Sunday 8 September 2024

Registration for the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition Open

The registrations for the 13th edition of the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition are now open!

The Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition is a Europe-wide moot court competition dedicated to the European Convention on Human Rights.  It was founded in 2012 by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) and the Council of Europe. The Competition was named after the first female judge at the European Court of Human Rights, Helga Pedersen. 

The Competition simulates the proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights based on a fictional case. This year's case deals, inter alia, with an alleged violation of the right to private life and the right to property. The Competition gives students a unique opportunity to gain practical experience comparable to real pleading in front of the European Court of Human Rights, and to network with other participants and human rights law experts from all over Europe. 

The registration of teams for the 13th edition of the Competition is now open until the 20th of October 2024 23:59 CET. The Competition consists of three phases: the written round, the regional oral rounds and the final oral round. Each team needs to submit two written memorials in January 2025: one on behalf of the applicant, and one on behalf of the respondent state. In February 2025, each team participates in one of the three regional oral rounds, organized in three different cities (Prague, Porto and Vilnius). The best 18 teams from the regional rounds compete in the final oral round, taking place between 19-23 May 2025 in the Palace of Europe and at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In addition to the experience that students gain from the Competition, each team member of the winning team will be rewarded with a traineeship at the Court.  

More information about the case and the rules of the Competition can be found here

Good luck to all those participating in this year’s Competition!