Law from the Machine?

Legal rhetoric is an art form – and creating art gets messy sometimes. Last week, our university’s team participating in the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition travelled to the cradle of the rhetoric arts – Athens, Greece – to act on behalf of the Applicant as well as the Respondent State in simulated oral proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights. Verena Borecky-Kutej, Marius Krabbe and Daniela Lauermann, coached by Gerd Oberleitner and Gregor Fischer-Lessiak, had to deal with a complex case on the use of Artificial Intelligence in criminal proceedings, to spontaneously navigate questions from judges and to keep their cool pleading twice on the same day in different roles. The result of their performance in Greece and, in addition, of the written submissions they prepared: A desk full of scattered notes and, more importantly, a ticket to the finals in Strasbourg, where they will face the best teams from three regional rounds to compete for a place in the Grand Final in the main courtroom of the ECtHR. Congratulations and all the best for the finals!