Greek Law Students Win World Moot Court
Students from the Athens Law School have recently received one more distinction, this time in the 6th International Roman Law Moot Court Competition. The Greek students prevailed over other groups of students from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge!
The Law School of Athens won the 1st prize in the competition which was held in Oxford on April 8 and 9. The Greek team consisting of Julia-Aikaterini Vouleli, Maria-Thomais Epeoglou, Alexandros Papassotiriou and Maria-Thiresia Roussou prevailed in the semi-finals against the University of Cambridge. In the finals the Greek team surpassed the University of Oxford.
Julia-Aikaterini Vouleli also won the best orator award, while Alexandros Papassotiriou the third best orator award. The Greek team received three out of the six distinctions.Vienna and Athens emerged at the top of their groups after the preliminary rounds of the competition and met group runners-up Cambridge and Oxford in the Semi-finals.
Both were close contests, with Athens edging out Cambridge by three round points and Oxford upsetting Vienna by an even narrower margin of two round points.
The prizes this year consisted of specially framed authentic Roman coins: a bronze cententionalis of Magnentius, minted in Amiens, c. AD 351-352, for the third prize; a silver denarius of Caracalla minted in AD 207 for the second prize; and a silvered Antoninianus (a double denarius) of the Emperor Gordian III, minted c. AD 241-243 for the first prize. Assistant professor Athena Dimopoulou had undertaken the scientific supervision of preparing the students.
About the International Roman Law Moot Court Competition
Inaugurated in 2008, the International Roman Law Moot Court Competition was the idea of Oxford graduate Dr Paschalis Paschalidis and Mr Michalis Lychounas, Director of the Institute Mohamed Ali for the Research of the Eastern Tradition (IMARET). The purpose of the Moot is to bring together students and academics from different European jurisdictions and to promote the study of Roman law and the common legal inheritance of Europe.
In teams of four, undergraduate students from eight leading universities – currently the Universities of Athens, Cambridge, Liège, Naples, Oxford, Trier, Tübingen and Vienna – conduct research and present legal argument on a problem involving complex issues of Roman private law, which was set during the reign of the Emperor Justinian I. The Moot offers a unique opportunity to debate fundamental concepts of contract and property law, as developed by the Roman jurists and applied by modern courts.
The first five instalments of the Moot were organised under the auspices of the IMARET, which is a non-governmental organisation based in Kavala, Greece, devoted to promoting the common heritage of Mediterranean countries. Under theauspices of the IMARET, the Moot was privileged to stage the Small and Grand Finals in the Justinianic Roman Forum at the archaeological site of Philippi.
In 2013, the Moot was held outside Greece for the first time. The University of Oxford hosted the sixth International Roman Law Moot Court Competition in April, at venues in the St Cross Building, All Souls College, Magdalene College and Christ Church. The Moot is set to return to Oxford next year, when the 7th IRLM will again be held at the start of April.
