Lithuanian Law students did their best to make convincing arguments to the Moot Court jury. © V.Gelumbauskas

Web Story, 6 May 2010

Moot court battle in Refugee Law in Lithuania a great success

A moot court competition in Refugee Law, the first ever in Lithuania, was organized at Mykolas Riomeris University in cooperation with UNHCR at the end of March. The case concerned a Rwandese whose application for asylum had been denied. The task of the participating teams was to argue both sides of the case to a judicial panel and the team presenting the best arguments would win. Three teams of law students from the biggest universities in the country participated.

The fictional asylum-seeker in the case had fled from Rwanda following the genocide and had sought asylum in the Federation of Boronia and Monsanto. There as, however, information to suggest that the asylum-seeker in fact had been one of the instigators of the violence.

The task of the teams was to put forward arguments that on the one hand, the applicant deserves international protection but on the other hand the State was right and he cannot be granted protection and refugee status. A very hard-working Vilnius University Law Faculty team won the battle by presenting the most convincing arguments.

- A significant factor was not only legal but also psychological preparation. It was important to be focused and not to deviate from the trail of evidence while reacting to the arguments of opponents, says Jevgenija Vienažindytė, member of the winning team, who strongly recommends trying a similar competition to every law student who is interested in international law.

The winners were congratulated by the UNHCR Liaison Officer in Lithuania, Renata Kuleš.

- I am very happy that there are students who are interested in this area of law, and that they seek practical experience and knowledge within this field. Kuleš added that there are excellent tools for refugee status determination and UNHCR guidelines on the internet site Refworld, recommending the site to all students.

The moot court competition on refugee law was organized by Lithuanian Red Cross, Vilnius University‘s Refugee Legal Centre, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Lithuania and Mykolas Riomeris University International Law and International Human Rights Circle. The organisers hope that the successful event could become a tradition, deepening the knowledge and practical skills of students within the area of Refugee Law.

	The teams and the audience were following  the competition very  intently. © V.Gelumbauskas