MOOT COURT OF THE CRIMINAL DEPARTMENT – LEGAL CLINIC UT-FL

Tuesday April 7 2015, at 09:30, at the Legal Clinic of the Law Faculty of Tirana, took place the mock trial of the Criminal Department, as a product of the strong cooperation between JuST-USAID and the European Centre for the implementation of the Educational Program of the Law Clinic.

The simulation was the final step of the hard work of three days training for penal proceedings and the anticipators of such proceedings.  In the previous days, students were able to collect a material relevant to the topic, which also included an imaginary case that served as the scenario of the mock trial itself.  According to the materials that were made available, the students were put in different roles like: attorneys, lawyers and witnesses. Despite the theoretical framework that the students had already obtained through their years of the studies, they were able to behave as they were in a real case before the court (according to the roles that they were entitled to).

Since the students showed a great general interest, the leading professor of the training decided to have four groups to perform in the moot court.  Each group had 60 minutes in disposal to perform and was composed by two lawyers, two attorneys, two accused persons, one judicial officer and one witness, as it is usual for criminal cases. The students that participated were:

Group I – Attorneys: Lulzim Bajramemaj, Xhuliana Balla. Lawyers: Artemida Hoxhaj

Group II – Attorneys: Geis Bega, Mirlinda Shala. Lawyers: Romina Turku, Fatime Hajdërasi.

Group III – Attorneys: Françeska Shehu, Klea Xhebeliu. Lawyers: Griselda Kola, Sidorela Çela.

Group IV – Attorneys: Mentina Tanushi, Ariola Hasanaj. Lawyers: Mimoza Quku, Zhyliena Azemaj.

Performing as witnesses: Tekla Xhyra, Gloria Rushitaj, Ana Atia and Eva Zeneli.

Whereas as the judicial panel served two professors of the Criminal Department at the Law Faculty, Besnik Çerekja and Kreshnik Myftari. The panel was headed by the professor Alban Koçi.

All the students had the chance to train three days for their roles and get legal or professional advices as well. Although the case that was performed was the same for all the groups, it was beneficial in terms of peer to peer learning.

The successful moot court was not only a very important step towards narrowing the gap between the theoretical and practical skills but also important for the students to learn how to behave in the court professionally, since they will represent the cases of the individuals brought to the Law Clinic at the Law Faculty.