The second Themis semi-final took place in Lisbon, Portugal – to be exact, at the Centro de Estudos Judiciários – from 27 June to 1 July.
The participants and the members of the jury enjoyed a warm welcome, in glorious sunshine, from Dr. Alexandre Coelho and Dr. Cristina Messias who put everything in place during the week to enable the smooth running of the Themis competition, and to perpetuate its success.
The teams present numbered 15: Austria, Bulgaria, France (2 teams), Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania (2 teams), Slovakia, Spain and Turkey.
High quality
The week was punctuated by rhetorical contests of high quality between the various teams, both in the field of “Interpretation and application of article 5 and 6 of the ECHR” and in “International Cooperation in Civil Matters”.
The participants quickly formed contacts between themselves and continued to keep in touch after the competition. The participants widened their knowledge by exploring the various judicial systems, and all participants had a satisfying experience in the Themis competition, which they hope will long continue.
The future of young judges
In the spirit of handing on knowledge, and active participation in the future of young judges and prosecutors, the jury members mentioned here attended voluntarily to provide this service for a whole week: Mr. Emil Dechev (Bulgaria), Dr. Jaroslava Novotná (Czech Republic), Dr. Helena Leitão (Portugal), Mrs. Zuzana Fiserova (Czech Republic), Mr. R.J. Verschoof (Netherlands), Mr. Francisco J. Martín-Mazuelos (Spain).
Considering the high quality of the presentations, the jury had a difficult task to name the two winning teams in each field. The first place in “Interpretation and application of article 5 and 6 of the ECHR” went to the Netherlands team, and second place to the French team. In “International Cooperation in Civil Matters” first place was awarded to the German team, and the second to the Portuguese team.
Below, photographs of the award-winners and jury members: