Excitingly, a team of our GDL students (James Hughes, Joshua O’Connell, Alice Grant, and Florian Hamel-Cooke) reached the final of the regional competition in Bratislava of the European Law Moot Court Competition, with James winning the regional in the role of the respondent. The team will therefore participate in the Grand Final in Luxembourg.

This is the most prestigious international EU law moot court competition – the Grand Final will be held at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on 17th April before Judges and Advocates General of the Court. 

A former GDL student, Samuel Willis (now in full time practice) has helped coach the team – we are grateful to him.

This is a tremendous achievement: this competition attracts a great number of teams from the United States and Europe, and is extremely competitive. Professor Panos Koutrakos, coach of the team alongside Sam, says:

To have qualified for the final of the overall competition is not only a testament to the talent and hard work of these specific students. It also tells us a lot about the quality of students that our GDL programme attracts and the enthusiasm that EU law still generates amongst them. 

The City Law School won the final of the competition in 2017 (with another team consisting of 3 GDL and one BPTC students) and is still the only UK university team to have won the competition. This is the third consecutive year we have  reached the Grand Final…watch this space for news from Luxembourg!

Here’s what the team say…

“Competing against leading universities from across Europe, we engaged with a complex EU law moot problem addressing contemporary issues including free movement, third-party litigation funding and the horizontal direct effect of EU Charter rights. Following a series of oral pleadings, we were thrilled to have emerged as Winners of the Regional Finals, securing City’s place at the Grand Final in Luxembourg, where we will argue before judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Reflecting on our experience, competing in Bratislava provided an invaluable opportunity to develop our advocacy skills and deepen our understanding of EU law. The detailed feedback we received from the judges was instrumental in refining our legal arguments and our engagement with students from across Europe, whilst experiencing a new city, added a unique cultural dimension to the competition. We are very grateful to have had this opportunity. Representing City at the Regional Finals has been a highlight of our academic development and student experience. We look forward to building on this achievement at the Grand Final in Luxembourg”.