History

The European Law Students' Association was founded on 4 May 1981 in Vienna by law students from Austria, Poland, Hungary, and West Germany.

The development of ELSA in Germany at that time is a little unclear. A national group emerged and was officially registered in Berlin as "ELSA-Deutschland e.V.". On paper, it still exists today. No local groups are on record but may have existed.

In 1984 the newly elected chairman informed the competent local court that the previous elections had not been run according to the statutes. Since the elections were not rerun and the old board did not feel responsible anymore, ELSA in Germany did not have a board and ceased to exist.

On the international level, ELSA continued to develop. While as a rule there was only one local group per country initially, in march 1988 there were already 15 national groups: Austria, Poland, Hungary as co-founders, plus all scandinavian countries, Iceland, England, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Malta, and Yugoslavia.

A new Beginning in Vienna

In Germany, ELSA remained dormant until 1986, when a law student from Heidelberg came in contact with ELSA in Vienna, where he was studying international law. Back in Germany, he advertised for other students to found a German national section. At first, the idea met with little interest among the students. But some of the Professors were intrigued. In his lecture, a well known Professor rhapsodized about the idea and the work of ELSA, effectively doubling the number of members to 15. Although the ELSAniens in Heidelberg tried to increase interest in the organization by organizing lectures and excursions they were not bestowed with too much success. In those days ELSA resembled a group of friends more than anything else.

Back to Observer Status with ELSA International

"ELSA FR Germany" was technically still a member in ELSA International from the time of the first foundation. To be free of unwanted legacies, the board of ELSA-Heidelberg, which was at the same time board of ELSA Germany, requested exclusion from ELSA International at the International Council Meeting (ICM) in Helsinki in October 1988. In order to be able for the new ELSA Germany to be accepted as a full member as quickly as possible, observer status was requested and accepted at the same ICM.

Break through in Germany and foundation of the new ELSA Germany

In January 1989, a renowned law magazine published an article in which ELSA-Heidelberg announced a meeting to inform anyone intersted about ELSA. Having expected moderate interest, the group was confronted with as many as 120 participants from all over Germany. It turned out that ELSA groups already existed in Bonn and Cologne that no-one had heard of in advance and whose statutes were not compliant with those of ELSA International.

A constitution had been prepared to be implemented at the meeting. An emerging pervasive discussion delayed this plan until the next meeting half a year later. At the ICM in Lisbon in April 1989 the representatives of ELSA Germany took on the organization of the next but one ICM. At this point, 14 local groups of ELSA had formed and work on this first major project in Germany had the effect of welding them together. Thus at the first National Council Meeting in Münster on 1/2 July 1989 the statutes were passed and ELSA FR Germany founded, even though funding and structure were still hard-fought over. As a result of their comparatively larger experience members of ELSA-Heidelberg made up the majority of the first national board.

Print view