Graduation 2012
For the Students of the LL.M. Program 2011-2012 time for joy came on 27 September 2012.
Although many graduates had already left for their home countries, a small number was able to thoroughly enjoy the dinner the night before with the part-timers and newly incoming students, and to assemble in the Great Ceremony Hall of the University of Vienna to the music of Beethoven and Lully the following morning.
As always, the graduates came from backgrounds with different languages, beliefs, religious practices, mind-sets, and experiences: Aserbaidjan, Brazil, France, Italy, Kasachstan, Pakistan, Romania, Slovak Republic, United Kingdom, and USA.
Leona Whyte (UK/Croatia) was best student of the year 2011-12. She is a qualified solicitor, previously employed in a London based International Law firm and a Vienna based consultancy focusing on Law and Justice donor-funded projects in transition countries. Her thesis was supervised by Prof. Hanspeter Neuhold, entitled: "International Law and the case of Kosovo: Trying to fit a square peg into a round hole". Since her LL.M. graduation she has taken up a new position at the UK Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna.
Second best student: Laure Haffner (France). Her thesis was supervised by Prof. Christoph Schreuer, entitled: "Assessing the Fulfillment of the Right to Water in Investment Law and Investment Arbitration".
Third best student: Victoria Louise Rosalind Smythies (USA). Her thesis was supervised by Prof. Hanspeter Neuhold, entitled: "Retributive vs. Restorative: Harmony between the International Criminal Court and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions".
