- Team Portugal II wins the 2020 THEMIS Competition Grand Final!
- Team Serbia wins the second place and Team France II the third place.
- THEMIS continues to help develop the skills and cooperation between Europe's future magistrates.
Congratulations to Team Portugal II, the winners of the 2020 THEMIS Competition! Ms. Carolina Rita Belo Lucas, Ms. Mariana Queirós Marques and Ms. Inês Lopes Furtado accompanied by the tutor Mr. Alexandre Oliveira, won the honour for the team's outstanding performance at the THEMIS e-Grand Final held online, 7-9 December 2020.
In second place was Team Serbia, represented by Ms. Milica Mihic, Ms. Katarina Simin and Ms. Brankica Todorovic along with team tutor Ms. Biljana Sinanovic.
In third place was Team France II, represented by Ms. Delphine Verheyde, Mr. Tommy Birambeau, and Mr. Stéphane Fischesser along with team tutor Mr. Mathilde Lacroix.
Eight teams representing Hungary, Italy, Serbia, two Portuguese teams and three French teams participated in the Grand Final. The teams prepared excellent written reports, delivered outstanding presentations and the Q&A sessions with each other and the members of the Jury.
EJTN Secretary General, Judge Markus Brückner, congratulated the winning team and awarded them with a one-week study visit in 2021 in which they will have the possibility to further develop their knowledge and skills. He is looking forward to the participation of all the competing teams in other EJTN activities as proud Themis Ambassadors.
The Themis project is done in partnership with the European Court of Human Rights (CoE) and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). For this occasion. Ms Ann-Charlotte Nygård, Head of Unit Technical Assistance and Capacity Building (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights) addressed the participants, congratulated them for their work and wished them great success.
Debate and discussion
This year’s THEMIS Competition adapted to a full online format following the e-Grand Final rules. Participants have prepared their video presentations and the paper on the legal paper-based topic dealing with the right to a fair trial (Art 47 EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Art 6 ECHR).
EJTN warmly thanks the hard-working jury members who assessed the participants’ written papers, watched their video presentations and deliberated each team’s performance. The Chair of the Themis Grand Final Jury
e-Grand Final has been chaired by Ms. Francoise Tulkens, former Vice-President and former Judge elected in respect of Belgium to the European Court of Human Rights. Other jury members were: Ms. Jana Gajdošová, Programme Manager at the Research & Data Unit (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, FRA); Mr. Grzegorz Borkowski, judge, international legal expert, former Head of Office of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland and Mr. Goran Selanec, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.
Bringing together future magistrates
The THEMIS Competition brings together future magistrates from different EU countries at a time when they are undergoing entry-level training and enables them to share common values, exchange new experiences and discuss areas of common interest. The THEMIS Competition provides an ideal forum in which to discuss EU and international law subjects, promote exchanges and experiences between participants, increase knowledge, encourage critical thinking and foster professional networks.
EJTN proudly supports the THEMIS Competition, which continues to provide a genuine skills-enhancing experience for future EU magistrates.
