By: Jaelyn Morgan Haile
This week, I started my summer internship at the European Center for Law & Justice (ECLJ) in Strasbourg, France. I took a whirlwind of a trip starting with a redeye flight from Orlando to Frankfurt, Germany, and an afternoon ride from Frankfurt to Strasbourg on Deutsche Bahn’s ICE (Intercity-Express) train. Along with the ECLJ attorneys and staff, I will be working alongside a number of other legal interns. It has been a pleasure to get to know everyone there and learn more about French legal trends and culture!
The European Center for Law & Justice (ECLJ) is an international NGO that promotes and protects human rights in Europe and cross the globe. As their website indicates, the ECLJ is a global partner with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and engages in similar legal, legislative, and cultural issues through advocacy and education.
On my first day, I got to meet everyone in the office and attend a company meeting. It was an unusually busy week for the ECLJ because the organization was participating in and hosing several conferences in Strasbourg and abroad that week. In addition, I got oriented to the building, a historic building that includes stained-glass windows velvet-covered steps, and was hooked up to the ECLJ Wi-Fi network.
The very next day, I traveled with the ECLJ to le Parlement européen to attend their SCOTUS conference discussing the recently published U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and its rationale for abrogating the constitutional right to abortion. There, the ECLJ Director, Grégor Puppinck spoke along Alfonso López ed la Osa and Óscar Corominas. For those interested in the content of the conference, the video recording has been posted on the VOX Europa YouTube channel here and M. Puppinck’s speech has been posted on the ECLJ YouTube channel here as well as the ECLJ website here.
As an ECLJ intern, I am assigned various research, writing, or English-language translation work with which the attorneys need assistance. For the rest of the week, I have been meeting with other ECLJ personnel to help translate documents (speeches, press releases, articles, emails, etc.) into English. I have also been assisting the ECLJ by researching the U.S. legal precedent on homeschooling and other education-related rights.
Throughout my internship, I have had ample opportunity to practice listening and speaking French. Although I studied some basic French in my undergraduate program, nothing except for immersion can really prepare you for the day-to-day colloquialisms that you must understand to communicate well in France! Not everyone in the office is bilingual. However, we all do our best to communicate to one another and can laugh good-naturedly at our miscommunications along the way.
I am very thankful to be working with the ECLJ for the next five weeks. As the internship continues, I look forward to learning more about the organization, people, European politics, and French culture! A bientôt!
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice Student Staff member/Law Clerk. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.