HSE Faculty of Law Students Make it to Final Round of European Human Rights Moot Court Competition

A team of students from the HSE Faculty of Law has made it to the final round of the international European Human Rights Moot Court Competition, which will take place in Strasbourg, France on February 15-18 of this year.

The HSE team includes Gulnaz Zhuraleva, Irina Osmankina, Tatiana Savina, and Oksana Tyusina, and their trainer is Anita Soboleva.

More than 60 teams from countries all over the world applied to participate in the fourth edition of the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition. The HSE Faculty of Law team was one of just 16 to score high enough in the first round of the competition, qualifying them for the final round in Strasbourg. The teams successfully wrote two memorandums on the case that was selected for the competition. The first memorandum had to be written on behalf of the appellant and required students to justify the Convention articles they argue were broken in the case. The teams also wrote what the government’s objections would be, including a reasoned examination of the appellant’s conclusions. This year’s task concerned protecting the rights of a small indigenous group to practice their religion and carry out their traditions.

The final stage of the competition is an oral argument round at the European Court of Human Rights in February. Until that time, students will undergo intensive training to develop their oral presentation skills and learn how to effectively answer possible questions. In addition, students will develop a stronger position on the case and prepare for the tricky arguments of the fictitious defendants.