Report from the 2021 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition
This year's European Oral Rounds of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court took place from 31 May - 4 June 2021, and due to the ongoing pandemic, it took place online. However, the ECSL made sure that all teams could participate online this year, which lead to a record number of participants. More than 100 students, 25 Universities, 40 judges and 10 timekeepers took part in the competition. The ECSL thankfully had the help of ESA's Videoconference team, as well as experts within ESA's legal department, as the ECSL was the sole organiser of the event this year. The event can truly be seen as a success, as simultaneous online preliminary rounds needed to be held during which the teams battled for a spot in the semi-finals.
Following three hard fought days of preliminary rounds with 25 Universities from across Europe, four teams continued to the semi-final rounds, which were judges by Prof. Steven Freeland, Sarah Moens, Alexander Soucek, Prof. Sergio Marchisio, Prof. Armel Kerrest and Prof. Maria del Carmen Munoz-Rodriguez. The four semi finalists were the University of Ljubljana, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Honorable Society of the Inner Temple.
After a day of semi final rounds, two teams proceeded into the final round, where both teams presented excellent arguments before the judges' bench composed for the occasion of Prof. Stephan Hobe, Dr. Marco Ferrazzani and Jenni Tapio. The finalists of this year's MLMC were the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Honorable Society of the Inner Temple. After intense deliberations by the judges, an online Award Ceremony was held to announce the various awards granted by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) Young Scholar Fund:
- Best Oralist: Batuhan Betin from the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, United Kingdom (100 euros)
- Best Written Memorials: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium (125 euros)
- European Champions: Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, United Kingdom (200 euros)
The ECSL wishes to congratulate Ms. Clare Parkhouse, Mr. Harry James Stuart Stratton and Mr. Batuhan Betin on their victory in the European Rounds and wishes them the best of luck for the World Rounds.
As it has been the case for the past years, the European Best Oralist is offered the opportunity to benefit from an internship. For the 2021 edition organised by the ECSL, we are delighted to announce that the Best Oralist has been offered an internship at the European Space Agency within the legal department!
The ECSL takes this opportunity to congratulate wholeheartedly the 25 teams from all over Europe which have completed the Written and Oral Rounds of the 2021 European Rounds of the MLMC!
The ECSL is looking forward to seeing everyone next year hopefully in person in Vienna where the 2022 edition will be held!
