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Rules of Procedure of the Moot Court of Justice of the European Union

As of 11 March 2015
Chapter 1
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
Article 1
Function of the Moot Court of Justice
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in particular Article 19(3) thereof,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in particular the
sixth paragraph of Article 253 thereof,
The Moot Court of Justice (Moot Court) shall comply with the following duties and
obligations bestowed upon it. It shall:
- rule on actions brought before it, whether by a Member State, a natural person, a legal
person, or a Union institution
-pronounce preliminary rulings at the request of national courts on the interpretation and/or
validity of Union law
-rule in other cases so provided by the Treaties.
Article 2
Composition of the Court
1. The Moot Court of Justice shall consist of five judges.
2. The five judges shall elect a President and a Vice President of the Moot Court. The three
other judges of the Court shall retain the capacity to fully participate in the proceedings.
3. One of the judges shall fulfil the role of timekeeper during the oral procedure.
Article 3
Role of the President
1. The President of the Moot Court of Justice is to preside and ensure the orderly conduct
of the oral proceedings. Further, he/she may delegate the delivery and presentation of
the judgment (for any reason) to either the Vice President or one of the associate judges
of the Moot Court of Justice.
Article 4
Procedure of the Court
The procedure of the Court consists of a written procedure and oral procedure followed by the
judgement of the Court and a press conference.
Chapter 2
WRITTEN PROCEDURE
Article 5
Format and timing of written submissions

1. Each pleading shall include the following parts:


table of contents
references
2. All written pleadings shall comply with the following requirements:
-

form: typed on A4 paper sheets, the typeface is 1.5-spaced, 12 pt. character size;
in Times New Roman font.

the following document format shall be used: upload to safe-assignment and submission
to the courtroom registrars only in PDF format.

only documents named in in the following way shall be accepted: Courtroom XYZ Case XYZ - Your role (thus Applicant/Defendant/AG/Judges). The cover page of each
document shall mention the courtroom, the case number, and your role.

written pleadings submitted for counsel for Applicant and Defendant shall not
exceed a length of 4,000 words. They shall be written in English.

- the written pleadings shall be submitted in accordance with the times specified on the
Blackboard platform.

Chapter 3
ORAL PROCEDURE
Article 6
Role of the President
The oral proceedings shall be opened and directed by the President, who shall be responsible for
the proper conduct of the hearing before the Court.
Article 7
Order of Pleadings
The parties shall adhere to the following format for the conduct of the oral proceedings. All
timings given are to be understood as constituting the maximum time for speaking during the
oral proceedings.
1) Presentation by the Applicant: 20 minutes (maximum: 25 minutes)
2) Presentation by the Respondent: 20 minutes (maximum: 25 minutes)

3) 3-minute break
4) Rebuttal by the Applicant: Maximum 5 minutes
5) Rejoinder by the Respondent: Maximum 5 minutes
(2) Notice shall be given of the amount of time left for the pleading. When 5 minutes remain an
indication will be given to the party pleading before the Court as well as for 1 minute. When the
maximum time has expired the President shall call a halt to the oral proceedings.
(3) Penalty: The person pleading before the Court shall be made to wear a hat of shame for the remainder
of the proceedings if the maximum time limit for the oral proceedings are exceeded.

Article 8
Questions on behalf of the Court
The President and other judges may in the course of the hearing put questions to the parties
before the Court. The Advocate General shall have 5 minutes to ask questions only after the
rebuttal and rejoinder of the parties.
At no time may the applicants or the defendants ask each other questions or intervene while
the other party is pleading. They will react only during rebuttal in reply and rejoinder.
The Clerks to the Court will also be allowed to ask questions on the Courts behalf at any
time.
The time spent posing questions on behalf of the Court shall not count against the speaking
time allocated to counsel. However, the answers given to the Moot Court of Justice shall count
against the speaking time.
Article 9
Presentation of the Advocate Generals Opinion
The Advocate General shall present his/her opinion upon conclusion of the oral procedure.
He/she shall have 20 minutes and a strict maximum of 25 minutes for this
presentation. The President, other justices and Clerks may in the course of this opinion put
questions to him/her at any time.
The President of the Moot Court will declare the oral procedure of the Court complete
following delivery of the Advocate Generals opinion before the Court.
Article 10
Courtroom etiquette
Counsel are to conduct themselves with respect and civility towards one another and to all
Members of the Court and the Moot Court, itself, at all times during the Court procedures.
When addressing the Moot Court for the first time in their submissions, Counsel for the
Applicant/Respondent are advised to formally introduce themselves in either the following
form or a variation thereupon: Mr/Madam President, Honourable Members of the Moot
Court, my name is (insert name here) and I am appearing with my learned colleague (insert
name here) on behalf of the Applicant/Respondent in this case (insert name of
Applicant/Respondent.

This introduction will not count as part of the speaking time of Counsel for the
Applicant/Respondent.
Counsel shall preferably be dressed formally for proceedings before the Court. Mobile phones
are to be on silent mode at all times.
Contravention of these rules may result in penalties to be stipulated by the President of the
Moot Court.
All parties shall have name placards present on the table in front of them to indicate their names
to the Judges and Clerks.
CHAPTER 4
Judgment
Article 11
Elements of the Judgment
The judgment shall contain the following elements:
a statement that it is the judgment of the Court,
the date of its delivery,
the names of the President and of the Judges taking part in it,
the name of the Advocate General,
the names of the Clerks to the Court,
the names of the advisers and lawyers of the parties,
a statement that the Advocate General has been heard,
a summary of the facts,
Summary of the Legal Issues
Reasoning of the Court
Binding judgment of the Court
Article 12
Presentation of the Judgment
The judgment of the Moot Court shall be read out in open court by either the President, Vice
President or an associate Justice of the Court.
The Court Clerks will announce the arrival of the Justices of the Court, upon which the parties
to the Court will rise. The Parties shall also rise for the presentation of the operative part of the
judgment.
Article 13
Adjournment and closure of hearing
After the conclusion of pleadings, the President of the Moot Court shall close the hearing.
The Court shall reconvene no later than one week following the hearing and proceedings will
be closed after the delivery of the Advocate Generals Opinion and the final judgment of the
Court.
Article 14
Validity

These rules of procedure shall become effective upon notification to the parties via upload to
Blackboard and upon receipt of them to the Court Clerks via electronic mail.
Read and approved by the Moot Court of Justice of the European Union
Aoife Coll,
Pauline Chomel,
Joost Smits,
Fabrina Sturba,
Karlijn de Groes

11th March 2015, Leiden, The Netherlands.

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