Moot Court of CJEU, 24 March 2023

On Friday, March 24, 2023, the European Court of Justice Moot Court focusing on the rights of migrants and refugees in the European Union, was organized by European Movement Albania in cooperation with the Bedër University College. The purpose of this moot court was to increase the theoretical and practical knowledge of the participants on the functioning of the Court of Justice of the European Union and to improve the analytical and legal skills of the participants.The participants were selected based on an online application where they expressed their interest and previous experiences in these types of simulations and came from different backgrounds such as law, European law, international relations or social sciences.

In the simulation court, which dealt with a fictional case relating to the rights of refugees and migrants based on EU legislation, 17 students were involved, taking on the respective roles of Victim’s Counsel, Government Agents, Attorney General, President of the Court and Members / Judges of Court.

During the activity, the participants noted the procedural rules of the CJEU sessions during the written preparation, the oral presentation of the arguments, and the answers during the session. The court, after hearing the presentations of the victim’s lawyers and government agents on the issue, decided to give the party the status of a refugee based on the final decision not only referencing the European legislation, but also the practices of the court itself. The topics discussed included elements related to irregular migration, smuggling of migrants, the Dublin System and obtaining refugee status.

At the end of the activity, Certificates of Participation were distributed, and four best performances were rewarded, where students were evaluated based on several criteria such as preparation and presentation of arguments, but also on respect of procedures and behavior during the session.

Before the realization of this Simulation Court, a training was conducted with the participating students at the premises of the Bedër University College and they were assisted in their preparatory work with several online mentoring sessions followed by the trainer and lecturer, Prof. Asoc Denard Veshi.

*The Moot Court of CJEU  was organized by the European Movement in Albania (EMA) with the support of Group 484 (Serbia) within the regional project “Security for Human Beings and Borders – Combating Smuggling of Migrants in the Western Balkans” funded by the European Union.