Our trip began in Charleroi, where we took the plane to Dublin. After some hours of sightseeing over there, we took the ferry to Holyhead. We arrived just in time at our hotel in Bangor, the Travelodge.
The first evening we had an opening reception and we had the opportunity to meet our competitors. We returned early to the hotel to catch some very urgent sleep.
Friday was the big pleading-day. At 9h30 Anthony had to take the role of the defendant of the Rohndorian treasury, against the Helsinki-team. The Commission was represented by Diego Toni of the Torino-team. Anthony did very well and was able to counter a lot of heavy questions from the judges.
After Anthony’s appearance, we had one hour to prepare for Geert’s pleading. At 11h30 he took the role as Applicant for Prell AS, against the Hungarian team. In this session, the Commission was represented by Tomasz Gwara of the Columbia School of Law. Geert did a great job! Well-counseled by Anthony he could give a plausible answer to almost every question from the Court. At this session, the famous jacket and pee incident took place. Insiders know what we are talking about.
Meanwhile, Hovik was preparing to take up the role as Commission Representative. At 16h his session started. The team of Lüzern represented the Applicant, the team of Bratislava took the Defendant’s role. After a very intensive debate between those two teams, Hovik started his pleading. The judges ‘attacked’ him with some very difficult questions, but he managed to keep up quite well.
At 18h it was time to announce the four semi-finalists. Unfortunately our team didn’t make it. Nevertheless, there was still a chance that a Belgian team could win the Bangor semi-final: the University of Leuven qualified, along with the teams of Helsinki, Lund and the Columbia School of Law. That evening, we had dinner with all the participants at the Court’s restaurant in Beaumaris.
Since we did not have to plead anymore on Saturday, we went to Caernarfon to visit the famous Castle. It was definitely worth the trip. At 2h we returned to Bangor University to attend the final between the teams of Leuven and Columbia. We truly have to say that this final was at a very high level.
After some time of deliberation by the judges, there was quite a surprise for our team: Geert has won the ‘special achievement award’ for his outstanding/remarkable pleading! Of course, we were all very happy with it. In addition, Steven Peeters of the Leuven team won the same award as best Commission Representative. Despite the victory of the Columbia team, those two awards made sure that the Belgians could return home very satisfied.
To end this fantastic experience, there was a nice gala dinner and party at Bangor University. We continued the party, together with a lot of great students, at the hotel room of the Americans. It was an awesome evening. The next morning we did not enjoy as much… we had to catch our cab at 9h.
In the end, it was a marvelous experience. We’ve learned a lot, we’ve had some serious fun and we’ve met some fantastic people from many different countries. We wish to thank everyone we’ve met in Bangor, you were all great. And last, but not least, we really appreciate the presence of our coach Aline. Thanks a lot, you were a great help. Without your support we had not been in Bangor in the first place!
Furthermore we want to thank our sponsor, Linklaters. Without their financial help, participation would have have been too costly.
More pictures will be uploaded in the days to come.
This is Geert (holding his certificate) with his special achievement award:
Inderdaad, een zeer goeie prestatie van het team uit Antwerpen! Was ook leuk om op jullie steun te kunnen rekenen tijdens de ELMC song contest :)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBeste groeten vanuit Leuven,
Steven Peeters