Erga Omnes: Law of the Council of Europe Competition

ERGA OMNES: LAW OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMPETITION

26-30 June 2017, Belarus

Report prepared by International Law & Arbitration Association (BILA Association) Table of Contents

1. About the Competition 3

2. Application Process 5

3. Competition Rounds 8

4. Competition Results 10

5. Feedback from Participants 12

6. Visibility 15

7. Summary of the Project 16

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 2 1. About the Competition

Erga Omnes: Law of the Council of Europe Competition is a simulation About BILA Association BILA Association is non-profit of real-case situations and specific practical issues. The tasks are organization devoted to the evaluated by experts who give individual comments in a lecture- development of legal studies and education, support of young practical format. The competition is organized jointly by the talented scholars and exchange of Council of Europe and BILA Association. experience between its members. Within the 2 years: Organizational Stages 20+ Events & Projects 1. Application Process (1 May - 5 June); have been organized 2. Competition Rounds (26 - 30 June ); 25+ Companies and 3. Completion of the Project (1 July - 1 August). International Organization cooperate with BILA Association Goals of the Project 50+ States 1. To organize competition for Belarusian students; have been covered by our 2. To provide students with advanced understanding of the projects 60+ Experts instruments of the Council of Europe; represent the Academic Council 3. To create the community of people, who will share and 200+ Professional Lawyers promote the Council of Europe standards; have attended our projects 4. To raise the visibility of the Council of Europe among Belarusian students and scholars.

Role of the Council of Europe in the Competition 2016 PHILIP C. JESSUP The Council of Europe acted as sponsor and co-organizer of the INTERNATIONAL LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION event. The organization of the Competition was coordinated with STEVEN SCHNEEBAUM Ms. Larissa Lukina, Director of the Council of Europe Information AWARD OUTSTANDING NATIONAL ADMINISTRATOR Point in Minsk, and Ms. Albina Ovcearenco, Political Advisor at the ANDREY KOZIK BELARUS Directorate of Political Affairs of the Council of Europe. Jury Board of the Competition 1. Prof. Andrey L. Kozik (PhD, BILA Association, local expert) - S. Schneebaum Award Chairman of the board; In April 2016, BILA Association has been awarded the S.Schneebaum 2. Ms. Larissa Lukina (Director of the Council of Europe Award for Outstanding National Information Point in Minsk) - Co-chairman of the board; Administration of the 2016 Jessup Competition. The award handed 3. Ms. Albina Ovcearenco (Political Advisor, Directorate of Political by International Law Students Affairs of the Council of Europe); Association in Washington D.C. (United States) is the most 4. Ms. Olga Rezvanova (Counsellor of the Judge in the Court of prestigious in our collection up to Eurasian Economic Union); now. 5. Mr. Vasili Pavlov (LLM, PhD candidate at the President’s Academy, local expert); 6. Mr. Mykola Gnatovsky (Council of Europe CPT President, Ukraine); 7. Ms. Tina Goletiani (LLM, Council of Europe standards implementation practitioner, Georgia). Competition Rounds The participants were working individually and in groups during the Competition rounds. At the end of each round the participants BYIL - Belarusian Yearbook of International Law received individual score that determined their place in the ranking. BYIL is the first periodic English- language publication on international law and arbitration in Belarus.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 3 Topics Addressed by the Participants 1. Human rights - European Convention on Human Rights; 2. Human trafficking; 3. Corruption; 4. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. BILA’s Library - Library on Materials International Law All the participants received hard copies of the main instruments of BILA’s Library was established in November 2015 and is now the the Council of Europe. The materials were provided by the Council only English-language library on of Europe Information Point in Minsk. international law in Belarus.

EEDRF - Eastern European Dispute Resolution Forum In 2016 BILA Association became a co-organizer of the EEDRF - the first and the largest practical forum, which unites different jurisdiction and is held in Belarus. The goal of the forum is to discuss the most relevant tendencies and practices that are formed now in the dispute resolution sphere in the CIS Members-States and in the Eastern Europe.

Learn more about us and our projects at: www.bila.by

International Law & Arbitration Association 220113, 1 Melezha Str. 806, Republic of Belarus, Minsk +375 (17) 302-85-91 [email protected] www.bila.by

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 4 2. Application Process

The application process to the Erga Omnes Competition included 4 stages: 1. Registration at www.ergaomnes.bila.by (1 - 30 May); 2. Submission of essays on the «Legal Protection of Belarusian Nationals in the Member States of the Council of Europe» (1 May - 5 June); 3. Evaluation of essays (5 - 15 June); 4. Selection of participants (16 June). Stage 1. Registration 107 applications (see, Diagram 1) were submitted by students representing 18 educational establishments (see, Graph 1).

Diagram 1. The number of applications received from educational establishments depending on their location.

58 49 Regional universities Minsk universities

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Graph 1. The Number of applications received from the specific educational establishment in alphabetical order.

1. Academy of Public Administration under the President of the 7. Belarusian State University 14. Minsk State Linguistic University Republic of Belarus 8. Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin 15. Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University 2. Baranovichi State University 9. Francisk Skorina Gomel State University 16. Polotsk State University 3. Belarus State Economic University 10. Grodno State Medical University 17. Vitebsk State Order of Peoples’ Friendship Medical 4. Belarusian National Technical University 11. International University «MITSO» University 5. Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture 12. International University «MITSO» (Gomel branch) 18. Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov 6. Belarusian State Medical University 13. International University «MITSO» (Vitebsk branch)

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 5 Stage 2. Submission of essays 56 essays (see, Diagram 2) have been submitted by students representing 13 educational establishments (see, Graph 2). Stage 3. Evaluation of essays In order to ensure the highest degree of impartiality and fairness, all the essays were anonymized and provided to the experts with application number. Each essay was evaluated by two different experts for the objectivity reasons. The essays were evaluated based on three criteria (maximum 100 points in total): 1. Compliance with formal requirements - up to 15 points; 2. Logic - up to 35 points; 3. Knowledge of the instruments of the Council of Europe - up to 50 points. The experts filled in one protocol per essay. All the scoresheets have been provided to the Council of Europe Information Point in Minsk after the Competition.

Diagram 2. The number of essays received from the universitites depending on their location.

36 20 Regional universities Minsk universities

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Graph 2. The Number of applications received from the specific university in alphabetical order.

1. Academy of Public Administration under the President of 5. Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin 10. Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University the Republic of Belarus 6. Francisk Skorina Gomel State University 11. Polotsk State University 2. Belarus State Economic University 7. International University «MITSO» 12. Vitebsk State Order of Peoples’ Friendship Medical 3. Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture 8. International University «MITSO» (Vitebsk branch) University 4. Belarusian State University 9. Minsk State Linguistic University 13. Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 6 Stage 4. Selection of participants BILA Association prepared the ranking of the applicants after all 56 essays had been evaluated by the experts. The ranking was made based on the average score between two evaluations from different experts. The maximum number of students accepted from the same university was limited to four with maximum two from the same faculty (branch) to ensure the diversity of the participants.

The 24 elected participants represented the following educational establishments: Importance of tutors 1. Belarus State Economic University; To promote the knowledge 2. Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture; and understanding of the instruments of the Council 3. Belarusian State University; of Europe among university 4. Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin; professors, four perspective 5. Francisk Skorina Gomel State University; lecturers representing different 6. International University «MITSO»; universitites were invited as 7. International University «MITSO» (Vitebsk branch); tutors. Their participation establishes a solid background for 8. Minsk State Linguistic University; further sustainable development 9. Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University; of the Competition. 10. Polotsk State University; 11. Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov. The four selected tutors represented the following universities: Attendees of Erga Omnes 1. Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin; Competition 2. International University «MITSO»; - 24 participants representing 3. Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University; 11 educational establishments 4. Polotsk State University. - four tutors representing four universities - five experts - four organizers

Total: 37 attendees

itebsk

Minsk Mogilev Grodno

Brest Gomel

Map 1. Allocation of participating educational establishments ( ) to the regions in Belarus.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 7 3. Competition Rounds

Format During the Competition the participants developed their understanding of the instruments of the Council of Europe through lectures and role-playing tasks. Depending on the type of the tasks, the participants acted individually and in groups. Evaluation The participants were evaluated based on three criteria (maximum 100 points in total): 1. Compliance with formal requirements of the task - up to 15 points; 2. Logic and presentation - up to 35 points; 3. Knowledge and understanding of the instruments of the Council of Europe - up to 50 points. At the end of each Competition round the judges have filled in the protocol and provided the participants with feedback. Fairness, objectivity In order to ensure the highest degree of fairness and objectivity, the tasks were evaluated by two- three experts. The competition tasks were created in a way which would place all the participants with any major (for instance, medicine, law, psychology and etc.) in equal conditions.

Competition Rounds Round 1. Interaction between different State and civil- society groups The participants were divided into four groups representing mass-media, government, NGO’s, local academic society and debated on «Joining the Council of Europe: what should be done and what challenges can be encountered». Each participant presented the view of the group he or she belonged to taking into account the arguments presented by the representatives of other groups. Leading expert: Larissa Lukina Round 2. CPT Delegation The participants acted as members of the CPT Delegation and observed the conditions of people held in the Centre for Psychological Rehabilitation. The participants prepared a report after the inspection. Leading experts: Mykola Gnatovsky, Andrey Kozik Round 3. Posters Each participant prepared a poster on «Instruments of the Council of Europe» before the Competition. Round 4. Quiz The participants addressed the questions on the issues they have studied during lectures and practice. The questions included the following instruments: CPT, GRECA, GRETA, ECHR and etc.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 8 Round 5. ECtHR The participants prepared the complaint to the ECtHR based on a case simulation provided to them in advance. Leading expert: Olga Rezvanova Round 6. GRETA Delegation The participants acted as members of the GRETA Delegation. They inspected the national legislation of the fictional State and had a meeting with the State representatives (jury). Leading expert: Tina Goletiani

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 9 4. Competition Results

After six competition rounds the winners of the competition were defined by the ranking which was based on the overall combined score per each participant. First place Aleksandra Sandul Belarusian State University (Law Faculty)

Rank 1

Andrey Nagibin International University «MITSO» (Law Faculty)

Rank 2

Second place Vasilina Akulizkaya International University «MITSO» | Vitebsk branch (Economics and Law Faculty)

Rank 3

Yuriy Gordeichyk Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture (Business and Law Faculty)

Rank 4

Third place Vladislav Meschanchuk Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin (Law Faculty)

Rank 5

Ekaterina Ladnova Minsk State Linguistic University (French Language Faculty)

Rank 6

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 10 Closing & Awards Ceremony The first (two persons), second (two persons) and third (two persons) places were announced at the Closing & Awards Ceremony of the Competition. All the participants were provided with the Certificate of participation signed by the representatives of the Council of Europe and BILA Association. The full ranking was not provided to the participants to sustain the atmosphere of friendship and cooperation. Competition Ranking Rank 1. Aleksandra Sandul Rank 9. Roman Volkov Rank 17. Nikita Shaferov (Belarusian State University) (Polotsk State University) (International University «MITSO») Rank 2. Andrey Nagibin Rank 10. Ekaterina Rebizkaya Rank 18. Alevtina Grischenkova (International University «MITSO») (Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov) (Francisk Skorina Gomel State University) Rank 3. Vasilina Akulizkaya Rank 11. Ksenia Trushko Rank 19. Victoriya Shash (International University «MITSO») (Belarus State Economic University) (Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin) Rank 4. Yuriy Gordeichyk Rank 12. Konstantin Radionov Rank 20. Vladislava Sahno (Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture) (Francisk Skorina Gomel State University) (Belarus State Economic University) Rank 5. Vladislav Meschanchuk Rank 13. Anton Samotkal Rank 21. Anna Puninskaya (Brest State University named after A.S. Pushkin) (International University «MITSO») (Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University) Rank 6. Ekaterina Ladnova Rank 14. Karina Sidorovich Rank 22. Stas Kovalev (Minsk State Linguistic University) (Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture) (Francisk Skorina Gomel State University) Rank 7. Ekaterina Logvinovich Rank 15. Anton Ivanchikov Rank 23. Evgeniy Lukashuk (Minsk State Linguistic University) (Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov) (Francisk Skorina Gomel State University) Rank 8. Margarita Goldenkova Rank 16. Alina Kozuleva Rank 24. Anastasiya Olihver (Minsk State Linguistic University) (Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University) (Polotsk State University)

After the Closing & Awards Ceremony. On the photo (from the right to the left): Larissa Lukina, Plamen Nikolov, Andrey Kozik, participants, tutors and experts.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 11 5. Feedback from Participants

After the Competition, the participants were invited to fill in the «Feedback form». The latter included the questions on the quality of the Competition and its specific aspects (see, Diagrams 3-5). The participants also shared their general impression about the Competition.

12% Diagram 3. The general impression of the participants about the competition (from one to five points)

Five points 88% Four points

Diagram 4. The raiting of lectures (from one to five points) 29% Five points 65% Four points Three points

Diagram 5. The raiting of Competition Rounds (from one to five points) Five points 41% 53% Four points Three points

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 12 Aleksandra Sandul Participant. Belarusian State University (Law Faculty) The “Erga Omnes” Competition was a chance to give a taste of my quality. For a short period of time we had to demonstrate critical thinking and oral skills, ability to make important decisions and possibility to work hard both in the team and individually. I’ve understood that the Competition would be held in a curious way since the first day. It started with an amazing introduction in the law of the Council of Europe. Larissa Lukina, the head of the Council of Europe Information Point in the Republic of Belarus, shared the information on the fundamental values, legal instruments, achievements and policies of the Council of Europe, including the work of its statutory bodies. Another useful lecture was the one taught by Mycola Gnatovskyy - the President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Personally, I find this lecture the most informative due to the absence of prior knowledge in this particular sphere. I want to mention that my memories related to not only lectures. Organizers of the Competition created an atmosphere of friendship. Every evening we could enjoy sitting by the campfire and singing songs. Moreover, one day we’ve tried kayaking. It was a great experience. For me “Erga Omnes” wasn’t just a competition. It was an intensive course that gave me deep knowledge of the law of the Council of Europe, possibility to apply it on practice and at the same time I met a lot of ambitious students who share the same ideas as me. I’m really grateful to organizers for an opportunity to be part of that event! These were the days I won’t forget!

Ksenia Trushko Participant. Belarus State Economic University Erga Omnes is the best event I had during my university years. The format of the Competition is extremely «right» and interesting. I had an access to the knowledge and experience of the highly-qualified experts together with the development of so-called «soft skills». All of us were able to get the understanding about the instruments of the Council of Europe including those who do not have legal background. The most important part of the Competition was the community of people. The organizers created the fantastic atmosphere of friendship and cooperation during the whole Competition. I am pretty sure that from all the 24 participants, each has obtained no less than 23 friends.

Alevtina Grischenkova Participant. Francisk Skorina Gomel State University I entirely liked the Competition. The tasks varied very harmoniously from lectures assignments to side-events, such as kayaking. Such format made it possible not only to take part in the Competition, but also to relax, to have useful talk with participants, organizers and lecturers.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 13 Ekaterina Rebizkaya Participant. Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov Erga Omnes is more than ordinary competition. As participant, I had no feeling of strong competition or tense environment. To the opposite, the atmosphere was extremely friendly during all Competition days. We received useful knowledge everyday from top-class lecturers, completed interesting Competition task and enjoyed the conversation with each other. These were five days in my life that I will never forget. They gaveme a lot of information about the Instruments of the Council of Europe, new contacts and inspiration for future career. Due to team work and amazing competition tasks we all became a small family and it was really sad to leave the venue. I can write more and more about the Competition, but I want to emphasize that I really wish to participate in this event next year.

Pavel Senko Tutor Despite the fact that the Competition was held for the first time, one can say with certainty that it was a success. The obvious advantage of the Competition was a unique format that allowed students to unite students from various specialties and not to limit it to law students. The program of the event was rather balanced and allowed to harmoniously combine theoretical studies and lectures with a practical block, which enabled students to apply the received knowledge in practice and immediately receive feedback from experts. It was especially pleasant to observe the progress of students during the week, thanks to the unique experts and inexpressible atmosphere created by the team of organizers.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 14 6. Visibility

The effective short-term promotion campaign was made for the Competition in social networks, Vkontakte and Facebook, and via the Competition web-site (see, Chart 1). Ordinary mail deliveries were made to 21 educational establishments. The letters informed the rectors and faculty deans about the Competition and invited them to participate.

106.945

13.326

11.419

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Chart 1. The number of views of the Competition during the marketing campaign. Competition website: www.ergaomnes.bila.by Vkontakte adv. Facebook adv.

The results of the Competition were covered on the web-sites of the participating universities. For instance, Belarusian State Academy of Agriculture and Francisk Skorina Gomel State University. The results were also published on the web-site of BILA Association and Council of Europe Information Point in Minsk.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 15 7. Summary of the Project

Applications - 107 applications; - 18 educational establishments participated; - All six regions of Belarus were represented.

Participants - 24 participants; - 11 educational establishments participated; - Five regions of Belarus were represented.

Feedback Overall very positive feedback from participants and tutors.

Visibility More than 140.000+ overall views of the Competition Marketing materials.

Taking into account all the numbers, facts and feedback from participants and tutors BILA Association considers Erga Omnes Competition as successful projects and recommends to sustain and develop it next year.

Report on Erga Omnes Competition by BILA Association Page 16 International Law & Arbitration Association 220113, 1 Melezha Str. 806, Minsk, Republic of Belarus

+375 (17) 302-85-43 [email protected]

Designed by Vasili Pavlov & Maksim Holub | International Law & Arbitration Association, July 2017 (c) BILA Association, 2017