It is with great pleasure that we share that the Legal Clinic team from the Faculty of Law and Administration at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, composed of Juliana Wiśniewska (2nd-year student of European Law and 3rd-year student of International Relations), Sonia Mikołajczak and Jakub Kowalski (3rd-year Law students), represented our Faculty in the European Rounds of the prestigious Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition.
This year’s edition took place in a truly unique location – the headquarters of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Paris. The European Rounds were organized by the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL), operating under ESA.
The team was academically guided by coach Adrian Kaczmarek, PhD Candidate at the Department of Public International Law and Coordinator of the International Section of the Legal Clinic, with additional support from student coach Patryk Czyżewski, a fourth-year Law student.
During the competition, our team faced off against universities from all over Europe, engaging in well-matched rounds – including against teams that eventually advanced to the semifinals and final of the European Rounds. The oral rounds were the culmination of several months of preparation, which included the drafting of comprehensive written memorials on behalf of both the Applicant and the Respondent in a fictional dispute before the International Court of Justice.
Each round consisted of a simulated ICJ hearing, where teams presented legal arguments before a panel of judges made up of distinguished international space law experts. Participation in the event was not only an opportunity to develop practical legal skills but also a chance to exchange views with students from other countries and interact with leading figures in the field of public international and space law.
For the participants, it was an incredibly inspiring experience – one that provided valuable insights into teamwork, legal reasoning, and oral advocacy in English. The team returned from Paris highly motivated, enriched with new knowledge and strengthened by international academic connections.
It was especially meaningful to see that Poland had the strongest representation at a competition named after Manfred Lachs – a Polish judge of the International Court of Justice, renowned scholar of public international law, and a pioneer of space law. Alongside our team, the European Rounds also welcomed teams from the Jagiellonian University and Łazarski University in Warsaw.
We sincerely congratulate all participants of the competition and wish the University of Luxembourg, the winners of the European Rounds, the best of luck in the International Finals!
The students’ participation was financed under the ID-UB Study@Research programme, as part of the project “The Role of Global Private Actors in Armed Conflicts: Challenges for Contemporary International Space Law”, coordinated by Patryk Czyżewski.