DOHA: As the State of Qatar charters new routes of far-reaching connectivity, the nation requires leaders who can manage multi-faceted relationships and navigate different legal systems.
HBKU actively contributes to this vision as it graduates its very first cohort of students from its Juris Doctor (JD) legal education program. HBKU’s JD is the first-of-its-kind graduate law degree in the Middle East and North Africa region. CLPP has already gained a strategic edge enabling it to develop a leading-edge curriculum as well as practice of instruction and scholarship, with the goal of delivering the maximum knowledge and value to students and to partners.
Speaking about his motivation to join HBKU CLPP’s JD program, Umair Dogar, a graduating student, said: “I pursued a higher education in law for two reasons. First, a world-class law program brilliantly complemented my undergraduate academic background in international politics, helping me broaden my understanding of the various levers of power in societies. Second, law is interconnected with various other disciplines so you cannot learn one without the other, which makes law-in-action all the more exciting.”
A Class of 2018 alumna described her experience at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Asma Al Khulaifi said: “Our participation in the 2017 EUROPA Moot Court Competition in Greece helped us better understand the application of EU law as well as the discourse currently taking place on ways to circumvent the current global refugee crisis. It also helped us develop our skills in oral argument, as we were able to witness proceedings of the court first-hand and note how the CJEU highlighted in their discussions the concepts of solidarity, sovereignty and possible dislocation of the EU institutions.”
Another CLPP graduate hopes to leverage on the international exposure opportunities the JD program provided. Afaf Al Kazem, Class of 2018, said: “By structure, the JD program at HBKU has been developed to provide the students with the broad perspective of a diverse range of legal systems. Having the opportunity to take part in moots around the world made it very clear to me that our program – even though very new – stands amongst the best law programs internationally.”
