4 July 2011 - 15 July 2011

This two-week applied legal practice course aims to strengthen theprofessional development of students, who are lawyers and other legal advocates in the field of in mental health and disability rights law from Central and Eastern Europe and further afield. While being an applied course exploring rights in real life, the course will introduce interdisciplinary perspectives from social sciences, politics, social work and clinical sciences.

The course focuses on the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - an instrument which entered into force in 2008. Using this piece of law, the course objectives are to heighten students' awareness of the legislative and policy implications of their mental health lawyering, and an awareness of the range of ways they can engage with reforms in their home countries; to advance their skills to effectively represent people with mental health disabilities in courtroom and other settings; to develop students' understanding and knowledge of the issues in such a way as to facilitate further postgraduate study.

The course uses innovative teaching methods and encourages students to reflect on law in practice, and how lawyers can impact upon policy-making at the domestic level to ensure the implementation of international human rights law. The methods include a site visit to a mental health institution, a site visit to a community-based service for people with mental health disabilities, and interviews with people with mental health disabilities. In the classroom, the methods include group preparations and presentations, practice of courtroom advocacy skills, tutor presentations, discussions, and the course culminates with a moot court.

Level: professional

Location: Budapest, Hungary

Participants: practicing lawyers, activists and academics in the field of mental health and disability rights law from Europe and Africa.

Tuition, fee, lodging: 550 Euro ("Early Bird" fee: 500 Euro, by 30 April 2011). Application deadline: 15 February 2011.

Contact Information:
Sarolta Szabo
Program Co-ordinator
CEU Summer University
1051 Budapest
Nador utca 9.
Hungary
Tel: +36-1 327-3811
Fax: +36-1 327-3124
E-mail: szabos@ceu.hu
Web: http://www.summer.ceu.hu/mentaldisability