LEGAL RESEARCH GROUP OUTLINE - European Law Students ... · Outline of Legal Research Group LEs are selected according to their academic qualities. In case you have a LRG in another

LEGAL RESEARCH GROUP OUTLINE

2016

FOR ELSAOFFICERS

Outline of Legal Research Group

1. Overview

A Legal Research Group (LRG) is a group of law students and young lawyers carrying out research on a

specified topic of law with the aim to make their conclusions publicly accessible. Legal research was one

of the main aims of ELSA during our early years. In the 1980s, when ELSA was created as a platform for

European cooperation between law students, sharing experience and knowledge was the main purpose of

our organisation. In the 1990s, our predecessors made huge strides and built a strong association with a

special focus on international exchange. In the 2000s, young students from Western to Eastern Europe

were facing immense changes in their legal systems. Our members were part of such giant legal

developments such as the EU expansion and the implementation of EU Law. To illustrate, the outcome

of the ELSA PINIL (Project on International Criminal Court National Implementation Legislation) has

been the largest international criminal law research in Europe. In fact, the final country reports have been

used as a basis for establishing new legislation in many European countries. More information about the

most recent LRGs can be found at: legalresearch.elsa.org

2. Structure of the Legal Research Group An ELSA Legal Research Group shall be organised and coordinated by certain groups of people.

Therefore, there are a lot of Human Resources involved. Below, you can see both general and detailed

description of all the positions and (including their tasks), which shall be included in every LRG

organised.

2.1 Human Resources:

1. Local/National (General) Coordinators

2. Academic Coordinators

3. Academic Supervisors

4. Linguistic Editors

5. Researchers

6. Other Contributors

2.1.1 The General Coordinator

The Vice President for Academic Activities/Other responsible person is in charge of managing and

overseeing the entire project. This person acts as the ELSA’s organizing group representative of this

project to (external) parties in and outside the Network. The Coordinator is responsible for

communicating and coming to agreements with all relevant (external) parties, that means also finding

Academic Coordinators and Supervisors.

legalresearch.elsa.org


2.1.2 The Academic Coordinator (AC)

The Academic Coordinator will coordinate the academic development of the LRG. The AC is in charge

of drafting the Academic Framework of the LRG in cooperation with the Academic Supervisor. In

addition to this, the AC will conduct literature review on issues relating to the Academic Framework.

Furthermore, the AC is here to answer any academic questions from the Local/National Research

Groups and assist the Local/National Research Groups with the research itself. Last but not least, the

Academic Coordinator is also responsible of proofreading and providing feedback to the draft reports in

order to have the comments implemented before the final submission.

2.1.3 The Academic Supervisor (AS)

The Academic Supervisor is the person who has the responsibility of ensuring the academic quality and

legal accuracy of the final report. This person(s) are approached by the General Coordinator and they are

usually professors, lawyers of the partnering law firm, experts on the topic etc. The AS also has to draft

the academic framework in cooperation with the AC and be responsive to students’ queries.

2.1.4 The Linguistic Editor (LE)

The Linguistic Editor(s) provide the Research Groups with a correction of the reports from a language

perspective. Moreover, the LE ensures the correct formatting of the references in the text.

2.1.5 Researchers

The researchers are the law students/young lawyers selected to conduct the research and answer to the

questions of the academic framework.

2.1.6 Other contributors

The aforementioned positions are the typical necessary ones for the success of the project. However,

there a few more essential contributors to the whole initiative and of course these are your local/national

board. Your President can help with the external relations when searching for a partner, your Treasurer

can contribute to the fundraising and expenses management when it comes to publishing, your colleague

for Marketing will be the one to make attractive materials to spread the word about the project and your

Vice President for Seminars & Conferences can assist you in case you wish to organize a follow-up event,

e.g. a conference. Count on your board!

2.2 Duties and Responsibilities of the Research Groups

The aim is to have a Local/National Research Group in more and more countries. To ensure a high

quality final report, every Research Group is recommended to be made up out of:

1 Local/National Coordinator (per group)

1 Academic Supervisor (per group)

1 Academic Coordinator (per group)

3-5 Researchers (per group)

1-3 Linguistic Editors


This is a recommendation - other solutions may of course be possible. One person could for example

have more than one of the above-mentioned positions.

Researchers and Linguistic Editors will be selected according to their academic qualities and proven

motivation by the L/N Coordinators.

2.2.1 The Duties and Responsibilities of the Local/National Coordinator

The Coordinator is in charge of the overall management of the Research Group in his or her respective

group. As such, a Coordinator is responsible for:

Submitting the final report that is in accordance with the expected academic quality, guidelines and

deadlines.

Recruiting and coordinating with the Academic Coordinator, Researchers, Linguistic Editor(s) and

the Academic Supervisor. Please refer to the following paragraphs for more details on the

requirements for these positions;

Implementing a marketing strategy to promote the project, benefits and opportunities of participation

and importance of conducting legal research.

As Coordinators play a vital role in this project, they are expected to show:

Demonstrated management, leadership and cooperation skills;

The ability to work independently as well as work efficiently in a team;

A strong feeling of commitment to the project and the ability to follow through;

Sufficient availability and willingness to perform the required tasks;

Flexibility, tenacity and proven reliability.

2.2.2 Duties and Responsibilities of the Academic Coordinator

As mentioned above, the AC has a complementary role by overseeing the research conducted by the

Researchers and assisting the Coordinators in all aspects relating to the academic content of the final

national report. As such, the AC is responsible for:

Coordinating the academic development of the conducted research;

Answering academic questions from the Researchers or communicating inquiries to the Academic

Supervisor for additional information;

Ensuring high quality research and writing of the final national report and intervening to mitigate any

issues related to academic content throughout the research and writing process when necessary;

Processing and providing feedback on the final report prior to submission to the Academic

Supervisor and Linguistic Editor(s).

The AC is selected according to his or her academic qualities. As such, ACs are expected to show:

Demonstrated management, leadership and cooperation skills;


Knowledge of law or willingness to perform extensive research in this field;

A high level of written legal English;



Sufficient availability and willingness to perform the required tasks.

2.2.3 Duties and Responsibilities of the Researchers

The success of any LRG relies on the quality and competences of the Researchers. The final report will be

a compilation of the report produced by them after all. Researchers are thus expected to:

Produce a collective and cohesive final report following the Academic Framework and that is in

accordance with the expected academic quality, guidelines and deadlines.

Ensure that the academic content of the final report is accurate, cited properly and written in the

precise legal terminology

Maintain open and constant communication with the National Coordinator by providing regular

updates and respond promptly to requests and inquiries from the National Coordinator;

Respect all deadlines set up by the Coordinators.

Researchers are selected according to their academic qualities and proven motivation. As such, they are

expected to show:

Knowledge of relevant field of law or willingness to perform extensive research in this field;

A high level of written legal terminology and especially legal English;




2.2.4 Duties and Responsibilities of the Academic Supervisor

To guarantee a high academic standard of the final report, a Academic Supervisors will be appointed to

review the work produced by the RGs. AS is expected to:

Offer recommendations and advice in accordance with the Academic Framework;

Monitor the academic progress of the conducted research;

Analyse and provide feedback on the submitted research and drafts from Researchers;

Assist the Academic Coordinator in answering academic questions from the Researchers;

Approve the final report.

Academic Supervisors shall be selected on the basis of his or her academic abilities and skills. As such, a

AS is expected to show:

Significant academic experience in the field of the selected topic;

Responsiveness and sufficient willingness to perform the required tasks.

2.2.5 Duties and Responsibilities of the Linguistic Editors

To ensure a coherent and presentable final publication, the Coordinator will appoint one to three LE(s).

LEs are expected to:

Assist and instruct Researchers on the proper use of citations and (plain) legal English, following the

guidelines provided for by ELSA International;

Amend the structure of the final report if necessary;

Proofread the final report and amend if necessary.


LEs are selected according to their academic qualities. In case you have a LRG in another language than

your native, international exchange students, being perhaps native English speakers, are recommended!

LEs are expected to show:

A strong legal English background;

A high level of written legal English;




3. Supporting materials

1. First and foremost, check the Legal Research Group Handbook provided by ELSA International.

There you can find answers general information about the project and texts on why, how, when to

organize a LRG within all the practical recommended steps.

2. As soon as you decide to initiate the project, consult this document, the Legal Research Group

Outline - for ELSA Officers, in order to understand in detail the procedure, the structure and the

roles of each team member.

3. The Academic Framework, namely the questions that your research group is required to answer, is

a document that your Academic Coordinator will draft in cooperation with your partner (law

firm/university etc) or your Academic Supervisor. Our advice is to keep it as clear as possible in

order to avoid blur and repeating answers. We also recommend that your Academic Coordinator

provides your research group with an additional document with academic guidelines, namely sub

questions to the ones of the Academic Framework in order to succeed coherence in the answers.

4. The Legal Research Group General Guidelines is a document which aims at the uniformity of

ELSA Legal Research Groups around the network. You can find instructions for the linguistic and

technical details (style and form) when drafting your LRG report. These guidelines are mandatory in

case you want to include your report at ELSA International website.

5. The ELSA Legal Research Group – a General Outline of the project is a useful document that

you can use in order to promote the project to your potential partners and other externals.

Documents

LEGAL RESEARCH GROUP OUTLINE - European Law Students ... · Outline of Legal Research Group LEs are selected according to their academic qualities. In case you have a LRG in another