The Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” team, led and trained by Tsvetelina Bayraktarova, Associate at DGKV, won the Central and Eastern Europe Moot Court Competition (CEEMC) – major student competition on European Union law. The 23rd edition of this regional competition took place in Sofia between 28th April and 1st May 2017 under the auspices of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg and the Centre for European Legal Studies of University of Cambridge. It was organized jointly by the British Law Centre, the Law Faculty of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and the International Moot Court Competitions Association (IMCCA). The competition represented a simulation of a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the EU and was based onissues of both procedural and substantive law of the EU. Each participating team was required to present the position of claimant and respondent with written submissions and oral pleading.

This year’s success came after many days and hours of preparation. The winning team was chosen by the most prominent names in the field of European Union law, including experts from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Commission, academics and practitioners. President of the judges’ panel was Advocate General Eleanor V. E. Sharpston. The winning price is visit to the Court of Justice of the EU and the University of Cambridge.

The respective teams, representing Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, won the CEEMC in 2008 and 2013 and reached the final round in 2015 and 2016. Tsvetelina Bayraktarova received individual prize for best speaker in 2016 which entitled her to a stay at AG Sharpston’s cabinet in October 2016.

Tsvetelina Bayrakratova reveals that “These international law competitions allow students to compare with teams from 11 countries and to see that the arguments they have been considering for three months coincide with what the judges acknowledge. Thus, prospective lawyers are satisfied with their work and have the confidence that they will also deal with the writing of references for preliminary rulings, opinions of the Advocate-General and draft decisions of each court.”

Excellent job, Tsvetelina!