The national oral round of the Telders International Moot Court Competition, organised by ELSA Malta, was held recently at the Court of Criminal Appeal at the Law Courts of Malta. The winning team, which will be competing in The Hague for the prestigious award, was selected by the panel of vastly experienced judges composed of Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano, Dr Alex Sciberras Trigona and Mr Norman Martinez.

ELSA (European Law Students’ Association) is an international, independent, non-political and non-profit-making organisation comprised of and run by law students and young lawyers. Based in 250 universities in 36 countries around Europe, ELSA is the largest independent law student organisation in the world. ELSA Malta is the local branch of this organisation.

For the first time ever, ELSA Malta and the University of Malta will be represented at the competition often described as the most prestigious law-related competition in Europe: the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition, organised by the University of Leiden.

This year, incidentally, is the competition’s 30th anniversary, making it even more prestigious than it would normally be. The competition is an opportunity for the best law students from across Europe to come together, interact, learn and ultimately compete in a real-life legal scenario. It is a practical exercise in court litigation skills and international law. The parties are given the facts of a fictitious case and must prepare arguments in both written and oral form.

On Monday, both teams gave an exceptionally good performance and were applauded by the on-looking law students who filled the viewers’ benches.

The teams’ performances were also highly praised by the Ambassador of the Netherlands, HE Mr J. Heidsma, who also presented the certificates to the participants at the end of the session.

ELSA Malta is extremely grateful to the Embassy of the Netherlands and Air Malta for their financial support, which will go towards covering the winning team’s travel and accommodation expenses in the next stage of the competition.