CLS Team

Team members

Kristýna Abel Benešová (Academic Director of the 2025 Edition)

Meet Kristýna! She’s a passionate advocate for human and women’s rights, a lawyer, and a crisis intervent. Her legal journey took her from Charles University in Prague to the University of Cambridge, followed by roles at the Czech Ministry of Justice —where she litigated (and won!) cases before the European Court of Human Rights—the European Commission, and the private sector. After Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine displaced over half a million people to the Czech Republic, she returned to the public sphere to offer her skills. Now, she serves at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), focusing on the inclusion of Ukrainian refugees and the systemic prevention of gender-based violence.

Last summer school, she somehow managed to get up at 7 a.m. every day to share her yoga with participants on the beautiful terrace in front of Patejdlova bouda—and she can’t wait to do it again, alongside curating this year’s academic program.

Martin Abel

Martin Abel studied law at the Charles University in Prague and the University of Oxford. He finished with a dissertation thesis on the theory of rights. Since 2019, he has been connecting his legal education with the decarbonization of the economy, especially the energy sector. Working for a climate think-tank based in Prague, he wants to be a strong voice in the Czech climate policy debate. He led the Czech Climate Litigation, an association that succeeded at court with a lawsuit against the state for its inaction vis-à-vis climate change. He also devoted analytical work to biofuels and hydrogen. Martin is currently contracted by the Czech Ministry of the Environment to work on the identification of the so-called renewable acceleration areas and related changes in legislation and spatial planning.

Lucie Švábová (Director)

Lucie is in her fifth year of the Charles University Law School. Not sure where to head after her high school graduation, but being particulary bad at chemistry and biology, Lucie finally lended in the field of law. She is mainly interested in area of international law and human rights, especially when it comes to heated arguments concerning value-based rights.

During her study years, she dedicated most of her time to Common Law Society, which became her second family. She also spent the past year being a president of this – in her opinion trully amazing – student organization.

Lucie enjoys anything music-related, so do not be surprised if you hear her randomly singing Elvis Presley songs at any time of the day. She plays piano, loves art and does surprisingly good at Habsburg dynasty trivia.

In her free time she practices bodycombat and never says no to a basketball or volleyball game. If you want to make her happy, simple dancing or mentioning czech pop singer Helena Vondráčková will do the trick.

Eva Jekielková

Eva is currently in her fourth year at Charles University Law School. Upon graduation, she faced a significant decision: whether to follow her passion for history of art and literature or delve into the intriguing world of law. Ultimately, she chose to pursue legal studies, driven by her fascination with mediation, contract law, and the legal aspects surrounding art and its display.

As an active member of the Common Law Society, Eva finds fulfillment in engaging with like-minded individuals. Intrigued to be part of the CLS Summer School team, relishing the opportunity to connect with people from diverse backgrounds, discuss shared interests, and expand her knowledge base. Outside the lecture halls of the Faculty of Law, she can’t turn down a chance to play volleyball and can often be found improving her skills on the nearest golf course. Additionally, she enjoys immersing herself in the pages of a good book.

Lucie Bauerová

Lucie is in her first year at the Faculty of Law at Charles University. Since she was a kid, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer someday. No one really knows why or where it came from, but it may be caused by the need to always voice her opinion. She is interested in international law and business law and is excited to learn about it in her upcoming years at the university, but if she were to choose from her current classes, civil law is definitely her favourite.

In her free time, she loves to go skating - it doesn’t matter if it’s on ice or a random pavement in the middle of Prague. She enjoys visiting art exhibitions and learning about history, often seeking out museums and cultural sites when she travels, which also happens to be one of her favourite activities. She never turns down a chance to meet new people and make friends. But above all, her biggest passion is her dog.

Patricia Janušková

Patricia is a first-year law student at Charles University with a strong passion for private international law and EU law. As an avid organizer and idea-generator, she thrives on bringing people together and creating memorable experiences. Whether it’s planning events or brainstorming the next big thing, she’s always up for the challenge.

Outside of law, Patricia is a dedicated bookworm (her love for reading is rivaled only by her love for her dog) and an enthusiastic hiker—if there’s a hill, she’ll climb it. She’s excited to connect with like-minded peers from across Europe, exchange ideas, and help create an unforgettable summer school experience.

Barbora Dolenská

Barbora is a first-year student of politics, philosophy & economics, as well as law. She dedicated her academic journey to learn about the world of legal and social affairs from a wider perspectives, and dreams to put her education to good use in the sphere of human rights. She is a volunteer at Amnesty, ambassador of European Democracy Youth Network, and a passionate youth worker striving to make the world more beautiful.

At the rare occasion of not studying, she enjoys lifting weights, learning languages, immersing herself in foreign cultures and writing. She also loves to engage in deep, meaningful debates.

Alumni team members

Zuzana Vikarská (Founding Academic Director)

Zuzana Vikarska (Zuzi) is a true European: she was born and raised in (Czecho)Slovakia and has studied in Czechia, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, briefly also in Hungary and in the Netherlands. Studying law was a pragmatic choice; if it weren't for her parents, she would probably have pursued a career in journalism, languages, IT or music. Thanks to her Erasmus year in Leuven (and thanks to the incredible charisma of Koen Lenaerts) she fell in love with EU law and decided to stay and learn more about it. When she'd had enough of beer, chocolate and waffles, she moved across the channel to do a post-grad at Oxford, and slightly changed her focus to human rights (and medical law in particular). The city of dreaming spires absolutely won her heart, so she stayed there to pursue a research degree under the supervision of Steve Weatherill. Last spring she moved to Brussels to work for her home country during the Slovak Presidency in the Council of the EU. After SK PRES she moved to Brno (CZ) and she is currently a lecturer in constitutional law and human rights at the Masaryk University in Brno and she also works as a law clerk to the most amazing constitutional judge. When she's not working or writing her dissertation, she loves to organise (anything), chill (anywhere) and chat (with anyone).

Jan Komárek (Founding Academic Director)

Jan is Professor of EU law at the Univesity of Copenhagen. He has been the summer school’s academic director since 2012 (with a break in 2017) and has also done quite a bit of teaching in the moutains – and elsewhere (Oxford, LSE or Science Po).  

No matter how much Jan would want to be a true scholar, he is first of all the father of two amazing kids. This keeps him away from pursuing many brilliant ideas he has got but rarely gets written down and published (what true scholars do). Nevertheless, he managed to publish articles on EU law, courts and adjudication that people read and write about (a debate on his article will be published soon by International Journal of Constitutional Law, he published articles in American Journal of Comparative Law, Common Market Law Review and is on the Editorial Board of European Constitutional Law Review), which makes him very happy. At present he lead the ERC Starting Grant project on European Constitutional Imaginaries: Utopias, Ideologies and the Other.  

Jan studied in Prague, Stockholm and Oxford and before going to academia, he worked for the Czech Foreign Ministry and for the Constitutional Court as the President’s legal clerk. After seven years at the LSE he moved to Copenhagen in 2017 to take up the Chair in EU law at the Faculty of Law and i.Courts and is excited about coming back to what he considers his favourite part of Europe (besides his home country) – Scandinavia. 

Jan loves the mountains, mountain running and rock-climbing and in an alternative life he would like to work as a sherpa – not for his government in the European Council, but bearing loads in the mountains.

Jan Exner (Academic Director of the 2019 Edition)

Jan Exner (Jenda) is a true sportsperson. Even though he never has been and never will be a top athlete, he loves sports and this passion shines through both his personal and professional life. He studied at a sport-oriented grammar school and has been interested in law in sport since the very beginning of his studies at the Charles University Law School. 

Thanks to his EU law-oriented friends, the summer school and the character and nature of EU law, Jan has also gradually taken liking to EU law. That is also why he spent one (and the best) year of his life on Erasmus in Toulouse, France. When Jan graduated from law school in 2016, his dream became reality as he got the opportunity to work as a lawyer for the Czech Olympic Committee. Except for his Olympic journey, Jan works partially for the Fédération internationale de natation.

He is also a lecturer and a PhD student in EU law, human rights and sports (with a focus on anti-doping). Sport also fills the majority of Jan's free time. He has recently fell in love with cross fit and mixed martial arts.

Except for sport, Jan enjoys traveling (across the Czech lands as well as well as around the World), spending time with and talking to his friends over a good (Brazilian of Italian) coffee, red French or white Czech wine and Czech beer (preferably Pilsner) or reading books and watching movies (in Czech, English and French).

Matěj Slavík

Matej is a fifth-year student at the Charles University Law School. Currently, he stays in Lund where he studies EU law. He is the summer school's project manager for 2020 and he'll try hard to help you enjoy the summer school as much as he did when he first came as a participant in 2017.

Matěj worked at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic and the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic. Recently, he concluded his internship at the Constitutional Court. He also participates in the Street Law project which helps educate people from excluded areas in Czechia and is trying to be an active member of the Czech Society for European and Comparative Law.

For a long time, Matěj longed for becoming an influential economist. In his eyes, it was the most effective way to improve living conditions for people in Central Africa as well as to protect the natural environment surrounding them, which is something he cares about deeply. That ended during his one year stay in New Zealand when he found out that in this scenario, the rest of his life would be inevitably attached to working with numbers, so he decided to help through other means. There was also a point, where Matěj thought about pursuing a career in the field of classical music as a professional violin player. That ambition has been gone for long, but his passion for classical music is here to stay. And the same goes for sports. Matěj played soccer for 6 years and was (kind of) a professional athlete in modern pentathlon (swimming, fencing, running, horse riding and shooting). Such experience made him a little bit competitive.

Recently, Matěj become passionate about constitutional and EU law. He also follows world news and loves to debate about them with a glass of a beer in his hand. He will also get married soon! Together with his fiancée, they will soon become co-authors of a book about Populism and Law.

Robin Fleček

Hi, I am Robin and I am a judicial law clerk at the Prague Administrative court. Despite my initial grudge towards this particular area of law I find it very entertaining and enlightening (no, really, I do!).

Having spent ludicrous amount of time around computers, technical support and web administration of this Summer School was the obvious choice for me. There are moments at which I am unable to be found at the chalet but it is mostly because I am behind of a wheel of a car and bringing your favourite lecturer form the Prague airport. Or I just went out to do a little bit of shopping for you.

Having the opportunity to come back to this Summer School every year is a real privilege for me. I would not trade these past 6 years for anything because spending 2 weeks each year in a beautiful environment with such amazing people beats everything. It is not something one walks away from easily. Next edition of Summer School can’t come quick enough but paitence is a virtue and I am very much looking forward to meeting new people and reuniting with our old friends.

Additionally, I recently became a huge fan of group fitness workouts, especially LesMills workouts and TRX workouts. I also wouldn’t say no to a game of volleyball or frisbee, which I hope I will be able to convince some of you to play with me in the mountains.

Jana Cimlerová

Jana is a fifth-year student of the Prague Faculty of Law and is currently enjoying her
Erasmus stay in Hamburg. She joined the Summer School’s team almost three years ago. She
is another project manager of the 2020 edition and is responsible for the School’s finances.

Since the beginning of her studies, she has been an active member of the Common Law
Society and an avid organizer of academic (and also not-so-academic) events for law
students as well as broad public. Besides EU law, they are mostly focused on her great
passion – medical law. Especially, she loves to get together students and experts of different
fields and to bring about interdisciplinary discussions about current issues. She also helps
run a legal advisory centre for both patients and medics. She has also always been into
meeting international students and has, for instance, organized a Buddy Program for the
incoming Erasmus students in Prague.

Apart from that, she is very keen on (art) history and linguistics. If you come to Prague, she’ll
be happy to take you for a tour around the city and share with you all the historical fun-facts
she happens to know.

In the free time left, she is a fan of most kinds of sports you can think of. Anyone for a game
of volleyball?

Jan Trnovský

Honza is one of the members of Summer School team, for whom this year is the first experience with organizing it. He’s studying the third year of the Charles University Law Faculty and since his second semester at the University, he’s been a member of the board of the Common Law Society, while his position now is the treasurer.

In Honza’s free time his biggest hobby is definitely sport. He never says no to an opportunity to play any kind of sport. He plays tennis and golf, but nowadays his biggest passion is quidditch!

Thanks to meeting Jenda at the Common Law Society Freshers’ Summer School, he’s been focusing on sports law since his first days at the University and so he may combine his hobby with studies. In the past two years, he has been the project manager of another summer school on sports law, organized for Czech students. Being a fan of the best Czech football club, AC Sparta Prague, he had the chance to be an intern at the law department of this club, but he has been an intern at the law department of the Czech Olympic Committee, too. As this year‘s topic of the Summer School is sports law, he had no choice but to become a part of our team and he’s looking forward to meeting you!