INTERNSHIPS,MOOTS & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
European Law Moot Court Competition
The European Law Moot Court Competition, is conducted under the auspices of the European Law Moot Court Society, a Portuguese Association. It is organized by the San Pablo University, Madrid. Sponsors of this moot, include the European Commission, Council of the European Union, and the European Court of Justice.
Participants are required to prepare and argue a case based on European Law before a (simulated) Court of Justice. The Competition takes place annually and is bi-lingual, French and English being the official languages.
ELMC Facts
Organizers: San Pablo University, Madrid
Official webpage: http://www.elmc.org
Format: The Competition consists of three stages, one written and two oral. The Written Stage takes place in September - November each year. Teams prepare submissions setting out arguments on behalf of both the Applicant and Defendant. On this basis, 48 teams are selected to participate in one of the four Regional Finals, which are held in February. Teams present their arguments to a panel of eight Judges sitting as the Court of Justice. The winning team from each Regional Final then advances to the All European Final in Luxembourg. The All European Final takes place at the Court of Justice in March each year before Judges from the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
Registration: September
Submission of briefs: November
Qualifying Round: See format
Final Round: March.
Prizes: Moot Court Cup (winning team), Best Written Pleadings Award, best Speaker Award, Second Best Speaker Award, Best Advocate General/Commission Representative Award, Special Achievement Award (may be awarded to a team or team member for outstanding or otherwise remarkable performance)
Depending on the availability, the members of the winning team of the All-European Final shall be offered trainee-ships at European institutions or in European law firms.
Other information: Special roles - Advocate General/Commission Representative & Counsel.
Excerpt from the official rules:
21. Roles
21.1 Each team is required to argue both as applicant, as defendant and as a Commission Representative or as an Advocate General.
21.2 Upon invitation to the Regional Finals, the team will be informed of whether to prepare arguments for the Advocate General or the Commission Representative.
21.3 The teams are free in their internal allocation of the roles.
21.4 Once the role of the Commission Representative or the Advocate General have been allocated and notified this allocation cannot be changed, neither before the first pleading nor in case the Advocate General/Commission Representative proceeds to the next round (semi final, final or all European Final).
21.5 Splitting of roles during a hearing is not permitted but a team member, with the exception of the Advocate General/Commission Representative who have not been elliminated, can act as a counsel to the applicant or defendant.
21.6 During a Regional Final, in a team consisting of three members, every team member is required to present an oral argument on at least one occasion. In a team consisting of four members, the fourth team member has the possibility to plead as either applicant or defendant, unless his or her team is eliminated in the preliminary round of the Regional Final.
22. Advocate General/Commission Representative
22.1 One team member shall present the opinion of the Advocate General or the Commission Representative taking into account the arguments of the other pleading parties.
22.2 During the hearings the Advocate General/Commission Representative acts independently and without counsel from his or her team mates. The Advocate General/Commission Representative participates in hearings other than those, in which his or her team members participate as applicant or defendant.
22.3 Based on the points given during the preliminary rounds the four best Advocate Generals/Commission Representatives will proceed to the semi-finals. Should an Advocate General/Commission Representative not qualify for the semi-finals, he or she is then free to join his or her team and may assume the role of either the applicant, the defendant or act as counsel.
22.4 The best Advocate General/Commission Representative of the Regional Final will be selected on the basis of the points given during the Regional Final.
22.5 In the event of an equal or a very close score, it is for the Executive Secretary to decide, upon having duly consulted the Bench present at the Regional Final, whether the Final should include two Advocate Generals/Commission Representatives competing against each other.
22.6 The best Advocate General/Commission Representative of each Regional Final qualifies for participation in the All European Final.
22.7 The Advocate General/Commission Representative of a team that has qualified for the participation in the All European Final can join his or her team and plead as either applicant or defendant provided that he or she has not qualified to the All European Final as an Advocate General or a Commission Representative.
23. Counsel
23.1 Team members may sit at the bar table as counsel, except for the Advocate General/Commission Representative.
23.2 Only the members of the Court, speakers for the teams and team counsels may communicate during the oral argument. There shall be no communication between the counsel table and any individual in the audience during the hearing.
23.3 Counseling will count as pleading time.
23.4 Team members acting as Advocate General/Commission Representative cannot be seated at the bar table and cannot act as counsel.
Selection at NYU
NYU did not participate in the 2006-07 edition of the competition. We expect to resume participation in the 2007-08 edition.
