Law Students at Freie Universität Win Prestigious Simulation Competition in European Law
Winners in Regional Finals of the European Law Moot Court Competition in Leiden
№ 028/2013 from Feb 26, 2013
Students from Freie Universität Berlin recently won first place in a prestigious international competition in European law. Yasemin Skowronek, Luisa Gillert, Pauline Brosch, and Moritz Thörner prevailed against eleven competing teams from other universities in the Regional Final of the European Law Moot Courts in the Dutch city of Leiden. As one of the world’s top four teams, they have now qualified for the All-European Final on April 12 at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. The European Law Moot Court (ELMC) is the largest international law moot court competition in Europe. In this competition, a case before the European Court of Justice is simulated. Law students from all over the world take on the roles of plaintiffs and defendants, advocates-general, and representatives of commissions.
In the first part of the competition, the participants write attorney briefs for the plaintiff and the defendant party. The 48 teams with the best written submissions are invited to participate in hearings in the regional finals, which are held in four sessions and take place in different places in Europe and sometimes in the United States. The winners of the four regional finals then compete against each other in the All-European Final in Luxemburg. Excellent foreign language skills are required, as the ELMC is held in English and French.
The team from Freie Universität was able to assert itself in Leiden throughout three rounds of competition from strong competitors from all over Europe. The members of the teams were required to demonstrate their legal and linguistic abilities. Making a professional as well as friendly impression was also an important aspect. The participants had to present their positions, respond to critical questions from the judges, and assert themselves against the arguments of the opposing side.
On April 12 the team from Dahlem and its academic supervisors will travel to Luxembourg to represent Freie Universität Berlin at the simulation of the European Court of Justice.
Further Information
Sivine Jansen and Hannes Köhler, Research Assistants, Department of Law; Prof. Dr. Steffen Hindelang, LL.M., Junior Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law with International Reference, Department of Law, Tel.: +49 30 / 838-57286 Email: elmc@zedat.fu-berlin.de