Foreign LLM Students Present About Their Home Countries' Legal and Judicial Systems

There are a multitude of benefits associated with studying in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy graduate program at DU. One of the most important benefits is the opportunity to meet, work with, and ultimately become friends with and learn from the widely diverse group of students who study here. This semester the graduate program has students from 12 different countries.

The wide diversity of students was on full display Wednesday when graduate students from five foreign countries made presentations about the legal and judicial systems of their home countries: Argentina, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, and Russia.

Let me share a bit about our five presenters:

• Charles Afeku presented about his home country, Ghana. He graduated from the University of Ghana with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) and was called to the Ghana Bar in 2004. He has worked for the Minerals Commission of Ghana as in-house counsel since 2005. Charles is scheduled to earn his LLM in May 2010. To access his Powerpoint presentation, click here.


• María Carolina Crespo, who hails from Argentina, spoke about her home country. She is a graduate of the Universidad de Buenos Aries in Argentina. Carolina has been working for the past five years at the Estudio Beccar Varela. She is part of their corporate law department where she uses her expertise in the natural resources and environmental law field. She plans to earn her LLM degree in May 2010. To access Carolina's Powerpoint, click here.


• Olga Fomina presented about her home country, Russia. She has a law degree from Mordovia State University and is currently pursuing a PhD degree from Lomonosov Moscow State University. (While technically Olga is not part of the graduate program, she is an important member of our community.) To access Olga's Powerpoint, click here.


• José Henriquez presented about Chile, which is his home country. He is a graduate of the Universidad Central De Chile. Before coming to DU he worked at the firm Henriquez Cia., where he practiced civil and labor law. He will earn his LLM degree in December 2009. To see Jose's Powerpoint, click here.


• Mochamad Kasmali, a citizen of Indonesia, talked about his home country. He is a graduate of Sarjana Hukum from Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia. From 1996-2000 he worked as an Associate at Soemadipraja & Taher, one of the leading law firms in Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently he is a senior corporate counsel for Newmont Mining Corporation in Indonesia. To view Kasmali's PowerPoint, click here.

The panel presenters, who were organized and introduced by Assistant Program Director Lucy Daberkow, provided a fascinating overview of five foreign legal and judicial systems. The presenters explained the various levels of courts and, in many cases, described how environmental and natural resources issues are handled. For the most part, the countries presented about are civil law systems, a matter of significant interest for Americans who are more familiar with the common law system.

In addition to the five presenters, students from five additional countries -- China, Iran, Mexico, Peru, and the U.S. -- attended the event.

All of us know that e-mail, Skype, cell phones, texting, and so on have brought untold opportunities to expand our personal and professional horizons. Nevertheless, there is no substitute for seeing someone in person, watching how they speak, and asking them questions about their views. There is no electronic means of really doing this.

That's why the graduate program has a history of commitment to seeking a highly diverse range of students from all across the globe. Clearly there are disagreements from time-to-time...never make the mistake of asking an Argentinian or Brazilian (where both are present) about who has the better football (soccer) team!On a more serious note, all of us in the graduate program are extremely proud of our students, be they from as close as Denver or as far away as Argentina or Indonesia. This group will make a substantial contribution to our world in the years ahead. Just watch. You will not be disappointed.