Nikoleta Konstantellou shares her experience of taking part in the first ever ORAS English and French Law Mooting Competition.
As a first year English and French Law student, I had the opportunity to participate and win the ORAS Mooting Competition, organised jointly by the Queen Mary-Sorbonne and Essex-France Double Law Degrees. In December 2020, after placing first on the ORAS Internal Selection round organised by the AJQS (Association des Juristes Queen Mary Sorbonne) on the Contract Law problem question of Economic Duress, I advanced to the semi-final round held in February of 2021, where I competed in French on a fictitious problem set relating to the destitution of the French President.
After my performance in the semi-finals, I was nominated by the panel of judges to compete in the final stage of the first ever ORAS Double Law Degree Moot Court Competition. Having reached the final round, I competed against my fellow finalist, Miss Liza Guezenec representing the Bangor-Toulouse Double Law Degree. The topic of the final round was centred around English Contract Law and more precisely on Offer and Acceptance and on notice advertisement features differentiating unilateral offers from invitations to treat in a business to consumer context. As a finalist, I had the honour to present my submission in front of an esteemed panel of judges, including:
Mr. Ian Forrester QC LLD: Former judge of the General Court of the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) and President of the Franco-British Lawyers' Society
The Right Hon. Lady Dorrian: Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, President of the Second Division of the Supreme Court, Chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council.
Mrs. Sylvaine Poillot-Peruzzetto: Judge at the Commercial Chamber of the French Supreme Court, Professor at the University Toulouse 1 Capitole.
Mr. Jean-François Le Gal: French Lawyer (Avocat), Barrister at Pinsent Masons in England and Wales, President of the Fédération des Associations Françaises en Grande-Bretagne.
Dr. Vivienne Forrest: Professor at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Academic Director at the Franco-British Lawyers' Society.
During the final round stage, after reading the problem question carefully, I conducted research in order to defend my fictitious client and put together a Moot Court Bundle for the judges, including all legislation and case law I intended to use during my submission. Both mine and my fellow finalist’s submissions aiming to persuade the judges were delivered in front of the judges, live on ZOOM. After our 10- minute speeches, each finalist had a few minutes to answer the Judges’ questions regarding our submissions and overall arguments.
My fellow double degree students and professors have supported me immensely throughout the competition and inspired my passion and enthusiasm to apply all the legal skills and bi-juridical knowledge I have been cultivating as a Queen Mary/Sorbonne law student, this time in a Moot Court environment, full of both challenging and beyond rewarding experiences.