10 moot court

MOOT COURT

Today, Monday, Tuesday

Act as legal counsel for the two sides of the case

Not exam Not a competition Participate to find out about applying

EU law

Participation

Work in groups Group members will change Everyone has to contribute

Participation

If you don’t want to do this, you can sign up with your name

-15% of total points (out of total 100 you can only get 85)

You can be absent today, on Monday and Tuesday

Fictional case

Not real countries Not real football teams Not real people

Analyse the case

Prepare the timeline Identify relevant and irrelevant facts Identify relevant and applicable law

Prepare the written arguments Both parties can submit their opinion

of the case in writing Contest the facts Argue from their side Point out relevant law and precedent Have 2 months

Here

Don’t have 2 months

No problem with the facts, just argue the law

I have done most of the research You will have to recognise the

relevance of the law texts I give you Put together an argument

Today

Applicants’ reasoning

Mr. Kwame Eko, Mr. Kofi Eko and F.C. Tomalona

Monday

Respondents’ reasoning

FIFA, UEFA, and the Football Association of Ghana and Vittoria

Tuesday: oral argument

Based on written submissions 2 times Group prepares the argument Chooses representatives to present

the argument Exact procedure will be discussed Random selection into groups

Questions?

Today

Form groups of minimum 5 people! 1st task: draw a timeline of

important events

Timeline

timeline2

1973 Kwame was born 2000-kwame signed a five-year deal with

A.C Floriana July, 2005 Mr. Kwame Eko and F.C.

Tomalona were able to round off the negotiation and agreed upon a 3 year contract .

2005 UEFA devised ‘Homeground rule’ FC Tomalona decided to commence

proceedings.

2nd task: find relevant facts Just dealing with question 1 a and b

(Kwame Eko)

Question 1/a

a) Can an international sporting federation apply to a professional sportsman from Ghana a rule according to which clubs must field in league and cup matches a minimum number of domestically trained players, even though this rule applies irrespective of nationality?

Question 1/b

b) Are the specific requirements imposed by the Vittoria F.A. to register certain professional football players compatible with the immigration policies relating to free of movement of persons in the EU?

3rd task: make up arguments Choose a piece of paper New groups according to color of

paper Read your paper Tell the others about it Discuss all pieces of law Make up an argument Make a poster

4th task: share with your original group If you are done in the color group,

note your argument Go back to original group Tell them about it Together make up a complete

written submission (poster)

Procedure

Question asking about Vittoria FA rules, UEFA rules Jurisdiction of ECJ The Court of Justice of the European Union shall

have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning:

(a) the interpretation of the Treaties; (b) the validity and interpretation of acts of the

institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union; But Court has power to extract from a question

imperfectly formulated by the national court those questions which alone pertain to the interpretation of the treaty

Vittoria F.A.’s regulations citizenship of Ghana ACP country Partnership agreement The treatment accorded by each Member State to

workers of ACP countries legally employed in its territory, shall be free from any discrimination based on nationality, as regards working conditions, remuneration and dismissal, relative to its own nationals.

Has direct effect (because similar agreements, ECJ cases

directly discriminatory measures can only be applied in the cases for which express derogations were provided in the Treaty

UEFA homegrown rule – indirect discrimination Clubs must play with at least six

domestically trained players during official matches. A player can be qualified as domestically trained by a club when he has been at the club for three years between the age of 15 and 21, irrespective of his nationality. Minimum three of these domestic players must have received their training at the club itself; the other domestically trained players must have received their training at another club in the same EU Member State

Additional comments

Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents

role of sport “as a means of promoting greater involvement of immigrants, for example, in the life of society”, of combating racism and intolerance, as recognised by the document “The European Model of Sport”

Monday – observations of respondents Fill in the blank references with the

documents provided Some are used 2 times

For Tuesday

I will upload the argument of both sides

Read both so you understand

Today

Finish groupwork till 1 pm Preparation for Moot court

presentation Preliminary ruling procedure ECJ in general Teamwork!

Preliminary rulings – Art 267

The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning: a. the interpretation of the Treaties; b. the validity and interpretation of acts of

the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the Union;

No jurisdiction…

to apply that law to the factual situation underlying the main proceedings

to decide issues of fact raised in the main proceedings

to resolve differences of opinion on the interpretation or application of rules of national law

In ruling on the interpretation or validity of European Union law, the Court makes every effort to give a reply which will be of assistance in resolving the dispute, but it is for the referring court to draw the appropriate conclusions from that reply, if necessary by disapplying the rule of national law in question.

National courts or tribunals may refer a question to the Court of

Justice on the interpretation of a rule of European Union law if it considers it necessary to do so in order to resolve a dispute brought before it

against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law must, as a rule, refer such a question to the Court, unless the Court has already ruled on the point or unless the correct interpretation of the rule

of law in question is obvious

European Court of Justice

27 Judges 8 Advocates-General

persons whose independence is beyond doubt

and who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence

ECJ Judges – job interview! appointed by common accord of the

governments of the Member States for 6 years every 3 years – partial replacement of the

Judges and Advocates-General a panel set up in order to give an opinion

on candidates’ suitability 7 persons chosen from among former

members of the Court of Justice and the General Court, members of national supreme courts and lawyers of recognised competence

ECJ formations

The Court shall sit in the following formations: the full Court, composed of all the

Judges; the Grand Chamber, composed of 13

Judges, Chambers composed of 5 or 3 Judges

President of Court Presidents of Chambers Judge-Rapporteur

Precedence Judges and Advocates General rank

equally in precedence according to their seniority in office.

Where there is equal seniority in office, precedence shall be determined by age.

Retiring Judges and Advocates General who are reappointed retain their former precedence.

Procedure in the ECJ

Written procedure Oral procedure

Separate procedure for preliminary rulings and direct actions!

Texts governing procedure

Treaties Statute of the Court of Justice of the European

Union Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice Supplementary Rules Instructions to the Registrar of the Court of Justice Practice directions relating to direct actions and

appeals Information note on references by national courts

for preliminary rulings Notes for the guidance of Counsel

Written procedure purpose: to put before the Court an

exhaustive account of the facts, pleas and arguments of the parties and the forms of order sought

new pleas may not be raised in the course of the proceedings, exception of those based on matters of law and

fact which come to light in the course of the procedure

does not have the same flexibility as that allowed by certain national rules of procedure

Written observations after receiving a copy from the Court Registry

of the request for a preliminary ruling, the "interested parties"

the litigants before the national court, the Member States, the Commission , and, if appropriate, the Council, the Parliament and

the European Central Bank and, in some cases, the other EEA States and the

EFTA Supervisory Authority or a non-member State which is a party to an agreement

may submit a document, referred to as written observations, within a period of two months extended on account of distance by a period of 10

days in all cases

Written observations

suggest the answers which the Court should give to the questions referred to it,

and to set out succinctly, but completely, the reasoning on which those answers are based.

bring to the attention of the Court the factual circumstances of the case before the national court

and the relevant provisions of the national legislation at issue

Written observations

none of the parties is entitled to reply in writing to the written observations submitted by the others

submission of written observations is strongly recommended since the time allowed for oral argument at

the hearing is strictly limited However, any party who has not

submitted written observations retains the right to present oral argument

Oral procedure

1. respond to any requests made for the oral submissions to concentrate on particular issues;

2. provide a more detailed analysis of the dispute, by clarifying and expounding the points which are most important for the Court’s decision;

3. submit any new arguments prompted by recent events occurring after the close of the written procedure

4. answer the questions put by the Court

Oral procedure

allow the parties and other interested persons to reply to the arguments put forward by other participants in their written pleadings

no repetition of what has already been stated in writing

Before the sitting

Court invites Counsel to a brief private meeting in order to settle arrangements for the hearing.

Judge-Rapporteur or the Advocate General, or both, may indicate other matters which they would like to be developed in the oral submissions

Oral procedure

oral argument from Counsel for the parties

questions put to Counsel by the Members of the Court

brief responses from those Counsel who wish to make them

Members of the Court frequently interrupt Counsel when they are speaking in order to clarify points which appear to them to be of particular relevance.

Decision-making

deliberate in closed session every Judge taking part in the

deliberations shall state his opinion and the reasons for it

the conclusions reached by the majority of the Judges after final discussion shall determine the decision of the Court.

votes are taken in reverse order to the order of precedence

Lawyers before the court

Speaking time: maximum of 20 minutes, maximum of 15 minutes before Chambers

composed of three Judges Decide if oral argument is really necessary or

whether a simple reference to the written observations or pleadings would suffice

only one person per party to the proceedings is permitted to present oral argument

must wear a gown

Today – oral arguments

2 groups Each group select 3 people to

present an argument Prepare together 2x3 people will speak – max 20

minutes What your suggested answer is Main lines of argument Replies to the other side’s reasoning

Tomorrow

EU politics, European politics

For Thursday

Prepare to talk about your research on the EU Member State you chose on the first week

Which pictures have you identified

Why are they important for the Member State in question

Write it up in maximum 1 page

Email it to me

Final exam

Multiple-choice Open book Questions from everything in the 3

weeks Easy