The second edition of the European Moot Court Competition on the ECHR is organised this week in Strasbourg, at the Court, by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA). The case on which this year's Moot Court is based, an interesting and at times humoristic read in itself, can be found here. This is the press release on the Moot:
Sixteen teams from ten European countries selected for the second edition of the Moot Court Competition
The final round of the second edition of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition will take place from 24 to 26 February 2014 at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Sixteen university teams from ten countries (Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, UK) have been selected following the written round of the competition.
The competition simulates the procedure of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights. 72 teams from 29 European countries have competed in a fictive case concerning defamation and hate speech in relation to freedom of expression and media freedom. The16 selected teams will plead the case during the final round at the European Court of Human Rights to win a traineeship at the Court.
The Moot Court Competition aims at giving law students, who represent 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 38 000 students, located in 300 universities in 42 European countries.
Several countries from the Council of Europe have financially contributed to the organisation of this second competition in particular Ireland and Austria, the current Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.