Great Distinctions for the NKUA’s School of Law in the 16th International Roman Law Moot Court Competition (IRLM)

The Department of History and Theory of Law of the NKUA’s School of Law is pleased to announce that a team consisting of the undergraduate students Charalambos Vergadis, Anastasia Drosou, Akrivi Oikonomou, and Despina Polyzoi claimed victory (won the Palma Victoriae) in the 16^th International Roman Law Moot Court Competition. In addition, the third-placed oralist, Anastasia Drosou, received an honourable mention. Second place overall went to the University of Cambridge, with Trier University finishing third.

The University of Naples Federico II held this year’s competition, which was joined by the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University of Liège, the University of Tübingen, Trier University, the University of Vienna, and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The Small and Grand Finals unfolded in the theatre of the Roman villa of Publius Vedius Pollio at the uniquely beautiful ancient Pausilypon against the stunning backdrop of the Bay of Naples.

In the Grand Final, our University’s team defeated that of the University of Cambridge, having already scored the highest out of all others and prevailed by a large margin over the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Liège in the preliminary rounds.

During the awards ceremony, Professor Emeritus Luigi Labruna, a prominent academic in Roman Law, presented the winning team with the Palma Victoriae. On the fringes of the competition, the students had the opportunity to visit, among other places, the archaeological site of Pompei and the Baths of Baia.

IRML is the only moot court competition focusing on Roman Law, the common source of contemporary civil law worldwide. Students participate by invoking the provisions of Justinian’s Codification to provide answers to perpetual legal issues. A dispute heard in the past by the Italian Court of Cassation played a central role in the libellus for the 16^th IRLM, which had students researching contract and tort liability.

The NKUA’s School of Law team had trained under the academic supervision and guidance of Associate Professor Athina Dimopoulou with crucial aid from their coach, Artemisia Papadaki, attorney at law, and two former contestants, namely Georgia Bratsioti and Alexandros Papasotiriou.

The participation of our team in the IRLM was made possible by generous sponsorships from the Law Firms Zepos & Yannopoulos, Karatzas & Partners, and PotamitisVekris, who have been actively supporting our School’s students and the cultivation of legal studies of the highest quality in our country for many years, for which we are grateful.