Students from the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands) were declared winners of the eleventh edition of the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition in English on the European Convention on Human Rights, after beating a team from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) in the final round.
- The prize for Best Orator of the Finals was awarded to James Sinatra, from the University of Maastricht (Netherlands)
- The prize for Best Respondent Written Submission was given to the team of the IE University (Spain)
- The prize for Best Applicant Written Submission was awarded to the University of Passau (Germany).
The final round took place at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on 26 May 2023, with a bench of Judges comprised of prominent figures from the Court and several senior Council of Europe officials.
Eighteen university teams from ten countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) have competed in a fictive case related to issues such as recognition of paternity, same-sex couples, and surrogacy agreements. The winning team is awarded a traineeship at the Court. In total, 57 teams from 21 countries have applied to be a part of this edition.
The EHRMCC aims at giving law students, who are future lawyers or judges, practical experience on the European Convention on Human Rights and its implementation. The competition is organised by the European Law Students Association (ELSA) with the support of the Council of Europe. ELSA is an independent and non-profit organisation representing 60 000 students, located in around 430 universities in 43 European countries.
Several countries from the Council of Europe have supported or financially contributed to the organisation of this eleventh competition, in particular Latvia, the current President of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as the City of Strasbourg.
