EDINBURGH 2024

On 17-19 April 2024 Edinburgh Law School hosted the Annual Conference and AGM of the European Law Faculties Association.  ELFA has over one hundred and fifty members in forty-nine countries. Fulfilling its mission of advancing the quality of legal education in Europe, ELFA is open to Law Schools from other regions. Following this inclusive ethos ELFA has become a global forum for legal education, promoting fruitful collaborations between European Law Schools and Law Schools in other regions.

The conference, addressing the theme of “The Future of Global Legal Education” was attended by delegates representing ELFA Members from twenty-nine countries across four continents, bringing together over one hundred and thirty distinguished delegates.

Following the institutional welcome by Professors Jo Shaw (Head of School), Soledad Garcia Ferrari (Dean Internationalisation CAHSS) and Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (President of ELFA), the conference started with the Keynote Address by the Hon Lady Sarah P L Wolffe KC on “Legal Education and the Making of Global Citizens”. After this insightful opening, the rest of the conference adopted the modality of roundtable discussions on five selected topics: “Approaches to Global Legal Education”; “Legal Education and Global Challenges”; “Global Legal Education – Values, Ethos and Skills”; “Global Legal Education in the Digital Age”; and “Internationalisation of Legal Education – The Role of Networks”. These sessions enabled the participation of over thirty speakers in a format that fostered diversity of approaches, dynamism, and engaging dialogue. Several associations that cooperate with ELFA were represented during the conference, including the European Law Students Association (ELSA), the Council of Europe, the European Law Institute (ELI), the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS), the Law Schools Global League (LSGL), the South-Eastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS), and the American Association of Law Schools (AALS).

On Thursday, the winners of the 2023 ELFA Award were announced by the ELFA Award coordinator, Professor Laurence Gormley : Moritz Schramm and Mariza Avgeri (joint First Prize) and Aurélie Villanueva, Proxime Accessit (see the special post on this website). In the evening, delegates enjoyed a Gala Dinner at the Playfair Library of Old College.

The Annual General Meeting of the Association took place on Friday 19 April. Members approved the activity report presented by President Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, as well as the annual financial report and budget. A Resolution was also adopted, reflecting the spirit and conclusions of the conference proceedings. Professor Jivko Draganov Draganov, from the Faculty of Law at the University of National and World Economy, was elected as the new President of ELFA, Professor Gema Tomás Martínez, from the Faculty of Law at the University of Deusto, as the new First Vice President, and Professor Lana Bubalo, from the University of Stavanger School of Business and Law, as a new member of the ELFA Board of Directors. The President introduced and welcomed the new members who have joined the Association during her term of office, and thanked Professor Andreas Ziegler, from the University of Lausanne, for all his work and commitment to the Association.

Finally, the location for the next Annual Conference was announced, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 23 to 25 April 2025.

The ELFA Board sincerely thanks all attendees for their participation in ELFA Edinburgh 2024 and for their contribution to make the event a success.

We look forward to seeing you all next year in Sofia!