SCHOOL OF LAW

The International Roman Law Moot Court Competition (I.R.L.M.) takes place annually with the participation of students and professors from the Schools of Law of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Naples (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II), Tübingen (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen), Liège (Université de Liège), Trier (Universität Trier) and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This international competition - truly unique in its kind - has as its object Roman law. The latter lies at the heart of contemporary Civil Law and constitutes the backbone of our modern legal culture. Students compete by presenting oral arguments and speeches in English, on the facts of a case taking place at Justinian’s time (6^th century AD). They are, thus, presented with the opportunity to study the legal sources (in the original texts in Latin and Greek, also referring to English translations), deepen their legal thought and develop their rhetorical skills on matters quite similar to those arising nowadays in courts and pertaining to general principles of civil law, contract, property and inheritance law. In doing so, students are called to apply provisions and legal notions first developed by the Roman jurists, as included in the Corpus Iuris Civilis of the emperor Justinian.

The Roman Law Moot Court Competition be traced back to the tradition of the similar contest held annually between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, as an introduction of their students to the Civil Law legal system. In 2008 the competition was given an international dimension, being held in Kavala for five consecutive years, at the ancient - and of great symbolic importance for Roman history - site of Philippoi, under the aegis of the “Institute Mohammed Ali for the Research of Eastern Tradition” (IMARET). Since then the competition has been also held at the Universities of Oxford (All Souls College, 2013 & 2014); Naples (Pompeii, 2015); Vienna (Austrian Constitutional Court, 2016). The judging panel consists of professors of the competing Universities and eminent jurists including – amongst others - Mr. Konstantinos Pispirigos, Judge at the Greek Conseil d' État (2010); Mr. Melchior Wathelet, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (2012 & 2013); Dr. Johannes Schnizer, Judge at the Austrian Constitutional Court (2016).

Competition Awards (1^st place) 

Awarded Distinctions (Overall) – National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Law

Best Oralist Awards – National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Law

The awarded students of the Athens School of Law in the IRLM have been bestowed honorary mentions by the Hellenic Parliament. Their performance has been included in the “Hub on Excellence” hosted by the Greek Ministry of Education and presented in a video available online (http://excellence.minedu.gov.gr/draseis/listing/125-virtual-trial-roman). In 2013 the winning team travelled to Brussels as guests of the Luxemburg MEP, Mr. Frank Engel.

The preparation of the team representing the University of Athens takes place between October and April of each academic year. The team is supervised by Assistant Professor Ms. Athina Dimopoulou (Department of History of Law and Jurisprudence), assisted by the Alumna Ms. Atemisia Papadaki, Attorney at law, and by other former contestants as coaches. The University’s participation in the competition has had the generous support of Greek Law Firms.

The IRLM constitutes an educational tool allowing our students to sharpen their legal reasoning and a means for cultivating among young jurists the highest principles of advocacy. Their participation enables them to develop their rhetorical skills, teaches them respect towards the Bench and their adversary, to exercise their skills in synthesis, to learn time management and to delve into complex civil law matters closely related to modern law. Indicatively, amongst the issues which students have been called upon to resolve based on Roman law jurisprudence, are included sale and purchase agreements similar to modern derivatives contracts (commodity swap); issues pertaining to the destruction or deterioration of movable property in sale transactions; auction sales; contractual and tort liability; principal’s liability; mandate contracts and negotiorum gestio; infringement of personality rights; issues on neighboring law; real and personal servitudes; original and derivative acquisition of ownership; revendicatory actions; issues pertaining to the validity of wills; interstate succession; legacy issues. Further, students delve into civil procedural law matters, such as burden of proof issues; filing objections; trial announcement; third-party proceedings, etc.

The participation of the Athens Law School in the circle of prestigious universities that cultivate high-level competition in the Roman law trial moot offers a valuable forum to Greek students, allowing them to attest their accomplished legal culture. It is thus contributing to the culture of excellence of the Athens Law School, also allowing the forging of links with peer Schools sharing as a common point of reference the broader culture of lawyers, among others, through the teaching of the roman legal tradition and origins of modern Civil Law.