Bachelor of Law students win the European Moot Court Competition

May 23, 2021 -  Students from IE University were declared winners of the European Moot Court Competition, organized annually by the European Law Student Association (ELSA) in conjunction with the Council of Europe.

This year’s 2021 winning team consisted of third and fourth year law students Raquel Hazeu González, Anna Lotta Hattig, Isabella Mitrotti Gomes Casseres and Sole Artom. The team was coached by Amaya Ubeda and Alice Thomas, both of them experts in the field of human rights.

The prize for Best Orator of the Quarter-Finals was also awarded to Raquel Hazeu, third year Dual Degree in Laws & International Relations., and the IE team also won the prize for the best respondent team in the regional rounds.

“The ELSA Human Rights Moot Court Competition has given us the opportunity to understand in depth the European Convention on Human Rights. The case scenario was very relevant to the times we are living, as it concerned restrictions on human rights in the face of a health emergency and the use of new technologies such as facial recognition”, said the winning team.

The final round took place virtually on Friday 21 May and there were 80 competing teams. Some participants from last editions included Master and Undergraduate students from Oxford, Cambridge and King’s College. IE University has won the competition once before in 2018.

The winning team is awarded a traineeship at the Court the European Court of Human Rights.The Moot Court Competition aims at giving law students, who are future lawyers or judges, practical experience on the European Convention on Human Rights and its implementation.

The competition is organised by the European Law Students Association (ELSA) with the support of the Council of Europe. ELSA is an independent and non-profit organisation representing 54 000 students, located in 300 universities in 44 European countries.

We interviewed the winning team, so they could tell us more about the experience.

What would you highlight from the experience?

The ELSA Human Rights Moot Court Competition has given us the opportunity to understand in depth the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular the right to a fair trial (Article 6), the right to respect for private life (Article 8), the right to freedom of peaceful assembly (Article 11) and the right to an effective remedy (Article 13). The case scenario was very relevant to the times we are living, as it concerned restrictions on human rights in the face of a health emergency and the use of new technologies such as facial recognition. It has been a privilege to have Amaya Ubeda and Alice Thomas as our coaches, both of them experts in the field of human rights, who have guided and supported us in each step of the learning process. At the competition, the feedback we received from judges and competing against students from different backgrounds helped us grow and improve in each round, identifying how to communicate our ideas more clearly.

What has been the most challenging part of the competition?

 Even when you have thoroughly studied a subject, it is intimidating to present it before professionals and remain calm when answering their questions. This has been one of the main learning experiences for us, and we are truly grateful to the professors who acted as judges to help us train before the competition (Carmen Miquel, Fernando Pastor, Charlotte Leskinen, Elisa Llop Cardenal). Connectivity problems were also a concern during the competition, as it took place online, so we had to learn to cope with those difficulties and find solutions on the spot.

Congratulations to our winning team!