Health, Law, and Society LLM graduate appointed trainee judge

Press release issued: 29 January 2019

Law School alumna Vendula Mezeiová, who completed a LLM in Health, Law, and Society in 2018, has been appointed as a trainee judge at the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic. In this article she gives an overview of how the skills - and perception of law in a wider social context - gained through the LLM have helped her to prepare for her new role.

By Vendula Mezeiová (LLM in Health, Law, and Society, 2018)

After finishing my LLM course in Health, Law and Society at the University of Bristol Law School, it is an honour for me to be appointed a trainee judge at the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic. My legal studies hugely contributed to the reasons why I have been given the chance to be in this position.

The Supreme Administrative Court is a highly rated judicial institution, which executes judicial review over decisions of administrative bodies, beside others in matters of public health insurance, social security or public procurements.

My role as a trainee judge is to assist judges with conducting legal research and drafting of the judgments within the cassation proceedings over the legality and protection against unlawful interference with the rights of individuals. It is a truly exciting experience to deal with legal issues which often have no settled solution and which require more than positivist application of the law. This is actually how my LLM course contributes to my position the most.

Due to the LLM course, I perceive law in wider social context. My engagement with legal issues and health in classes - such as the impact of ‘right to health’ litigation on health inequalities, possible enhancement of health justice by public procurement, procedural justice and legitimacy in funding decision-making for high cost medicines - has improved my ability to critically analyse law and my unconventional approach which I am able to take towards challenging legal issues in the practice of the Court.

Thanks to intensive skills practice, such as presentations, essays, case studies, law reform project and debates within the LLM course, I am able to present my critical thoughts and approach in a convincing manner, which is so important in adjudication.

I am excited to have a chance now to contribute with my experience gained within the LLM course to the judicial decision-making process of the Court, and maybe also to shift understanding of law not only as a binding system of norms but also as a component of society which should reflect and modify the social status quo.

Further information

The LLM in Health, Law, and Society is a distinctive, master’s level degree that goes beyond traditional courses on healthcare law to look at the relationships between law, governance and health across society and governmental sectors.

Wellcome Trust Scholarship scheme: Applicants to the September 2019 intake of the University of Bristol’s groundbreaking LLM in Health, Law, and Society are invited to apply to a scholarship scheme that is generously funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The Centre for Health, Law, and Society (CHLS) promotes cross-disciplinary and cross-sector perspectives on the impacts of law and governance on physical, mental and social wellbeing. Based within the University of Bristol Law School, the CHLS comprises leading scholars whose work focuses on wide-ranging practical areas from within and far beyond health care systems, including clinical medicine, reproductive care, mental health, social care, and public and global health.