With twelve years of professional experience as a legal advisor and court reform specialist, Iuliia Sedyk is not an average law student. The 2010 Muskie [7] fellow sought an American LL.M. degree to, “help [Ukrainian] democracy to become strong and fair.” While increasing her knowledge of US and international legal practice, Sedyk is also sharing her expertise with other law students at the University of Connecticut [8] (UConn). In her recent presentation, “Court Excellence,” Sedyk discussed international approaches to court evaluation with UConn students and faculty.
During the presentation, Sedyk outlined contemporary developments in international court performance standards and evaluation methods. She drew from her work on USAID’s Ukraine Rule of Law Project [9]to give examples of how Ukrainian courts and NGOs are working together to apply new standards. Students and faculty had the opportunity to ask questions and Sedyk responded to their interest with a more general explanation of the Ukrainian court system.
Sedyk says that international comparisons have become a theme of her studies at UConn. “I always bring examples from Ukraine. My fellow students often ask me to give the Ukrainian prospective,” she notes with a smile.
In addition to classroom contributions and the “Court Excellence” presentation, Sedyk also serves as Vice President for an organization of international law students who plan events on-campus. Always active, Sedyk travelled to Singapore this fall to participate in the 2010 Asia-Pacific Courts Conference [10].
Sharing ideas and knowledge is extremely important to Sedyk. “It is mutual process,” she explains. “I learn a lot from American students…about how the legal system works here, about legal research and writing approaches and methodologies applied in US. I try in turn to bring some broader vision - from another part of the world or from my experience traveling and reading in a couple of languages - and we agree that [the] world is much bigger than just life here, or just in Europe or in Ukraine.”
