Model European Court of Human Rights 2020/21 Begins

Model European Court of Human Rights 2020/21 Begins

17 December 2020

December 16th, the inauguration ceremony of the European Court of Human Rights Model, organized by MGIMO’s Law Club together with the European Studies Institute, the Council of Europe and the University’s Endowment, was held online.

Among those attending were MGIMO’s Vice-Rector for Social Work and Youth Policy S.Surovtsev, the Director of the European Studies Institute T.Shashikhina and representatives of the organizing committee of the Model.

The model is taking place for the second time, but in a new format, bringing together over 500 students from Russian and foreign universities.

The opening ceremony was moderated by the head of the organizing committee of the ECHR Model Y.Garbar, who noted that this year all participants would be able to attend a series of lectures and master classes delivered by experts from the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. The speaker also thanked representatives of the Council of Europe for their involvement in the event, which allows participants to gain firsthand experience from professionals.

S.Surovtsev spoke about the advantages of participating in such events for students who can develop qualities, which will allow them to become outstanding professionals, including legal skills, a capacity for teamwork, for solving complex problems and finding sources of information. T.Shashikhina emphazised the importance of initiatives developed by students, noting the growing interest of young people in acquiring practical skills.

The Head of the Department for Policy and Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights of the Directorate of Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe M.Lobov spoke about the history and principles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The speaker also expressed enthusiasm at the diverse composition of the Model and the large number of participants involved, underlining that "such events are especially valuable in terms of acquiring extensive legal knowledge”.

The Head of the Legal Club, A.Starikov, described the activities of the club, noting that its members are always enthusiastic about creating and participating in new projects, especially those that are useful from a professional point of view.

During the second half of the opening ceremony, the coordinator of the program of the Department of Policy and Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights of the Directorate of Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe E.Yurkina held a master class devoted to “Principles of Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Practical Aspects of Working with Information Resources, Searching and Understanding the ECHR Practice (HUDOC, HELP)”.

Students were actively involved in the discussion and the ceremony came to a close with a question-and-answer session and an active discussion.

The second master class was held on December 17th, within the framework of the ECHR Model. D. Gurin, a lawyer at the Secretariat of the European Court of Human Rights, spoke on the topic “The European Court of Human Rights: Introduction to Organization and Procedure”. The brief but informative presentation allowed the students to learn a lot about the structure of the ECHR, and its activities. During the Q&A session, many questions were put to the speaker.

December 18-25, participants will be able to take a test on an online platform to check they have understood the lecture materials.