EEA Moot Court

This course aims to prepare students to take part in the EFTA Surveillance Authority¿s (ESA) annual EEA Law Moot Court Competition, where student teams primarily from Icelandic and Norwegian universities act as advocates representing different parties in a fictional EEA law case.

The aim of the EEA Law Moot Court Competition is to reproduce, as closely as possible, the discussion and argument of the written and oral procedures before the EFTA Court, in a case usually focusing on internal market issues. Through a series of lectures and workshops, this course will therefore look to provide practical insights on how to write written submissions to the EFTA Court, and on oral advocacy skills.

All participants on the course will be required to write an individual paper ("brief"), focusing on a selection of questions in the case prepared by ESA for the EEA Law Moot Court Competition itself. Workshops on issue spotting and written advocacy will be held, and constructive feedback will be given on each student¿s written performance.

Before the international finals, students¿ oral advocacy skills will be further developed through workshops and team coaching sessions. The coaching sessions on the course will primarily focus on honing the students¿ oral advocacy skills further through team practice and feedback meetings.

Passing of the individual paper ("brief"), is a prerequisite for representing the University of Bergen at the international finals of the EEA Law Moot Court Competition. No prior knowledge or mooting experience is required, but some basic knowledge of EU and/or EEA law would be an advantage.

In order to pass the course, students will further be required to work together in teams of four or five students to complete and submit team briefs for the international finals on all the questions in the case prepared by ESA for the competition, and moot as a team at the international finals before a panel of judges.

The venue for the international finals of the EEA Law Moot Court competition will usually alternate each year between Iceland and Norway. (E.g. in 2023, the finals were held in Norway; in 2024, the finals will be held in Iceland; in 2025, the finals will again take place in Norway; and so on.)

When the finals are held in Iceland, the teams can take part in the international finals digitally, or choose, at their own expense, to travel to Iceland to take part in the finals physically. It is strongly recommended for students to take part physically, where possible. 

Evaluation (pass/fail) will be based on an assessment of the individual written briefs by the Course Supervisor, and presentation of written confirmation (a diploma or the like) confirming that the student has taken part at the international finals.

At the end of the course, the student will have gained:

- in-depth practical knowledge of substantive EU/EEA law, especially related to internal market law

- insight and training in researching, preparing, and writing briefs for international courts

- insight and training in oral advocacy techniques

By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

- identify, systematize, and formulate advanced EU/EEA legal issues and arguments, both in writing and orally

- conduct an independent analysis of advanced EU/EEA legal issues in a thorough, comprehensive, and critical manner

- research, prepare and write briefs in English

- conduct oral submissions in English in connection with a procedure before an international court

By the end of the course, the student will generally be able to demonstrate the ability to:

- acquire new knowledge of a legal nature, both independently and working in a group

- discuss legal issues in the context of many different international legal sources, and have a sound methodological understanding of the particular arguments that different legal sources give rise to

- present legal analyses and conclusions, both in writing and orally

- present and argue their own legal assessments and conclusions

Students will be able to apply the skills and knowledge gained through their own reading and research, and the lectures and workshops on the course, and the coaching sessions on the present course, directly in the submission of their written and oral pleadings which serve as the basis for their final assessment.