We Educate Hundreds of Students
On April 20-22, we are organising the sixth moot court competition for law students in the Western Balkans. The annual competition was initiated in 2007 and since then, about 460 law students from different countries have been educated in human rights.
By acting as lawyers in a moot court trial, law students gain practical knowledge on cases, rules and procedures of the European Court on Human Rights. Besides students, professors and experienced judges, including the judges from the European Court of Human Rights are also acting in the moot court.
“Our ambition is to build up knowledge about human rights among law students and professionals in the Western Balkans. We have already seen that a growing number of young lawyers have a better understanding of international regulations, laws and institutions, than they had before the moot court was established. Another positive result is the fraternization between young professionals from countries formerly at war with each other. The annual moot court competition becomes more and more appreciated each year”, said Goran Miletic, Programme Director for the Western Balkans at Civil Rights Defenders.
The moot court competition is a unique opportunity for law students to be trained in human rights law. Several of the former participants have been offered jobs within the European Court, and many universities are planning to include the European Court procedures as a course in their curriculum, as a result of our efforts so far.
This year’s event is the sixth moot court competition and it will be held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since December 2011, law students from twelwe clubs in six countries from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, have participated in trainings on the procedures and rules of the European Court of Human Rights.
In July 2012, we will arrange a qualification competition for participation in the moot court 2013 with newcomers from five teams in Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia.
