Modernization of Legal Education for the Support of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine
The Faculty of Law will participate as a partner in the Erasmus+ project “Modernization of Legal Education for the Support of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine” (EU4UA). The project was awarded funding from the Erasmus+ Program, Capacity building in the field of higher education (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE).
EU4UA is a 36-month-long international project which brings together eight Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian higher education institutions (HEIs): Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Coordinator), Vytautas Magnus University (Partner), Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Partner), Chernivtsi National University Yuriy Fedkovych (Partner), Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Partner), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Partner), Zaporizhzhia National University and Ukrainian European Studies Association (Partner).
This project aims to increase the capacity of Ukrainian law schools in providing students with the knowledge and competencies necessary for the legal support of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. The project also aims to modernize syllabi of core legal disciplines, as well as disseminate common European values and knowledge on the foundations of the EU and NATO onto the wider civil and political environment.
European and Euro-Atlantic integration is the geopolitical choice of the Ukrainian people and of Ukraine as the sovereign state, their desire for good governance, peace, and security; moreover, since 2016 this course, as well as the European identity, have become part of the Ukrainian Constitution as the provisions of its Preamble. This course’s implementation requires the appropriate comprehensive activities on its enforcement, including legal harmonization and huge changes in different spheres of civil and public life. This activity should be focused on the understanding and spreading in Ukraine of the common European values, principles of unity and diversity, and common cultural, historical, and legal heritage. The key role in these processes is played by HEIs, which, based on cooperation, can have a great impact on the civil environment and public system. The exchange of experience is the shortest way to reaching the aim, especially when it comes to the countries that have already passed the path of EU/EA integration like Poland and Lithuania. Their HEIs have huge scientific and educational expertise in the support of the EU/EA integrational process, which will be very useful for the Ukrainian HEIs.
The project will be focused on four core tasks:
1) Improvement of the content of the core legal disciplines (constitutional, administrative, civil, and criminal law) in law schools of participating Ukrainian HEIs by making their syllabi EU/EA values-based and including into them the EU/EA component.
2) Professional development of the academic staff of the participating Ukrainian HEIs for achieving teaching excellence in teaching the core legal disciplines according to the EU/EA values-oriented approach and renewed syllabi.
3) Dissemination of common European values, as well as knowledge on the foundations of the EU and NATO onto the wider civil environment by introducing a Certificate Program for secondary school teachers.
4) Equipment of public servants (representatives of the staff of the Ukrainian parliament, government, judiciary, prosecutors, and local authorities) with appropriate knowledge by the introduction of a Training Program for public servants on the foundations of the EU and NATO.