Elisa has been a member of AEGEE-Catania for three years now. The experience that she gained from her antenna and the European bodies that she has been involved with so far, motivated her to take the next step and become a member of the Juridical Commission (JC) for the upcoming term. Here are all the questions the AEGEEan and its readers had for the current JC SubCommissioner:
The AEGEEan: Can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Elisa: I’m in my last year, studying Law, at the University of Catania and I hope I will be getting my degree this summer, right before the beginning of the term. I’m a very enthusiastic person and, since I like what I study, I want to put my knowledge into practice!
What is your relevant experience for this position?
As I explained in my candidature I’ve been helping the Juridical Commission as SubCommissioner this year (term 2015/2016). My collaboration with the current members gave me a lot of valuable experience for this position.
Why did you choose to become a candidate for the Juridical Commission?
During this year I came to the conclusion, that I gained the right knowledge to continue and improve the job of the current commissioners, therefore at the moment, I have the right motivation to carry out this mission!
What is the thing that makes the Juridical Commission important according to you?
The thing that makes the JC important, is that AEGEE, beyond an association, is a real community of people, in this case European students. As every community, it needs regulations (in this case, the ones mentioned in the Corpus Iudiricum Aeegense (CIA)), which will always be evolving and be shaped along with the people. So, to me, this European body is supposed to connect students with rules, help them apply them in the right way and take care of their adaptation during the evolution of this big community!
How would you raise awareness about the CIA among the members?
Raising awareness about regulations is hard in every community. Maybe people could be bored in reading all the articles, but the fact that at every Agora there are many members who submit proposals is a proof that not all members ignore the importance of the process. In any case, it is a reality that many members have not read it once. Maybe, the word could be spread through a brief workshop about the CIA, during a Local Training Course (LTC) or an Regional Training Course (RTC) for example, just to make people aware of the main rules of the association!
Is there something that you would like to improve in the current version (v.26.1)?
I think that CIA is constantly evolving together with the association and the changing of its needs, so yes, there’s always room for improvement.
Do you think that there’s somehow room for collaboration between other European bodies and the Juridical Commission?
Yes of course, and I think that there must be and it has to be reinforced: the JC is always open to give support and advice to every member, local and European body.
If you were elected tomorrow, what would be the first thing that you would do?
Maybe I’ll make the most recent version of the CIA more accessible: some people said that they have not read the CIA once, because they don’t really know where to find it.
What is the thing that makes you the most excited as a candidate?
Probably the challenge of answering all the questions people will ask me. I think this process is really important in order to understand what people want to see from the JC, but I also consider this as a personal feedback for my future job.
Questions from our readers:
Have you read the whole CIA? If so, what is its role in the network?
Yes, I did. The CIA is the Corpus Iuridicum Aegeense, it contains the structure of the association, all the working formats of all bodies, the Agora and all the rules to make the entire association work, i.e. it’s the main pillar of AEGEE, because without regulations, no community can exist!
In your program, you’re mostly referring to continuing the work of the current Juridical Commission, what are some of your own ideas that could to improve the work of this European body?
Improving the work of the current Commissioners will be hard, but everything can be improved in terms of efficiency on solving issues and so on.
How do you place yourself towards the proposals about removing the current Comité Directeur from the work of the Commission?
I think that as European bodies, we can continue with the model of “check and balances”, but sometimes more neutrality in the decisions of the Commission is needed, which in my opinion, was the aim of the proposal.
Would you continue with the idea of presenting proposals only during the Autumn Agora?
The proposal was submitted with the intention of avoiding using a lot of the time of both Agorae just for discussion on proposals. But it’s just a proposal, and it has to be voted, so it’s up to the Agora to decide!
Why do you think you’re the most eligible candidate for this position?
Because I know the work, I’m motivated, I’m enthusiastic and I can give all my time to improve and preserve the CIA, as well as, to help whoever is seeking advice. In other words: I’m ready!
You can read the full candidature here.
Written by Theodora Giakoumelou, AEGEE-Athina