On Tuesday September 10, 2013, the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) honoured eleven students of the Faculty of Law and The Higher Institute of Political and Administrative Sciences. The students were ranked amongst the first twenty-five candidates in the final competition of The Inter-University Course on International Criminal Law and Procedure.

The course, launched by The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in 2011, in cooperation with the Asser Institute in the Netherlands, dealt with issues of international law and criminal procedure. This honorary meeting, initiated by the University President, Reverend Father Hady Mahfouz, was held in the presence of the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law, Reverend Father Talal Hachem, the Director of the Higher Institute of Political and Administrative Sciences, Dr. Georges Yahchouchi, the Director of the Undergraduate Studies in the Faculty of Law and Dr. Haitham Sakr, as well as the honorees.

One hundred and twenty students, from eight leading Lebanese universities, participated in the course, which covered topics such as the history of international law, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of terrorism, the role of the STL, the rights of the accused in international criminal proceedings and the participation of victims. It is worth mentioning that the lectures, given by the most eminent experts in the field, were delivered, via video streaming from The Hague, to students in Lebanon.

The first 25 of the 120 students were awarded with a trip to The Hague. We are very glad that this year 11 out of 25 were USEK Students: Zalfa Lyan (ranked first in the Inter-University Program), Serena Sfeir, Manuella Naim, Nadine Allam, Teddy Salameh, Elie Zhoury, Laure Yazbeck, Christelle Abboud, Stephanie Semaam, Adib issa and Ralph Matni.

Rev. Fr. Mahfouz congratulated the students and indicated that they had raised the name of the University in an international competition. He called upon them to be the ambassadors of their University wherever they were and to keep communicating with USEK through the Alumni Office. He concluded by wishing the students every success in their future academic and professional careers.

Afterwards, Nadine Allam gave a speech on behalf of the students and thanked the University for giving them the opportunity to participate in this important program.

Finally, Rev. Fr. Mahfouz presented the students with souvenir gifts.