Day 5 3/10

 Today we had an earlier morning! We woke up around 8am to enjoy breakfast together before we headed off. We took the Metro for the first time today, which was similar to the subway back at home. After 4 stops we then all squeezed onto a public bus that dropped us off at the Universidad Complutense, Facultad De Derecho. This is one of Spain’s top law schools! We were honestly a bit surprise by the look of the school as it was not as picturesque as we were expecting. We met up with our professor, who led us to a classroom for his presentation. He spoke very good English, which made sense as he attended Harvard in the United States! He began by explaining how one gets into the law profession in Spain. Unlike the US, in Spain they enter law school right after high school. Spain’s law school is 4 years in which you take 2 subjects per semester. Afterwards, you take 1 more year of a master’s program, which is where you begin to specialize. Then you take a mandatory exam to officially be able to practice law in Spain. Some mandatory classes include History of Law and Roman Law. This means that if hired, one could begin practicing law at age 23, which is younger than in the US! We learned that criminal law was legalized in 1995 and that most cases revolve around street and vehicle crimes, specifically, speeding and drunk driving. Spain does not incarcerate at nearly the same rate as the US, so they have less people in prisons and do not typically rely on prison as a punishment. Also unlike the US, judges and prosecutors are not elected in Spain. Instead of taking an additional year in school for their master’s, those who want to become judges go to a judicial school in Barcelona to receive judicial training. The professor described this training as very boring. One is to read case after case, law after law, and be able to recite it, rather than apply. He explained that the US has a more socratic method of teaching, in which students are actively participating in their learning. In Spain, however, a teacher/professor gives lectures, while students primarily listen and take notes. We ended the presentation with a quick question and answer. He shared with us that being an illegal immigrant is not a crime in Spain, instead they just get deported but not charged. The death penalty also does not exist in Spain, only in times of war. The last time it was used was about 60 years ago, on domestic terrorists. After our group picture, we hopped back on the bus and Metro. The group split for lunch, about half of us went to an Italian Restaurant, and the other half went to a traditional Spanish restaurant. We ate at the Spanish restaurant and all shared appetizers and rice! We then got serenaded by a man playing the violin! We had free time in which some of us went shopping, napped at the hotel, or did our own thing. For dinner, we all ate together at El Social, a rooftop restaurant! 

-Camille, Rachael, and Fatiah