in this essay). In the winter term 2023/2024, the Law Clinic Transformation Law will address ways to achieve climate neutrality at the university. This will include the following questions:
- What climate law obligations are universities subject to?
- How can these obligations be implemented and enforced?
- How can the CO2 footprint of a university be determined and are there legal requirements for this?
- How can and must CO2 emissions be reduced and remaining emissions compensated?
In dealing with these questions we cooperate with practitioners and scientists of the research project "REKLINEU - Regional Paths to Climate Neutral Universities". In addition to the University of Würzburg, the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt and the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences are also involved in this research project. Research is being conducted into the balancing, avoidance, reduction and compensation of CO2 emissions at the participating universities. As a transformation experiment, the Law Clinic is also supported by the sustainability laboratory WueLAB at the University of Würzburg.
Proceedings
On October 23, we will inform about the course of the Law Clinic in a kick-off event. Afterwards, lawyer Dr. Eric Weiser-Saulin of the Baumann law firm will give a lecture on transformation in legal practice. In a first meeting on October 30, we will clarify organizational matters and specify the questions we will address in the Law Clinic. The individual questions will be further worked on in small groups over the course of the semester. We will also hold two workshops in which we will research together, discuss, share progress and obstacles, and compile results. The costs for travel, accommodation and meals at the workshops will be financed by the funds of the REKLINEU project.
Kick-off event
October 23, 2023, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. s.t., Lecture Hall I Old University
Meeting I
October 30, 2023, 16:00 - 18:00 s. t., via Zoom: https://uni-wuerzburg.zoom-x.de/j/64390579129
Workshop I
November 10, 2023, 09:30 - 16:30 s. t., Venue in Würzburg, Germany
Workshop II
January 12 & 13, 2024, venue outside Würzburg
Participation
All interested students who have a desire for creative legal practice and independent work in a team are invited. Please send non-binding expressions of interest and queries by October 23, 2023 to jura-p-oerecht@uni-wuerzburg.de. We ask for a binding registration after the kick-off event on October 23.
Credit
Participation in the Law Clinic can be credited as a workshop for "Jura in der Praxis" and as part of the GSiK Certificate in Sustainability and Global Responsibility. Minor students have the opportunity to write seminar papers during the Law Clinic.
Introductory Course Transformation Law
In the summer term 2023, we offered an introductory course to the Law Clinic Transformation Law in the winter term 2023/2024. The course shed light on the concept of "socio-ecological transformation" and addresses the question of how law can contribute to such a transformation. In this context, concrete approaches to the transformation of law were presented. Finally, climate protection law in the multi-level system (international and EU law, federal and state law) was dealt with. In preparation for the Law Clinic Transformation Law, we dealt with the following concrete questions: What are the legal requirements for CO2 savings and compensation? What legal obligations apply to the university and how is its ecological footprint to be measured? In addition to reading and discussing texts, participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas with experts from academia and practice.
Participation is not a prerequisite for participation in the Law Clinic Transformation Law in the winter term.
Enrollment
Please write us here: jura-p-oerecht@uni-wuerzburg.de. The course is open to students and staff of law, but also expressly interested parties from other disciplines.
Credit
Participants can earn points for the GSIK-certificate.
