This year the IKBFU launched a new MA program in Law. The program was developed by the Law Institute under the leadership of prof. Dr Vadim Voynikov, Acting director of the International Academy of Law. The program is called: “Russian and EAEU Law” and will be taught in English.
Prof Vadim Voynikov said that “The goal of the program is to attract students interested in Russian and EAEU Law. The curriculum is made to give students a general idea of how the law systems work. A number of disciplines devoted to the main bodies of the Russian law are included in the program. Also, disciplines devoted to international law and to a special, Integration Law which includes the law of the EAEU and the EU are included”.
This is the first English-language program taught at the IKBFU Institute of Law. The IKBFU is following the recent trend noticed at the MSU and the Higher School of Economics by applying programs taught in English for Russian and International students alike. The teaching staff consists of professionals who have many years of real-work experience.
Vadim Voynikov also told us: “Most of the lectures will be delivered by our professors who are proficient in the English language. We will also invite famous Russian and foreign scientists. In particular, prof. Hans-Detlaff Horn from the University of Marburg and prof. Mark Entin from the Moscow State University of International Relations will be teaching classes. The program is mostly focused on the international students interested in the Russian and EAEU Law and looking for an opportunity to work in these systems. Russian students might also find the program interesting and get additional practice in the foreign language”.
According to Vadim Voynikov, the IKBFU Institute of Law works together with various law enforcement institutions. Five years ago the Institute reached an agreement with the Court of the EU, European Court of Human Rights and Eurasian Economic Union Court allowing the students and professors to visit the organizations and undergo practical training there.
In addition, MA degree students are given the opportunity for internships in large companies that work in this field – at the junction of international, European and Eurasian law. Thus, graduate students will become very broad-based specialists, which will give them undeniable advantages in the labor market. For example, they will be in demand in large international corporations whose activities are related to cooperation with European partners located in the jurisdiction of the European Union, and with partners located in the jurisdiction of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Also, the graduates possessing Russian citizenship will have an opportunity to work in the Russian state authorities.
Prof. Voynikov explained: “Another advantage of the program is the fact that it is module-based. This structure will make it possible for international students from, for example, Poland or Germany to study at the Law Institute. They won’t have a Russian diploma, but the experience they get will be useful for their future carriers. The MA program takes 2 years. In the first year, the main disciplines will be taught, and the second will be devoted to research activities, practice and so on. This will allow foreign students to come to Russia, study for one year, and continue studying for the second year remotely. The program’s students will have one more option. For five years, a double degree program has been operating with the universities of Marburg and Göttingen, and it gives the opportunity to participate in the double diploma system. In a nutshell, students study in Kaliningrad for the first year, then move to Marburg or Göttingen, there they take a master’s degree and receive two diplomas – Russian and German. So there are very wide opportunities for graduates of the new MA program. They only need to be able to use them”.