In Spring Agora Enschede, he was torn between applying for Juridical Commission and Comité Directeur. Even if he chose to run for CD, Giuseppe Aquilino still had the dream to join the Juridical Commission (JC). In Agora Kraków he will try to make his dream come true, running for a place in the commission. Check out his interview. 

Firdevs Çazım: How would you describe yourself?
Giuseppe Aquilino: I am detail-oriented, punctual and, sometimes, a bit too accurate. That’s why I take a little bit more time than the others in doing stuff. On the other hand, I always try to solve problems in the best way possible: I don’t like to be superficial in doing stuff. Being part of JC could mean this: be accurate, because people have to receive punctual and detailed answer from JC.

Why are you interested in applying for the JC?
Being a commissioner was a dream I couldn’t realize last year because there was a fight inside me between applying for JC or CD and I chose CD – also because I was sure the people who ran last year are great. So it continued to be my dream that I am trying to realize this year. I decided to run because I trust in the work of this commission and I want to continue it in the best way possible and improve it if possible.

What would be your main objective as member of JC?
As i said in my program, my main task is focusing more on transparency, faster problem resolution and good capacity of giving a proper answer to questions related to juridical matters inside AEGEE and CIA.

You worked as a subcommissioner of the JC in 2016. Could you briefly describe your experiences? And why you didn’t repeat the experience the following year?
My experience was awesome: I started to help my commission in proofreading statutes, managing elections of committees and be active during my two Agoras as subcommie. I don’t deny I applied the following year. Just the commissioners wanted to give the possibility to the other applicants to have this experience too. I totally agreed because it’s an experience that every law student should have!

You mention transparency between CIA and AEGEE in your application. Considering the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) bonding, what would you contribute if you were elected?
Probably my sentence was misunderstood: I mentioned transparency. It means, in my opinion, that decisions have to be explained, and people have to know why their proposals were rejected, or their statutes were proofread in a specific way rather than another. I know very well the NDA bonding, but it doesn’t mean that we cannot explain at all why we take some decisions.

Considering the new regulation regarding the member of JC appointed to MedCom, would you like to take up this task? If yes, what is your relevant experience in conflict resolution and mediation?
I think that this decision has to be taken after the election and if I will be elected. Of course, if the other commissioners agree it will be me taking up the task, I would do my best. I have some sort of experience in conflict resolution, but outside AEGEE, such as condominium lawsuits or work conciliations or civil mediations that can be decided by an expert in law.

How would you like to improve the communication between bodies before the Agora? Considering your experience, what do you think didn’t work?
This is a very hard question. In my opinion, communication is the key and bodies have just to think that we all are volunteers, we do what we do because we love AEGEE and its vision. We don’t have to fight or to think that other people are wrong or something. We just have to understand why people acted like that and understand if it’s good for AEGEE or not, speaking about proposals. The JC also has to explain the reasons why something is wrong or not, according to the CIA. Don’t forget also that the CIA was made from AEGEEans before us and sometimes it’s normal that we have to change something. Laws change… In Italy we say that “Law is alive”. Now, I don’t want to be rude, but I think that European bodies in AEGEE sometimes forget the main point of our association: Borderless Europe. Doesn’t matter who makes the best proposals, if CD or SUCT or any other body. The important is to reach this vision. The JC has to check if proposals are made in a proper language or not. It has also the job to communicate what’s wrong and how to solve it.

Why should people vote for you?
People shouldn’t vote for me. I mean, people should vote for our programs – in this case, mine. If they like it, if they trust I can do that, if they think it’s good for AEGEE, they could consider to vote for me. I love this association, I love our vision, which is my vision. I also love law and JC. I can’t promise I will solve all the problems that AEGEE could have, but I can promise that I will put all of myself in this job and in this commission if elected.

Questions from the Network

Question one: In your program you mention increasing the transparency of the work. Given the confidentiality of the information the Commission works with, how do you think it can be increased?
In my program I said “My goal is focused on transparency, faster problems resolution and good capacity of giving a proper answer to questions related to juridical matters inside AEGEE and CIA.” With “transparency”, I mean transparency in how do we act, transparency in explaining what doesn’t work. Of course I will not break the NDA, of course I don’t want to share confidential information.

Question two: How do you plan to achieve the goal of improving communication between JC and Chair Team with CD?
I think we can do it if we start to cooperate, and not being “selfish”. JC, CT, CD and every European Body have to be close to the other bodies and support them and not thinking on how to reply to provocations, or “what to do if some other body attacks me”. I don’t like when people start to think “during this Agora I’ll take popcorn” or something like that. It’s not a war, it’s an association. “We hereby declare these principles to be fundamental to us: Cooperation between people and communities begins with dialogue and mutual understanding. We bring together students from all regions of Europe and create friendships that break stereotypes and prejudices”. I want to remind bodies of these quotes from AEGEE’s Statement of Principles. We create friends, not enemies. “A strong Europe is built upon the foundations of respect, tolerance and solidarity.”

Written by Firdevs Çazım, AEGEE-Hatay

You can read Giuseppe Aquilino’s full candidature here.

Check also the interviews with the other two candidates for Juridical Commission: Lisette Kunst, AEGEE-Groningen, and Veronika Chmelárová, AEGEE-Berlin