The Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition (formerly known as the ELSA Human Rights Moot Court Competition) is organised annually by the European Law Student Association (ELSA) in cooperation with the Council of Europe. The competition simulates procedures of complaint before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and gives participants the opportunity to interact practically with the European Convention on Human Rights.

It is named after Helga Pedersen, a Danish judge who had a remarkable and inspirational legal career, and who, in 1971, was appointed the first female judge at the European Court of Human Rights.

Each edition focuses on a different topic, inside their scope, and the previous editions and cases can be found here: https://helgapedersenmoot.elsa.org/former-editions/

Regarding the prizes involved, the “Council of Europe Award” is a one-month traineeship at the European Court of Human Rights for each member of the winning Team; and the “Liaison Office of the Council of Europe Award” is a traineeship at the Liaison Office of the Council of Europe in Brussels for the winner of the Best Orator of the Grand Final.

Current edition: Case: Orwell vs. Valdora. Materials for the current edition are available on the Competition website.

In order to contribute to the preparation by participants in the Competition, the Codification Division has compiled resources available on the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law (AVL) for the 14th edition of the Competition. Students will be able to draw on the resources available on the AVL website, including the Lecture Series and the Mini-Series, together with the related materials used in the preparation of lectures, the Historic Archives, as well as the International Law Handbook.

Lecture Series

The Lecture Series contains a permanent collection of lectures of enduring value on virtually every subject of international law delivered by leading international law scholars and practitioners from different regions, legal systems, cultures and sectors of the legal profession. Each lecture is accompanied by a list of related materials linking to documents available online. Lectures are available in video and audio formats.

Mini-Series

The Mini-Series is a series of lectures delivered by leading international law scholars which aims to provide a general overview of the core topics of international law, primarily intended for users with basic or little knowledge of international law. Each mini-series provides a comprehensive introduction of the concerned topic and presents key issues for further study, which are often covered by specialized lectures in the Lecture Series.

Historic Archives

The Historic Archives is a unique resource which contains significant international law instruments. Each entry contains an introduction to a particular instrument prepared by a scholar or practitioner with expertise on the subject, information on its procedural history and related documents, as well as the text and status of the instrument. It is accompanied by available audiovisual materials relating to the negotiation and adoption of the instrument at meetings or diplomatic conferences.

International Law Handbook

The International Law Handbook is a collection of instruments used by the Codification Division as study materials for its training courses under the Programme of Assistance. It is intended to be used as a general work of reference. It comprises four books, available free of charge on the AVL website:

Book One Book One contains the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice, as well as instruments relating to the law of treaties, subjects of international law, diplomatic and consular relations, international responsibility, peaceful settlement of international disputes, international peace and security, international human rights law as well as movement of persons and international migration law.