The practice of the law surrounding the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) immediately reveals the interest and difficulty of human rights in situ. It is for this reason that, each year, the PLDH association organises the ECHR Moot Court, in partnership with the University of Strasbourg and the University of Freiburg im Breisgau.
A complete, intense and high-level approach
This trial simulation pits teams of two to three participants against each other around a practical case based on the ECHR. A one-week intensive seminar introduces the subject matter and methodology, before launching the phase of drafting a statement of claim by the claimant teams and a statement of defence for the teams representing the government. On this basis, the teams then compete in front of juries of experts and practitioners. A final event pits the two best teams against one another in front of prestigious personalities of the field.
For the record
Created in 1996 at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), under the direction of Professor Nicolas Michel, the ECHR Moot Court was organised from 2003 and 2004 in collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, then separately from 2005. In Strasbourg, it continued for another six years only within the Master 2 Human Rights programme directed by Professor Florence Benoît-Rohmer, before opening up in 2011 to students from the Albert-Ludwig Universität in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany).
Across borders, of course
Thanks to the Master 2 Human Rights programme, the ECHR Moot Court, in French and English, welcomes participants from all countries of the Council of Europe, but also members of other regional cooperation. Support from the United Nations has made it possible to organise a session of the ECHR Moot Court in Russia and the association is working to create Moot Courts elsewhere, since it is a great learning tool.
Raw accounts of human rights in the news
The practical cases, which are absolutely fictitious, almost always deal with current economic issues. Each year, the aim is to analyse an issue that is “emerging, but only just” in the judicial world. The participants must then innovate rather than limit themselves to the strategies and classical case law of the Strasbourg Court.
To assess these topics, the juries can only be multidisciplinary. Between legal rigour and the reality of practice, academics, judges and lawyers enter into dialogue with entrepreneurs and practitioners to assess the degree to which the arguments and approaches proposed by the participants are convincing. This serves to create a synergy around the year’s topic by creating a meeting point between students and the professional world, or between the public and private sectors.
Sign up now
For registrations from outside the University of Strasbourg, please send us an updated CV and a letter of motivation indicating that you intend to participate in all stages of the contest (intensive seminar, writing of the dissertation, pleadings) and indicating any experience (theoretical or practical) in the field of European law and human rights law.
Deadline: 31 mai 2020, for a response by 15th June 2020 at the latest.
Free registration. Application fee of 50 euros payable at the time of validation of the registration on 15 June 2019. PLDH will provide you with a certificate of participation at the end of the contest.
All registration requests should be sent to: info@pldh.org
- Contact: Manuela Brillat
- Where? When? Strasbourg, from September to January.