by final year student Pauline Mutuc.
During week 10 of the autumn term (3rd December 2014) the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) at Reading held the finals for its first annual Human Rights Mooting Competition (HMRC). The competition was fierce, resulting in a two-point difference between the finalists. The winners, Alexander Powell (a second year student) and Ramona Thambiratnam (a third year student, who is on exchange from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia), were awarded with a guaranteed place on the ELSA trip abroad to Luxembourg in February.
This year, the ELSA Committee had initiated an internal competition in order to give its members the confidence, as well as the experience in order to form a Reading University team to compete at the ELSA International HMRC next academic year. Moving forward, this is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain exposure with mooting in an international human rights context. Every year, universities all over Europe send teams to put together written submissions, after which the top sixteen teams are chosen to compete in the oral phase at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The winners of the international competition are awarded a month-long internship at the Court in Strasbourg. ELSA Reading is currently open for sponsorship in this endeavour.
Overall, ELSA Reading’s first ever HMRC was a fantastic success! It provided law students from first year to post-graduate level the opportunity to work together in teams, as students from each year were paired in a randomly selected draw. During the final round, the finalists consisted of undergraduate students from first to third year, as all of the post-graduate participants were eliminated in the first round. The students have found it to be a ‘good learning experience’, as well as helpful in building their presentation skills and confidence.
ELSA would like to thank all of the wonderful lecturers who have helped out with the event – Dr. Amy Codling for all of her guidance, and Dr Katja Samuel, Dr Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, Ms Nora Honkala, Professor Rosemary Auchmuty, Dr Dimitrios Kyritsis and Dr Ruvi Ziegler for all their help in judging.
Top left: Mooting Finalists with ELSA Committee Members
Top right: ELSA Committee Members with Judges
Bottom, from left: Winners: Alexander Powell and Ramona Thambiratnam
Mooting Finalists: Gabriel Shea and Simerjit Reyat