Moot Court
For many years now the Court has been endeavouring to familiarise future legal professionals with the Convention system by promoting advocacy competitions consisting of mock legal proceedings based on the Convention. Two competitions are held every year at the Court, namely the René Cassin competition for French-speaking students and the ELSA Moot Court for English-speaking students.
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René Cassin Competition
The René Cassin competition is the oldest competition consisting of mock legal proceedings in French and based on the European Convention on Human Rights. Open to students of law and political science in Europe, it is organised by the University of Strasbourg Faculty of Law and the René Cassin Foundation with the support of the ECHR, the Council of Europe and numerous local and national partners.
René Cassin Competition 2019
The 34th René Cassin competition, consisting of mock legal proceedings in French based on the European Convention on Human Rights and open to students of law and political science, will be held from 3 to 5 April 2019.
32 teams from 8 different countries (Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia and Switzerland) will compete over a fictional case relating to the topic of multinational business and human rights.
The two most successful teams will meet in the final, to be held in the Court’s hearing room at 2.30 p.m. on 5 April 2019 before a panel of prominent figures (including judges of the Court and academics), chaired by Louis Schweitzer, former CEO of Renault and former president of the HALDE (the French anti-discrimination authority).
Those wishing to attend the final on 5 April 2019 should register no later than 3 April using the online form.
René Cassin Competition 2018
The University of Saint-Etienne has been declared the winner of the 2018 René Cassin advocacy competition. The final round of the 33rd competition, in which students from the University of Saint-Etienne competed against a team from the University of Angers, took place at the Court on 6 April 2018 before a jury made up of prominent figures from the legal world (judges of the Court and academics). It was chaired by the journalist Harry Roselmack.
René Cassin Competition 2017
The Bruges Collège d'Europe has been declared the winner of the 2017 René Cassin advocacy competition. The final round of the 32nd competition, in which students from the Bruges Collège d'Europe competed against a team from Aix-Marseille University, took place at the Court on 24 March 2017. The subject was health and European human rights law.
René Cassin Competition 2016
The final round of the 31st competition, in which the University of Réunion Island met Luxembourg University, took place at the Court on 1 April 2016 in front of a jury made up of prominent figures (judges of the Court and academics), chaired by Bernard Guetta, journalist, commentator on France Inter. The University of Réunion Island has been declared the winner.
René Cassin Competition 2015
The final round of the 30th competition, in which the University of Basle met Montpellier University, took place at the Court in front of a jury made up of prominent figures (judges of the Court and academics), chaired by Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters sans frontières (Reporters without Borders). The University of Basle has been declared the winner.
ELSA Moot Court
This moot court competition, conducted in English, is organised by the European Law Students Association (ELSA), representing 40,000 students from 300 universities in 43 European countries.
Several Council of Europe member States contribute financially to the organisation of this competition.
Moot Court 2018
A team from IE University in Madrid was declared winner of the 6th edition of the European Moot Court Competition in English on the European Convention of Human Rights. 19 university teams from 14 different countries was competing to win a fictitious case concerning freedom of religion, from 2 to 4 May 2018. It's organised jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Law Students Association (ELSA).
Moot Court 2017
Students from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine) have been declared the winners of the 5th edition of the European Moot Court Competition. The competition ended on 16 February 2017 at the ECHR, when the team from Kyiv faced students from Sofia University (Bulgaria) in the final round of pleadings. The team from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) came 3rd.
Moot Court 2016
Moot Court 2015
Students from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) won the 3rd edition of the European Moot Court competition in English, which was held at the Court on 25 February 2015. They beat the team from Essex University (United Kingdom) in the final round. 16 university teams from 12 countries (Austria, Croatia, Spain, Greece, Norway, the Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey) had been selected following the written part of the competition. Video
Moot Court 2014
Students from City University London were declared winners of the second edition of the European Moot Court Competition in English on the European Convention of Human Rights.
Sixteen university teams from 10 countries (Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Serbia, Sweden and United Kingdom) pleaded a fictive case concerning freedom of expression in relation to defamation and hate speech.
Moot Court 2013
Students from Trinity College (Dublin) were declared winners of the 1st edition of the European Moot Court Competition, after beating a team from the University of Essex (United Kingdom) in the final round.