Network East-West provides a framework for bilateral legal exchange seminars. Participants include both law students from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and partnering faculties of law from universities in Central or Eastern Europe. Essential for the concept of the network is the participants’ commitment to take responsibility for the organisation of the exchange program itself as well as for the contribution of scientific work. Professors of each university and two mentors chosen by the students, who form the organisation team, provide scientific counsel and support. The seminars take place in Berlin and the partner cities. Within two weeks, the law students work out various subjects of an overall topic which is relevant for the legal systems of both participating countries. For this purpose, students from both faculties build teams to present their findings to the group of participants; after each presentation, the findings are discussed within the group. In doing so, comparisons can be drawn between both legal systems; in that way, similarities, distinctions and potential perspectives for change can be pointed out.

At the end of the exchange seminars, an international journal is created which serves for the documentation of scholarly abstracts, a summary of the excursions, lectures and discussions, and reports on the accompanying cultural programme and the progression of the seminar.

So far, cooperation with the law faculties in Riga, Tbilisi and Kiev, among others, has proven successful. In 2016, two additional partner faculties will join the network apart from the current cooperations: The network will be expanded by Charles University in Prague and Eötvös University in Budapest.