5th Edition (2020)

5th ALL-EUROPEAN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AND REFUGEE LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION

The Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana hosted the 5th edition of the All-European International Humanitarian and Refugee Law Moot Court Competition from 25 – 29 November 2020.

VENUE

The competition took place online via Zoom and was deemed to be one of the best organised and executed online moot court events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELEVANT INFORMATION

The Moot Court Competition was based on the Case Study, providing for relevant facts of the case concerning a fictitious armed conflict. Before each round teams received additional facts and were allocated roles that they had to present before the judges. Teams had limited time to prepare for each pleading.

The preliminary and quarter-final rounds of the Competition involved simulations of meetings between the parties to the conflict and various international organisations, as well as between other State and non-State actors. In this stage, competitors addressed topical issues in the field of international humanitarian law, and international refugee law.

The semi-final and final rounds involved a simulation of the criminal proceedings before the International Criminal Court (one team acted as the Office of the Prosecutor, the other as the Public Counsel for the Defence), and thereby addressed fundamental issues of international criminal law.

12 teams from 10 different countries participated at the competition: European Humanities University (Lithuania), Istanbul Centre of International Law (Turkey), Galatasaray University (Turkey), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), University of Pristina (Kosovo), Sokhumi State University (Georgia), Commenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia), Georgian American University (Georgia), University of Basel (Switzerland), Nottingham Trent University (UK), Iustinianus Primus Faculty of Law (North Macedonia) and University of Warsaw (Poland).

8 teams reached the quarter-final round: Commenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia), University of Warsaw (Poland), Istanbul Center of International Law (Turkey), Galatasaray University (Turkey), University of Pristina (Kosovo), European Humanities University (Lithuania), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and University of Basel (Switzerland).

Teams from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), University of Basel (Switzerland), University of Warsaw (Poland) and Commenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia) reached the semi-final rounds.

Teams from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and University of Warsaw (Poland) reached the final round.

The Winning Team: University of Warsaw (Poland)

The Runner-Up Team: University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Best Oralists of the Competition: Darya Halavashka (European Humanities University), Noemi Laura Burri (University of Basel), Chantal Fischli (University of Basel)

The Best Oralist of the Final Round: Tina Pirnovar (University of Ljubljana)

The organisation of the Competition would not be possible without the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Slovenian Red Cross.