The MIDS Students at the International Court of Justice with Judge Mohamed Bennouna, 10 March 2009.

Applications are now open for the 2010-2011 cycle of the Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) programme. The Master in International Dispute Settlement is a Master of Advanced Studies programme launched in September 2008 under the joint tutelage of the Graduate Institute and the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva. It is housed in the newly-renovated Villa Moynier on the main campus of the Graduate Institute.
 

Under the lead of Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and the Executive Directorship of Dr. Thomas Schultz, the programme has been designed to offer specialised full-time postgraduate legal studies in the field of international dispute settlement. Limited to a student intake of 30-35 per year, the programme examines current law-based approaches to international dispute settlement. Its curriculum includes topics such as private and public international law, as well as international commercial and investment arbitration, WTO dispute resolution mechanisms and the study of the proceedings of the International Court of Justice. More recently, the programme has also begun to focus on clinical education – the practical aspect of law – by offering practical training courses in arbitration advocacy and legal writing, a practice it intends to continue. Teaching is delivered by a faculty comprised of professors from both the Graduate Institute and the University of Geneva. Among the professors, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes and Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, both from the University of Geneva, teach a foundation course. Another key part of the curriculum is taught by professors Marcelo Kohen and Joost Pauwelyn, both from the Graduate Institute, and Professor Brigitte Stern, from Paris 1, and Dr. Sébastien Besson, also from the University of Geneva. Other Graduate Institute professors and honorary professors teach in the programme, such as Georges Abi-Saab, Andrea Bianchi and Jean-Michel Jacquet. For the 2010-2011 edition of the MIDS, three professors from Harvard Law School will join the faculty and teach part of the programme, thereby strengthening the Institute’s ties with Harvard. Honorary Professor Lucius Caflisch and Professor Pierre-Marie Dupuy, both from the Graduate Institute, will also come to complement the faculty of the MIDS for that cycle. Finally, external faculty members come to Geneva to teach specific courses, such as arbitration specialists Jan Paulsson (Miami Law School), Albert Jan van den berg (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Emmanuel Gaillard (Paris XII) and William Park (Boston University).
 

The 2010-2011 cycle of the Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement is the third year for a programme that continues to develop and gain in recognition and popularity. In the 2008-2009 cycle, the first year of the programme, 26 students from 19 countries and five continents were selected from among some 120 applicants. With an average age of just over 30 years, all but one participant had practical experience in law, often substantial. Several had worked for law firms, others had worked as judges or court clerks, while some had held positions as in-house counsel for international and non-governmental organisations. Upon completion of the course, and even prior to graduation, several students were hired for long-term positions or internships by some of the world’s most prestigious arbitration law firms, the WTO, the American Arbitration Association, and the International Court of Justice. Talking about the course, one of the students explained, “I am very happy and still cannot believe that it has happened to me”, while another student said that “what I will remember from the MIDS is the wonderful organisation, the excellent quality of the professors, and the willingness of the directors and the staff to help”.
 

For the current edition of the course – 2009-2010 – close to 200 applications were received, an increase of almost 50% over the previous year. The selection committee accepted 37 students from 29 countries and four continents. All were of a similar age and with similar backgrounds to their colleagues in the first cycle.
 

The Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement is one of several programmes that the Graduate Institute offers in joint partnership with other graduate institutes and institutions of higher learning. Other programmes include a joint Master of Law degree, the LL.M. in Global Health Law and International Institutions, with Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. Other programmes offered jointly with the University of Geneva include the Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Asian Studies, the MAS in International Humanitarian Law, and the MAS in Humanitarian Action.
 

For more information about the Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) see http://www.mids.ch.

For further details of other joint programmes, see http://iheid.ch/corporate/teaching/programmes/joint_programmes_en.html.