St. Mary's Law School Innsbruck Program

In the summer of 2016, Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will serve as the Distinguished Visiting Jurist for the Institute on World Legal Problems. The author of numerous scholarly works, Judge Higginbotham was the youngest sitting federal judge when he was appointed to the U.S. A widely respected jurist and frequent lecturer and visiting professor, Judge Higginbotham

has been widely and frequently honored for his contributions to the legal profession. Mary’s Innsbruck program have included eight members of the United States Supreme Court (the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Chief Justice John G. and Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, Sandra Day O’Connor, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia); then-President of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Hon. Gabrielle Kirk McDonald; Richard Goldstone, retired Justice of the South Africa Constitutional Court and Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; and András Sajó of the European Court of Human Rights. Visits are made to the local courts and to the state seat of government, and guest lectures typically are presented by European professors. Scholars traveling in Europe and lawyers abroad on international business often are invited to share insights with the classes or deliver special lectures on important international topics. Students have the opportunity to converse with foreign scholars and Austrian lawyers on several occasions, including at the gala opening reception at Schloss Ambras (the great Habsburg castle overlooking the city). Austrian students will participate in classes, off-campus visits, and social events, along with their American colleagues. Classes will meet Monday through midday Thursday. This schedule allows students time to travel on weekends to such destinations as Rome, Paris, the French Riviera, Venice, Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Prague, and Budapest. The University of Innsbruck is the foreign sponsor of the Institute. Offices, study areas, and classrooms are comfortably housed in the main building of the University. Students have access to the international and comparative law collections of the University libraries. Selected American works are also available and students are provided Internet access through the University of Innsbruck.