International Litigation and Arbitration Research Club (ILARC)

The International Litigation and Arbitration Research Club (ILARC) is a student club organized by teaching staff (Mikhail Galperin and Elena Mazetova), practicing attorneys, and doctoral students (Maria Zinoveva and Vladimir Kostsov). The Club serves as an English-language discussion forum for the most topical issues of international law and dispute resolution.

All the discussions are conducted in English and modeled on real proceedings (including ongoing ones) in order to allow participants to engage with current issues in an interactive format. During the meetings, participants represent the key arguments and positions of the disputing parties.

The Club selects timely, ambiguous, and/or controversial legal disputes that are being actively discussed in the legal community. Participants analyze the cases both within the scope of the arguments presented during the proceedings as well as broader factors, such as existing regulatory gaps, the logic followed by the judges, and the overall context in which they operate.

In September 2019, participants attended the hearings of the European Court of Human Rights on the interstate dispute Ukraine v. Russia (concerning Crimea). Students had the opportunity to see the work of the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, the professional lawyers specializing in international public law, and of the team of the Ministry of Justice of Russia (which includes HSE graduates) up close. The club participants also discussed the hearings held during the regular ILARC meeting in Strasbourg and had the opportunity to speak with hearing participants directly. We hope that new off-site activities that include visits to international tribunals and foreign courts will be also held in the future.

To become a participant, you must submit an application that includes a motivation letter in English, as well as a CV indicating your year of study, your experience with participating in Russian and international competitions (moot courts), conferences, etc. The number of club participants is limited.

Contact person for submitting the applications: Maria Zinoveva, mzinowjewa@yandex.ru