EU Commercial Law and Litigation

Study plan and information

Autumn 2014
Contents
Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Syllabus (excerpt) ............................................................................................................................ 3
Practicalities .................................................................................................................................... 6
Course literature .............................................................................................................................. 7
Treaties and instruments ........................................................................................................ 7
Mandatory course literature ................................................................................................... 7
Recommended reading ........................................................................................................... 8
Additional............................................................................................................................... 8
Course modules ............................................................................................................................... 8
Examination..................................................................................................................................... 9
Introductory Module...................................................................................................................... 11
Seminar series................................................................................................................................ 12
Important practical instructions............................................................................................ 12
Rhetorical training and legal skills ................................................................................................ 14
The individual written pleadings .......................................................................................... 14
Workshops and moot sessions.............................................................................................. 15
ELMC team .......................................................................................................................... 16
Memorandum ................................................................................................................................ 18
The European Law Moot Court Competition ................................................................................ 19
The Written Stage ................................................................................................................ 19
The Regional Finals ............................................................................................................. 20
The All European Final ........................................................................................................ 21
Expenses............................................................................................................................... 21
Drafting your Written Pleadings ................................................................................................... 22
Rules..................................................................................................................................... 22
Writing tips .......................................................................................................................... 23
Moot sessions ................................................................................................................................ 25
General information ............................................................................................................. 25
Procedure ............................................................................................................................. 25
Pleading time........................................................................................................................ 26
Pleading style ....................................................................................................................... 26
Rhetoric ................................................................................................................................ 27
Language .............................................................................................................................. 27
Judges ................................................................................................................................... 27
Grades .................................................................................................................................. 27
Citation ................................................................................................................................. 28
Writing your memorandum ........................................................................................................... 29
General information ............................................................................................................. 29
Memorandum topic .............................................................................................................. 29
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Memorandum template ........................................................................................................ 29
Extended memoranda (non-ELMC-team students).............................................................. 30
ELMC-memoranda .............................................................................................................. 30
Writing style ......................................................................................................................... 30
Citation ................................................................................................................................. 30
Submission ........................................................................................................................... 30
Conference ........................................................................................................................... 31
Questions .............................................................................................................................. 31

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Syllabus (excerpt)
UPPSALA UNIVERSITY Dnr JUR 2012/690
Department of Law

Course Plan with regulations for the advanced course

EU Commercial Law and Litigation

30 University Points, 30 ECTS credits
Determined on July 3, 2012 by the Faculty of Law’s Educational Committee, Uppsala
University, by virtue of Chapter 6 Section 14 and 15 of the Higher Education Ordinance.
The course plan enters into force on August 1, 2012.

General
The course amounts to 30 ECTS credits and is an optional course at advanced level in the
studies for the degree of Master of Laws, in accordance with the degree requirements
adopted by the Board of the Faculty of Law of Uppsala University on 16 April 2007. The
course is held in English.

Admission
Students on the Master of Laws program (juristprogrammet) must have passed all
compulsory semester courses except one and completed all compulsory components on
the basic level. Students on international exchange programs must have passed two years
of studies in law. They must also have basic knowledge of EU Law. All students must
master spoken and written English. The Board of Exemption may grant exemptions from
these prerequisites.

Contents
The objective of the course is to provide an in-depth understanding of the nature of EU
law and its inter-relationship with national legal systems. This comprises study of the
EU’s basic principles of law, institutional architecture and decision-making procedures.
The central theme of the course is the application of commercial EU law before courts
and the inter-action between national courts and the European Court of Justice. The
course includes participation in the European Law Moot Court Competition.

Objectives
After this course students should be able:
• to find and work with EU legal material
• to apply EU legal material and formulate relevant questions
• to present, orally as well as in writing, complicated problems and arguments for
objective-oriented solutions
• to discuss, in a qualified manner, the nature of EU law and its inter-relationship
with national legal systems

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Examination Criteria
AB 1) extensive use of a variety of relevant legal sources, 2) independent and
focused analysis of questions posed and 3) unambiguous and convincing
application of law in a given context

Ba 1) extensive use of relevant legal sources, 2) independent and useful analysis

of questions posed and 3) useful application of law in a given context

B 1) modest use of relevant legal sources, 2) useful analysis of questions posed

and 3) useful application of law in a given context

Fail Failure to satisfy one or more of the criteria for B

Teaching
Teaching will take place in the form of lectures and, predominantly, seminars. All
students are expected to be well prepared, to work with the problems presented in the
course material and to engage in discussion. The seminars are prepared in two stages:
through individual study of relevant case law and literature and through joint discussion
and problem-solving in study-groups.

Further information about teaching can be found in the attached study plan. The teaching
is based on the material indicated in the attached list of literature and case law (internet).

Attendance
Attendance to lectures, practice opportunities, and information meetings is not
compulsory, but strongly recommended. Attendance to all except one seminar in the
Seminar series (chosen at the student’s own discretion) is compulsory. Attendance is also
compulsory at all workshops, without exception. Of course, attendance is required at all
examinations, including for the avoidance of doubt moots and the concluding conference.

Relief from the requirement of attendance may be granted by the Course Director.

Examination
Examination is based on an examination portfolio, consisting of examination modules of
which some are pass/fail modules, whereas others are graded. Examination is carried out
in accordance with examination criteria and, where applicable, grade criteria.

The grades given for the course are Fail (U), and the passing grades Pass (B), Pass with
credit (Ba) and Pass with distinction (AB). A student who has not achieved the sum of
points required for Pass will be offered re-exam.

The final grade is based on a balanced assessment of the entire examination portfolio.
The portfolio includes the following modules:
- written exam
- written ELMC pleadings
- written memorandum, and
- oral presentations at moot sessions and conference.
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Among these modules, the written memorandum and the oral presentations are
individually graded. Therefore, these modules have the greatest impact on the final grade.
The other modules are pass/fail examination modules but may have an impact on the
balanced assessment carried out to set the final grade.

It is prohibited to attempt to use deceptive means to influence the outcome of an exam or

other ways of evaluating student performance such as essays. So, for example, may
students not use non-permitted aids or materials during a written exam. It is also
prohibited to pass off another person’s work as one’s own work, in other words, to
engage in plagiarism. In addition to the result of the exam or other way of evaluating
student performance being reduced or declared null, a student who, in the above or other
ways engages in cheating will be reported to the University Disciplinary Board. The
Board can issue formal warnings or disbar the student from studying at the university for
a period of up to six months.

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Practicalities
1. It is essential to keep updated on the course web site at Studentportalen
(https://studentportalen.uu.se/portal/portal/uusp - you need your Up-Unet account
to log in). For instance, the schedule may need to be changed from time to time.

2. The Studentportalen course web site may also be used for the submission of tasks
such as written assignments. Also, results from examinations will be posted here,
and there will be useful documents, links and information posted.

3. Students who do not yet have Up-Unet access: Keep the course amanuensis
informed on whether you have received your account. Until then, the amanuensis
needs an e-mail address to send you the information uploaded to the course web
site. To that end, contact course amanuensis Kajsa Nilsson as soon as possible on
the e-mail address listed below.

4. If you do not use your Up-Unet e-mail address (@student.uu.se), please do log in
to it and make sure e-mails sent to that address are forwarded to the e-mail
address you normally use. Otherwise, you may miss crucial information. In case
of trouble, contact the Up-Unet help desk.

5. Please do not hesitate to contact any of the course administrators on anything

related to the course and/or any social issues related to the course that may arise.
We are:

Professor Carl Fredrik Bergström carl.fredrik.bergstrom@jur.uu.se

Doctor and research fellow Eva Storskrubb eva.storskrubb@jur.uu.se

Doctoral candidate/fellow Santa Slokenberga santa.slokenberga@jur.uu.se

Course amanuensis Kajsa Nilsson kajsa.nilsson@jur.uu.se

International studies issues are best discussed with the International Exchange
Office of the Faculty of Law.

Welcome!

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Course literature

Treaties and instruments

You may purchase (or print) any collection of the EU Treaties and instruments you find
appropriate. However, it is important that the text in English is included. For those who
wish for English, French, German and Swedish texts in one single book, we recommend:
Wahl, Nils: Fördrag om Europeiska unionen. 6 uppl. Norstedts Juridik, Stockholm 2010.

For English only, we recommend:

Foster, Nigel: Blackstone’s EU Treaties and Legislation 2014-2015. 25th edn, Oxford
University Press, Oxford 2014.

For clarity, you will need to find and use instruments and EU legislation not included in
these books. The EUR-Lex database is easily used for these purposes, but Googling
works too!

Mandatory course literature

Craig & De Búrca: EU Law: Text, Cases, and Materials. 5th edition. Oxford University
Press, Oxford 2011.

Kee, Christopher: The Art of Argument: A Guide to Mooting. Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge 2006.

A course compendium including a number of materials will be sold at cost price at the
Studerandeexpeditionen (Trädgårdsgatan 1).

Teachers may indicate further mandatory reading in the instructions for each seminar or
lecture.

Please notice that no case law compendium will be made available, as it is considered
part of your training to learn to find case law yourselves through the Law Library
(Klostergatan 3).

For the same reason, only materials not available through databases that you can access
through the Law Library will be included in the course compendium. You are expected to
find electronically available materials yourselves. For your convenience, a workshop in
the Law Library is scheduled, where you will learn the basics on how to find what you
need.
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Recommended reading
Steven Lynn: Rhetoric and Composition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010.

Additional
For clarity, you will need to make extensive use of the Law Library to find additional
case law and literature for the purposes of the course. Mandatory reading is only the
“hard core” of what you need to read. For the avoidance of doubt, this course requires
independence in finding additional relevant materials.

Course modules
The course consists of five elements: Introductory module, Seminar series, Rhetorical
training, Mooting, and Memorandum. The course entails participation in the European
Law Moot Court Competition (ELMC), an international EU law moot competition. For
more information on the ELMC as such, see Appendix A below.

The introductory module encompasses the first two weeks of the course. It entails an
indicative exam (pass/fail only) and an indicative moot session (pass/fail only).

After the introductory module, we will begin our seminar series. Preparation for
seminars in study groups and active participation at seminars is mandatory.

Parallel to the seminar series, you will draft individual ELMC written pleadings. A
draft of your individual pleadings will be submitted for feedback by one of our teachers.
The final version forms part of your examination portfolio.

After submitting final versions of your individual written pleadings, a team of 4 students
will be appointed and entered into the ELMC. These 4 students will focus more
intensively on the ELMC than other students, who for their part will write a more
extensive individual memorandum.

All students will be trained in oral presentation, to be examined at moot sessions in

December. The moot sessions will follow the ELMC format.

Your final task is the individual memorandum, which is also presented and discussed at
our course conference in mid-January. For the avoidance of misunderstandings, please
notice now that active participation at the conference is mandatory and part of
examination on the course.

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Examination
Your final grade will be awarded after a balanced assessment of a number of examination
elements, all of which form your so-called examination portfolio. The portfolio includes
the following elements:
- introductory module indicative exam (pass/fail)
- introductory module indicative moot session (pass/fail)
- individual written ELMC pleadings (graded)
- team written ELMC pleadings (ELMC team only, pass/fail)
- individual written memorandum (graded)
- oral presentations at moot sessions (graded), and
- oral presentations at course conference (graded).

Among these elements, the graded elements – in particular the individual written
memorandum – have the most impact on your final grade for the course as a whole. The
other elements remain pass/fail examination elements but may in dubio have an impact
on the balanced assessment carried out to set your final grade.

Swedish students are awarded Swedish U, B, Ba or AB grades. International students are

awarded ECTS grades. Examination criteria are available in the Syllabus (above). For
further information on the examination of oral presentation, see the brief instructions for
moot sessions. Grades on passed examinations will not be disclosed until the end of the
course. You will be informed only if you have passed or failed an examination.

The purpose of having an examination portfolio is three-fold. Firstly, it gives students a

number of varied opportunities to display acquired skills, making each element of
examination less dramatic. Secondly, it enables teachers to have a better and more
complete basis for the award of a fair grade. Thirdly, we believe that variation in
examination promotes learning.

To the indicative exam in the introductory module, you are allowed to bring any
collection of EU Treaties and instruments. Highlighting, underlining and the like is
allowed, as are marginal notes consisting of keywords found in the text. No other
resources are allowed.

All written examination tasks (written ELMC pleadings and memoranda) will be
subjected to plagiarism check. In the event that plagiarism is suspected by the course
administration, we have a duty under the rules of Uppsala University (Dnr 2013/1411) to

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file a report to the Head of the Law Department, who will decide how to proceed.
Sanctions for plagiarism include suspension.

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Introductory Module
The introductory module encompasses the first two weeks of the course.

The first week aims to introduce the key themes of the course and to raise all students to a
common ground level of knowledge of basic EU law before continuing. After one week
of intense study (Monday 8 September), there will be an indicative exam (pass/fail only)
designed to give you and the teachers an indication that you have obtained the skills
necessary to proceed with in-depth studies of EU commercial law and litigation. This
exam will focus on basic EU law concepts and analysis.

Mandatory reading during the first week is Craig & De Búrca (EU Law: Text, Cases,
and Materials. 5th edn), chapters 1-5, 7-8, 9 sections 1-2, 12 sections 1-9, 13 sections 1-7;
and chapter 14 sections 1-6. In all, this encompasses 324 pages. We have calculated that
you will be able to read carefully at least 60 pages every day until the indicative exam.

To the indicative exam, you are allowed to bring any collection of EU Treaties and
instruments. Highlighting, underlining and the like is allowed, as are marginal notes
consisting of keywords found in the text. No other resources are allowed.

The second week aims to introduce the importance of legal skills, including rhetoric. At
the end of the second week of the introductory module (Friday 12 September) there will
be an indicative moot session (pass/fail only). You will be given a specific oral pleading
task for the purposes of this session at the beginning of the week.

Mandatory reading during the second week is Kee (The Art of Argument: A Guide to
Mooting) Part 1 (chapters 1-9), in all 108 pages. Recommended additional reading during
the second week is Lynn (Rhetoric and Composition) chapter 1 (35 pages).

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Seminar series
The seminar series consists of 9 three-hour seminars on crucial legal and methodological
issues in EU commercial law. The seminar series, in its entirety, encourages independent
thinking, but remains based on close and careful reading of case law. Seminars are
prepared in study groups.

After the introductory module, all students will be divided into study groups (a list of
study groups will be posted on Studentportalen). The study groups have two functions:
First, they make it easier for students to get to know each other. Second, they are groups
for work and discussion in the preparation for seminars.

The 3 “Interface” seminars aim to investigate classical EU law topics such as primacy,
direct effect and consistent interpretation, and how to approach them in the contemporary
legal situation.

The 3 “Market” seminars will investigate the internal market of the EU and external trade
of the EU.

Finally, the function of the 3 specific ELMC-related seminars is to give you a general
orientation in some of the law relevant to the ELMC. They neither cover all legal aspects
of the case, nor go deep enough into the issues that they cover. They are not a substitute
for your independent studies, but are intended to be a well-needed introduction to some
of the law you will be dealing with.

Important practical instructions

All seminars in the seminar series are mandatory. If you miss a seminar, you need to
submit a memorandum for completion. If so, contact the seminar teacher to be provided
with details on the memorandum. However, you may miss one seminar without having
to file a completion memorandum.

It is further mandatory to:

1. Prepare for seminars individually before meeting with your study group. All
students will prepare for the seminar individually by reading all materials listed in
the seminar instructions available on the Studentportalen web site. Case law must
be read very closely, and at least twice. All students will also prepare by
considering the questions below. (It is recommended to read the cases once first,
then the materials, and then the cases again – thereafter, you can return to both

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 cases and materials in the process of considering the seminar questions. This
usually takes at least one full day of work (8 effective work hours))

2. Meet in study groups to prepare for the seminar. All students are expected to be
well prepared and to participate actively in preparations. Notice that all study
groups must be prepared to present a full discussion of any of the questions
indicated in the seminar instructions. You are encouraged to use the whiteboard to
illustrate important points. Speaking time at seminars must be allotted equally
among the members of the study group. Preparations in your study group are
calculated to require at least one full day of work (8 effective work hours).

Study group members are jointly responsible for making contact with each other to
schedule meetings with no assistance from the course administration. Therefore, after
completing the introductory module, please keep an eye on the course web site so as to be
able to meet your fellow study group students in order to prepare in good time for the
first seminar of the seminar series. For your convenience, seminars have been scheduled
to afternoons to enable seminar groups to meet in the morning for final preparations.
(Swedish students, help your international friends in finding good places to meet for
preparation!)

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Rhetorical training and legal skills
Rhetorical training is provided through workshops and moot sessions, but also by
introducing written and oral rhetoric in lectures. This element illustrates the spirit of the
course: Using thorough knowledge of law and rhetoric to win your case in practical
litigation. This operation requires great awareness of the legally enforceable result you
wish to arrive at, and a well-prepared strategy for how to reach it. To this end, we also
use the ELMC.

Legal skills are practiced by coming as close as possible to actual EU law practice, inter
alia through participation in the ELMC. For the purposes of the ELMC, you will draft
individual written pleadings and (later) prepare oral presentations. Workshops and
moot sessions are mandatory, and moot sessions are also part of your examination.

In all mooting (written and spoken), there is one cardinal error that most students make,
namely, to forget to take a step back to reflect on what your argumentation can achieve
in practice and whether it will be for the benefit of your client. Do not get lost in details!
You need to ask yourself where you want to go. What is at stake for your client? What is
the applicable or preferable remedy? Are there any problems with that remedy? How can
you get there? Moreover, are you being consistent throughout your pleading? It’s very
easy to start contradicting yourself.

The individual written pleadings

The ELMC scenario (see the specific section below) will be released in beginning of
September, and you are expected to start working on your individual pleadings as soon
as the introductory module of the course is finished. A full study week encompasses 40
effective hours of work, of which we expect you to use 20 for the independent drafting of
your individual ELMC pleadings.

Work on ELMC pleadings is very independent. The course is designed to assist you by
way of the ELMC seminars (introducing specific topics related to this year’s scenario),
the other (more methodological) seminars, and rhetorical training. Still, do not wait for
seminars or the like before getting started – start immediately after the introductory
module!

All students will draft one written pleading. Either for the applicant or for the defendant
(all students will be informed which party they will represent and submit pleadings for).
As this course is given in the English language, all pleadings are to be written in English.
No French summary is necessary.
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There will be feedback on a draft of your individual ELMC pleadings by Santa
Slokenberga. For this purpose, please upload your draft pleadings to the
Studentportalen course web site no later than 3 October, 23.59 CET.

Notice that the ELMC rules prohibit us from assisting you by engaging directly in
discussion of the specific issues brought up by the scenario. Therefore, feedback will
focus on overall issues and composition.

Make sure your drafts are complete, legally and rhetorically planned, and in compliance
with all formal requirements in the ELMC Rules (Annex A, section 1 – sections 2 and 3
do not apply on this course – and Annex C) available at www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu.
Annex C on citation is very short, however. Use the OSCOLA (see Studentportalen) to
fill in the gaps. See also “Writing tips” in Appendix B below. For your guidance, an
example of ELMC pleadings winning the award for “Best written pleadings” will be
made available.

The page limit for ELMC written pleadings is 15 pages per pleading. This limit applies,
but there is no minimum number of pages. Quality is examined, not quantity.

Final versions of the individual ELMC pleadings are to be submitted on 17 October.

Your final individual ELMC pleadings are submitted by uploading them to the
Studentportalen course web site.

For clarity, individual pleadings are part of your examination portfolio and will be
graded. The grade criteria in the syllabus apply. All pleadings will be subjected to
plagiarism check.

Workshops and moot sessions

The core of the ELMC is mooting – an intense experience, but also highly rewarding
from a learning perspective. On this course, we are here to help you on your way to
become skilled practising EU lawyers. Therefore, no need to worry! However, if you do
experience apprehension when looking forward to moot sessions, we warmly recommend
for you to make contact with study counsellor maria.aarflot.lundgren@jur.uu.se, who
arranges “Dare to Speak”-courses. Many students have been helped by these.

Rhetorical workshops are scheduled in December to help you prepare for moot sessions.
Well-prepared participation at the workshop is mandatory. Unless otherwise
indicated, the workshop will consist in mooting practice. In other words, you will have

15
prepared an oral pleading just like the one you will present at the moot session (see
below), for feedback.

Please do make sure that your oral pleading at the workshop is, in your view, a final
version. This means that it is complete, legally and rhetorically planned, and well-
rehearsed. Rehearsal should include repeated rehearsal with friends for mutual feedback.
Opportunities for rehearsal (with no teacher) are scheduled for your convenience – use
them!

Moot sessions are scheduled just before the Christmas break. Performance at moot
sessions is part of your examination portfolio and will be graded. The grade criteria in the
syllabus apply.

Roles for the moot will be posted on Studentportalen. Further extensive information on
the moot sessions is found in Appendix C below, but Appendix A is also of some interest
to moot sessions.

Students who are not on the ELMC team, do notice the following extra instructions: You
will all prepare a 10-minute pleading, regardless of which role you have been given in the
moot. Applicants and respondents will not give reply or rejoinder. Remember that as you
will be interrupted by the judges, it is a good idea to plan for less than 10 minutes; say
approximately 7 minutes.

ELMC team
Based on your achievements in examinations, but also other factors such as language
skills, an ELMC team of 4 students will be appointed. Students who are appointed to
the team will be entered into the ELMC and will draft team written pleadings jointly.
Students who are not appointed to the team are also encouraged to form teams and enter
into the ELMC, but we are unfortunately not able to fund more than one team. The course
administration will nevertheless happily advise keen mooters on how to attract other
funding.

The ELMC team will have an additional workshop on written pleadings. Your draft
team written pleadings are due 4 November, 23.59 CET by e-mail to
eva.storskrubb@jur.uu.se, CC patrik.mehrens@littvet.uu.se and
santa.slokenberga@jur.uu.se.

Make sure the written pleadings you submit for the workshop are, in your view, finished.
This means they should be complete, legally and rhetorically planned, and in compliance

16
with all formal requirements in the ELMC Rules (Annexes A and C). The sole exception
from this is that you may exclude the French summary.

You have a second draft deadline on 14 November for last-minute feedback. Please
send your second drafts by e-mail to santa.slokenberga@jur.uu.se. At this point, you are
advised to include a French summary.

The final ELMC deadline is 21 November and how to submit will be announced by the
ELMC Society at www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu. A French summary is compulsory.
When you submit, send a copy also by e-mail to eva.storskrubb@jur.uu.se,
santa.slokenberga@jur.uu.se and to magnus.strand@jur.uu.se.

For clarity, the final team written pleadings are part of your examination portfolio.

17
Memorandum
All students will write an individual memorandum. The memorandum forms an
important part of your examination portfolio and will be graded.

In your memorandum, you will be able to engage in a specific topic among a number of
options to be provided. For the purposes of your memorandum, you will be expected to
adopt a jurisprudential (i.e., independent) approach.

Extensive instructions on how to write and how to submit your memorandum are found
below in Appendix D.

As the ELMC team students need to focus for some time on their team written pleadings,
they will write shorter individual memoranda than those who are not on the team.

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 APPENDIX A

The European Law Moot Court Competition

The European Law Moot Court Competition (or ELMC) is the most prestigious EU law
moot court competition in the world. It is a traditional moot - i.e. simulated court -
competition, in which teams of students prepare written pleadings with respect to a
problem of European law and present their arguments in oral proceedings before a panel
of judges acting as the European Court of Justice.

The ELMC is open to students of all universities worldwide, takes place annually and is
bi-lingual, French and English being the official languages. The competition consists of
three stages, one written and two oral.

For further information, please refer to the ELMC website,

www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu. In particular, please take time to read the ELMC Rules
available on that web site quite carefully.

The Written Stage

The written stage takes place annually in September - November. Teams from
universities from any country worldwide prepare submissions setting out arguments on
behalf of both the Applicant and Defendant in the proceedings before the Court of Justice
"invented" in the ELMC case of the year.

Written submissions shall be submitted no later than 23.59 CET on a date that is
announced at www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu (usually in late November). Submission is
due by uploading your written pleadings as instructed in the log-in area of the ELMC
website. You are also to send a back-up copy of your written pleadings by e-mail to the
organising team at organising.team.elmc@gmail.com. Please send copies (CC) also to
eva.storskrubb@jur.uu.se, santa.slokenberga@jur.uu.se and to magnus.strand@jur.uu.se.

If your submission is late, your team will not be disqualified, but you will lose points (cf.
the ELMC Rules, available at www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu).

The written submissions are forwarded to a panel of judges made up of professors,

judges, lawyers or Commission representatives. The pleadings are assessed according to
criteria established by the ELMC Society (cf. the ELMC Rules).

The best 48 teams are selected on the basis of their written submissions and invited to
attend a Regional Final. The Regional Finals represent the second stage of the
competition.

19
The Regional Finals
Four Regional Finals, which are in effect semi-finals, are held in February each year. The
location of each varies from year to year. In 2013, Regional Finals were held in Leiden,
Lund, Neuchatel and Brussels.

At the Regional Finals, teams are required to present their arguments to a panel of Judges
sitting as the Court of Justice.

Each of the Regional Finals shall consist of up to three qualification rounds (preliminary
round, semi-final and final). Up to twelve teams will participate in the preliminary round,
four teams in the semi-final and two teams in the final. The winning team of each
Regional Final will be invited to participate in the All European Final which, subject to
the consent of the Court of Justice, is held before judges of the actual Court of Justice in
Luxemburg.

Each team is required to argue both as applicant, as defendant and as a Commission

Representative or as an Advocate General. Upon invitation to the Regional Finals, the
team will be informed of whether to prepare arguments for the Advocate General or the
Commission Representative. For the purposes of our Uppsala course, however, all teams
will prepare arguments for both the Advocate General and the Commission
Representative.

During the hearings the Advocate General and Commission Representative act
independently and without counsel from their team mates. Based on the points given
during the preliminary rounds the four best Advocate Generals / Commission
Representatives will proceed to the semi-finals. Should an Advocate General /
Commission Representative not qualify for the semi-finals, he or she is then free to join
his or her team and may assume the role of the applicant, or defendant, or act as counsel.
The best Advocate General / Commission Representative of each Regional Final qualifies
for participation in the All European Final.

Team members may sit at the bar table as counsel to the Applicant and defendant
pleaders, except for Advocates General / Commission Representatives who are still in the
running. Counselling will count as pleading time.

The scope of the oral arguments is not limited to the scope of the participants' written
pleadings. In effect, your written pleadings are irrelevant to the subsequent stages of the
competition. Where appropriate, therefore, do feel free to change your arguments in any
and all ways possible.

20
Members of the judging panel are invited and encouraged to question the speaker on any
point of the argument. During the first rounds, these questions shall mainly focus on the
issues of the Case. In the semi-finals and final round of the Regional Final, questions of a
more general nature concerning European law may be included.

Being a bilingual Competition, the pleading languages are equally English and French.
Participating teams are free to choose their pleading language at each instance. The team
members are, in addition, encouraged to switch between the two languages during the
presentation of their arguments. The ability to speak both languages and to change from
one to the other has a positive impact on the score of the person presenting the oral
argument. Native speakers will only be judged with regard to their command of the non-
native language; the exclusive use of their native language is therefore a disadvantage.

Twelve teams are sent to each Regional of which only one team will proceed to the third
stage, the All European Final in Luxembourg.

The All European Final

Subject to the consent of the European Court of Justice, the All European Final takes
place at the Court of Justice in Luxemburg before Judges from the Court of Justice and/or
the Court of First Instance. The four winning teams from the Regional Finals present
their arguments orally to the Court and the winner is declared after deliberation by the
Court.

The overall structure of the All European Final is comparable to that of the Regional
Finals.

Expenses
For the ELMC team appointed, the course administrators will apply for funding of
expenses from the Uppsala Faculty of Law. If granted, the Faculty will cover ELMC fees
and travels. Students not on the team are encouraged to form teams and to make contact
with any possible sponsors, in cooperation with ELMC coordinator Santa Slokenberga.

Expenses over and above travelling to and from Regional Finals and the All European
Final, and those covered by the ELMC fees, must be paid by participating students
themselves. This entails, e.g., lunches and one dinner during Regional Finals. All students
are expected to travel from Uppsala and return to Uppsala. Other travel wishes will be
accommodated for if possible, but if they result in significantly higher travel expenses,
the student will be expected to cover the difference.

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 APPENDIX B

Drafting your Written Pleadings

Rules
Each team participating in the ELMC prepares 2 typewritten pleadings (maximum 15
pages), one on behalf of the applicant and the other on behalf of the defendant. Teams
may choose the official language, either English or French, to be used in drafting the
written pleadings. Each written pleading shall be accompanied by a summary of the main
arguments, drafted in the other official language (maximum 2 pages). Teams from
Uppsala University should draft their pleadings in English and the summary in French to
facilitate feedback from teachers.

Each pleading is assessed individually and independently by a committee appointed by

the ELMC Society with regard to the following criteria:

a) Correct legal analysis and argumentation, i.e. clarity of argument, complete and correct
recognition and weighting of problems, correct application of the relevant rules and legal
principles;

b) Presentation and style, i.e. persuasiveness (logic, structure, citations, thoroughness,

style, eloquence...);

c) Linguistic skills: knowledge of both official languages.

Various infractions, from formal rules and guidelines, can result in points being deducted
or even the team being disqualified.

Please refer to the ELMC Rules at www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu for further reference

and details.

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Writing tips

1. Be thorough!

It goes without saying, perhaps: You need to do a lot of work on your pleadings.
Working with pleadings usually has two main aspects:

First, you try to understand the case and what law is relevant. Keep full focus on
the questions asked to the Court of Justice – they are what you need to answer (no
more, no less).

Second, you do your actual writing. However, these two elements cannot be
isolated from each other and, therefore, you will usually find that the case is not
about that thing you thought it was about – it keeps changing as you work with it.
Your understanding of the case doesn’t really come about until you actually work
on writing the pleading. Therefore, you should try to start writing as soon as
possible.

Being thorough also means thinking all the way through. You need to ask yourself
what will be achieved by your argumentation. What is the applicable remedy? Are
there any problems with that remedy? Moreover, are you being consistent
throughout your pleading? It’s very easy to start contradicting yourself.

We guarantee you: Writing your pleading involves hours – AND HOURS – of

reading. There are no shortcuts in the ELMC. You need to know your stuff - all
your stuff.

2. Be structured!

Your pleading should be easily accessible. As a general rule, you should follow
the structure of the questions asked by the national court in the case. If the
structure of those questions leads to repetition, you can make references back to
arguments already made.

Use headings and subheadings. Main headings can correspond to the questions
asked. A good way of using headings to make your structure clear is to give them
numbers and to phrase them as a short statement of the legal or factual point you
want to make under that heading. For example, if under a certain heading you are
arguing that the applicant’s claim is time-barred, the heading can be: “The
Applicant’s claim is time-barred”. And, if you are arguing that such a time-bar is
compatible with Union law, the heading can be: “The time-bar in national law is
compatible with EU law”.

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 Finally, please do comply with the format requirements in the ELMC Rules
(Annexes A and C) from the start – that will save you a tremendous amount of
time as the deadline approaches!

3. Be “partial”!

In law schools, you often learn to write either as a judge or as a legal scholar. For
the ELMC, as Yoda says, you must unlearn what you have learnt. This time, you
are the legal representative of a client, and it is your job to argue for that client.
Therefore, you should be “partial”. This does not mean that you should present
any more or less reasonable arguments; your arguments should be persuasive to
the judges (think senior lawyers in the relevant EU law field). It means that, while
maintaining legal credibility and precision, you take the position of your client.
The ELMC scenario always includes policy issues that are debatable. Find them!
Focus on them! Let your text be policy-driven! Nevertheless, you must make sure
to add all legally relevant references in footnotes. You will find that it sometimes
serves your client’s interests to be formalistic, and sometimes to be provocative.

Being “partial” also has implications for the style to use in writing. For instance,
you shouldn’t write: “The general view seems to be that such a time-bar is
compatible with EU law”, or “In my view, this time-bar is compatible with EU
law”. Instead, you write: “This time-bar is compatible with EU law.” Period!
Write with confidence, as if you know what the law is and you know the judges
will agree with you. Write as if what you are saying is (or should be) supported by
all lawyers. And yet, never forget to present sound arguments for each and every
point you make (Be thorough!).

4. Be readable!

Your text should be like a story. Make sure sentences flow and are logically
connected with the previous and the next sentence. Avoid long sentences. Instead,
make them connect by using words like “Therefore,…”, “However,…”,
“Nevertheless,…” and the like (read ECJ case law and see!). Make sure sections
cross over into each other and that everything under a specific heading belongs
under that heading.

Your text should be concise – and it will need to be in order to fit within the 15
page limit. However, make an effort to include rhetorical tropes of different kinds.
That will make for a more interesting and engaging reading. Furthermore, it can
serve to emphasize your main points. Therefore, you should use them for that end.

For further guidance, see Kee and Lynn.

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APPENDIX C

Moot sessions

General information
Moot sessions are mandatory and form part of your examination portfolio. Your
performance will be graded with regard to both legal analysis and rhetorical design.
Grade criteria in the syllabus apply.

Moot sessions are a very intense learning experience – both when you are watching
others and when you are pleading/assuming the role of counsel yourself. As you prepare,
you will find (again!) that it is a lot of work involved in preparing an oral pleading. It is
quite different from just reading a written pleading out loud. You need to structure
differently, as speaking takes time, and you need to phrase yourself differently, as spoken
language is different from written language.

Moreover, the panel will interrupt you to ask questions. It will take time to answer these
questions. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare (e.g.) a 10-minute presentation for a 15-
minute pleading.

Please notice: As mooting may be stressful for students who are not used to public
speaking, all students who are not experienced in giving speeches or the like are warmly
recommended to contact educational adviser Maria Aarflot Lundgren at
Maria.Aarflot.Lundgren@jur.uu.se for enrolment in her course for students with speaking
anxiety.

Procedure
The rules and procedure of each session follows the rules and structure of ELMC
sessions. Cf. in particular sections IV and VI of the ELMC Rules, found at
www.europeanlawmootcourt.eu.

Each team is required to argue both as applicant, as defendant and as a Commission

Representative or as an Advocate General (to be indicated). You will all appear before
the judges, in different capacities, in accordance with a schedule to be posted at the
course web site.

All teams will appear in all capacities, and all students will appear as pleader, at least
once.

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During the hearings, the Applicant and Respondent pleaders have the benefit of a team
member sitting at the bar table as counsel. Counselling will count as pleading time. The
Advocate General and the Commission Representative act independently, without
counsel. Naturally, however, all team members are encouraged to help each other with
preparations. Time will be scheduled for moot practicing without teachers – please use it!

The scope of the oral arguments is not limited to the scope of your written pleadings. In
effect, your written pleadings are irrelevant to the subsequent stages of the competition.
Where appropriate, therefore, do feel free to change your arguments in any and all ways
possible.

Members of the judging panel are invited and encouraged to question the speaker on any
point of the argument. Questions will mainly focus on the issues of the ELMC case, but
as we proceed, questions of a more general European legal nature may be included.

Pleading time
The arguments of the applicant and the defendant shall each be presented within 15
minutes. Reply and rejoinder shall take no more than 5 minutes each.

The Advocate General and the Commission Representative shall each present their
opinions within 10 minutes at the end of the hearing.

A timekeeper will indicate (signs 5, 1, 0) the last minutes of the time allocated to the
speaker and will inform the Court when the available time has expired.

Pleading style
Please remember that you are expected to argue as practising lawyers, trying to make
points in your client’s best interest.

Nevertheless, never forget to be polite to your colleagues and, of course, to the judges.
For instance, it is advisable to begin and to finish your pleadings and reply/rejoinder with
a polite sentence of greetings/thanks to the members of the court and your distinguished
colleagues. And why not the auditorium?

Please remember also to have prepared your pleading well enough to enable you to speak
without reading from manuscripts. Most pleaders have some sort of manuscript, perhaps
a full text manuscript but in most cases a manuscript consisting of keywords, but you
should be able to speak with your papers resting on the table beside you and without
glancing at it too much. Furthermore, you need to be able to get back on track smoothly
after answering questions from the judges. At best, you can slip from answering a
question to continuing pleading without listeners noticing!

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Rhetoric
Use what you have learnt! Use rhetorical figures, use your voice, use your body.
Rhetorical skill will be examined side-by-side with legal skill.

In this regard, it is very helpful to get feedback from your fellow students. Moot court
practice opportunities can be used to listen to the ways in which you speak, unfolding
your strengths and weaknesses. In particular, they can be used to make you aware of the
little tics and habits you have (e.g. clicking your tongue, fiddling with hair, scratching
your nose…). Which you do have!

Language
The ELMC is a bilingual competition. This course, however, is in English. Therefore, for
the purposes of our moot sessions, the language to be used is English.

Judges
Judges are addressed as “Your lordship”, with the exception of the president, who is
addressed as “Madam/Mr President”.

The judges will interrupt you now and then to ask questions. They may very well try to
confuse you with their questions – keep cool! Moreover, you may politely ask the judge
to repeat the question if you do not understand it the first time around. The clock stops
ticking when the judge speaks.

Grades
When the moot is ended, judges/teachers will deliberate to set your grade in accordance
with grade criteria. The grade will be a balanced grade based on the legal and rhetorical
composition of your presentations in moot sessions.

Please notice that final grades on oral presentation are based not only on your
presentations at moot sessions, but also on your presentations at the memoranda
conference. Therefore, grades will not be announced until the course is ended. This also
means that you should NOT be discouraged by any specific blackouts or the like at moot
sessions. You will all have those and it’s not a big deal! You moot – you learn, that’s the
main thing.

If you want instant feedback on your presentation, do not hesitate to ask any of the
present teachers. Notice, however, that teachers will not be able to give any indication on
your grade. Otherwise, teachers will endeavour to give you feedback by e-mail.

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Citation
In oral pleadings, legal materials such as Treaty articles and cases are usually cited very
briefly. You may say “TFEU” if you want to, as tongues may slip when you try to say
“Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union”. For cases, you usually refer to, e.g.,
“the Mangold case” or simply “Mangold”. For secondary legislation, you can refer to,
e.g., “the Data Retention Directive”. No need for further data, but you could add the year
in which it was adopted when you mention it for the first time.

Please contact Eva Storskrubb if you have any questions with regard to moot sessions, or
Santa Slokenberga if you have questions with regard to the ELMC.

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 APPENDIX D

Writing your memorandum

General information
Your memorandum forms an important part of your examination portfolio. It will be
graded. Your performances (presentation and discussion) at the subsequent conference
(see below) also form part of your examination portfolio and will be graded.

Your memorandum is expected to display a well-chosen approach to the topic (you

choose your approach independently, but feel free to contact Eva Storskrubb for advice if
you feel uncertain), a consistent approach (that is, you stick to what is relevant for the
approach chosen and do not go to deeply into aspects that are less relevant), good
knowledge of the relevant law and its underlying policy, and independent analysis.

See the grade criteria in the syllabus for further guidance.

A good deal of study time has been allotted to the writing of your memorandum. Use it
well. Your experiences from writing pleadings for the ELMC should have taught you the
importance of discipline in writing efforts. Please be reminded only to begin writing in
good time, and that, as a general rule, real work begins once you have actually started to
write.

Memorandum topic
There will be a number of topics to choose from. All topics will be selected with a view
to allow students to benefit from work already done while writing pleadings for the
ELMC. Topics for students on the ELMC team will be more closely connected to the
ELMC scenario, but all students are free to choose an approach that connects to the
scenario and to use examples from the scenario to illustrate points.

Once topics are announced, please indicate your choice as soon as possible by e-mail to
eva.storskrubb@jur.uu.se. Please also indicate your second and third options, in case
your first choice is taken.

Memorandum template
You will find a template for your memorandum on the Studentportalen course web page.
The template will be explained in further detail at the Introduction to memorandum
information session (21 October).

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The template includes numbered headlines. The template also includes a front page.
Where indicated, you will write your code number as provided by the course amanuensis.
Please use the rest of the front page for an abstract, summarising the most important
features of your memorandum (e.g. conflicting interests, legal problems, current debates
and/or main conclusions).

Please do not hesitate to contact Magnus Strand if you have any questions on how to use
the template.

Extended memoranda (non-ELMC-team students)

The main text of your extended memorandum (e.g. from page 2) should be 10 – 15 pages
long. It is the quality of the text that is examined, not its length. However, it must not be
longer than 18 pages.

ELMC-memoranda
The main text of your extended memorandum (e.g. from page 2) should be 6 – 10 pages
long. It is the quality of the text that is examined, not its length. However, it must not be
longer than 12 pages.

Writing style
Please remember that the purpose of this memorandum is quite different from that of the
ELMC written pleadings. For the purposes of your memorandum, you will be expected to
take a jurisprudential approach to the matter, which entails finding, discussing and
evaluating a number of different perspectives on the matter at hand. Your choice of legal
authorities and your writing style should reflect this approach.

Citation
You will use the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). It can
be found on the Internet by googling it. You can also find a link to the OSCOLA web
page on the Studentportalen course web page.

Submission
A draft of your memorandum is due for feedback by Eva Storskrubb on the following
dates. Extended memoranda drafts are due no later than 23.59 CET on 21 November.
ELMC-memoranda drafts are due no later than 23.59 CET on 7 December. The drafts are
submitted by uploading them to the Studentportalen course web page.

Your final memorandum is due by uploading it to the Studentportalen course web page
no later than 23.59 CET on 30 December.

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Conference
In January, we will reunite for a full-day conference where all memoranda will be
discussed. You will present your own memorandum, and you will be allotted a
memorandum written by a fellow student on which you will prepare questions to begin
our discussion.

The author will hold a 10 minute presentation of her/his memorandum. The discussant
will have prepared critical (which is not, in any way, an opposite of polite or
constructive) questions on the memorandum for the author to answer. This discussion
should take 5-10 minutes. Thereafter, the floor will be open for questions or views on the
memorandum from any fellow students and/or teacher.

You will be notified in good time which memorandum you are appointed to discuss.

Questions
Please do not hesitate to contact Eva Storskrubb if you have any questions with regard to
the memorandum.

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