Oxford team for Helga Pedersen Moot advances to Strasbourg international rounds

The Oxford team in the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition – comprising Rivu Chowdhury (Law, Magdalen College), Emma Rowland (MPhil Law, Exeter College), Cassandra Somers-Joce (MPhil Law, St Anne’s College) and Justin Winchester (BCL, New College) – has qualified from the first stage of the competition into the final oral rounds to be held in Strasbourg from 22–26 May.

On the basis of their written memorials and their performance in the Regional Rounds held in Birmingham, the team have progressed through to the international rounds hosted in Strasbourg, the home of the European Court of Human Rights.

The team, coached by Alyssa Glass (DPhil Law, Balliol College), worked collaboratively on lengthy written memorials between October and December 2022 and then completed a series of practice moots in January and February 2023, before travelling to the Regional Rounds on 17–19 February.  All four team members delivered oral submissions in Birmingham, mooting against teams from across Europe.

The moot problem is set in the European Court of Human Rights and concerns the right to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation contrary to Article 1 of Protocol 12 to the European Convention.  The factual context for these legal issues involves a same-sex couple who enter a gestational surrogacy agreement to start a family.

The team gratefully acknowledges the support they have already received from the Mooting Coordinators and broader Faculty, as well as from many academics and practitioners from far and wide who generously gave up time to judge practice rounds before the regional rounds in Birmingham.  The team are currently preparing for the international rounds in Strasbourg, and would love to hear from anyone with a background in human rights and discrimination law who might be available to judge a practice round (please contact the team’s coach, Alyssa Glass: alyssa.glass@law.ox.ac.uk).  Many of the practice rounds will be held virtually, so presence in Oxford is not necessary.