On 9 December 2025 the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, presided over the 2025 awards ceremony at Strasbourg University’s Faculty of Law, Political Science and Management, which was attended by teaching staff and numerous legal professionals.

Before presenting the prizes to the winners and congratulating them on their achievements and commitment, he gave a speech addressing society’s relationship with the law, both at the systemic and individual levels.

He pointed out that by placing this societal relationship with the law at the core of democracy, peace, justice and respect for human rights, the architects of the European Convention on Human Rights were inviting each and every citizen to continue developing and exploring their own relationship with the law.

The President stressed that the law is not an end in itself, but has value only as an instrument in the pursuit of ideals. In making that statement, he urged the students, as lawyers, to keep the concepts of justice and injustice at the forefronts of their minds in their professional lives.

• Speech by President Mattias Guyomar (in French only)