University College London wins Oxford French Law Moot 2013

The 6th annual Oxford French Law Moot took place on Monday 11 March 2013. 12 teams competed for the shield and the final saw the victory of the University College London (UCL) team over their Cambridge opponents. The UCL mooters, Micol Flegenheimer and Lara Levet, were coached by Laure Sauvé, who was presented with a medal by the Association Henri Capitant.
 
The vision behind the French Law Moot, now organised by Dr Geneviève Helleringer (Fellow of St Catherine’s College and  Early Career Fellow in the Institute of European and Comparative Law) is to have students for whom French law will be a second legal system, and French a second language, moot over a problem prepared and judged by professional French judges and academics. This year, three members of the Cour de Cassation, France’s Supreme Court in civil and criminal matters, came from Paris to judge the Moot.
 
Standards of advocacy were unanimously regarded as exceptionally high and the judges had a difficult time deciding between the twelve teams representing British as well as German, Italian and Spanish universities (in the spirit of the Moot, French universities are not allowed to compete). In the end, however, the five-member panel led by Mr Alain Lacabarats of the Cour de Cassation’s Social Division decided in favour of UCL, which became the first university to win the trophy twice (they previousy won in 2010).
 
This year’s problem involved a subtle interplay between employment law, privacy and the law of evidence, which allowed the mooters to showcase their legal knowledge and hone their advocacy skills.
 
A dinner at Trinity College concluded a most enjoyable day, made possible through the ongoing generous support of Gide Loyrette Nouel, an international law whose headquarters are in Paris. 
 
 

The Winners and the Judges of the Oxford French Law Moot 2013