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CCBE’s Amicus Curiae Contest now open

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) is inviting trainee lawyers and law students to enter its Amicus Curiae Contest 2025. 

The competition, organised every year, is open to undergraduate, post-graduate, and master’s students, as well as trainee lawyers in CCBE member countries. 

The contest consists of a fictitious amicus curiae brief submitted by entrants, to be selected each year on a competitive basis. The brief is fictitious in the sense that it is not intended to be used in any actual ongoing proceedings. 

Threatened lawyer 

Each candidate must submit a two-page application presenting:

• The profile of a threatened lawyer,
• The professional struggles that exposed them to these threats, and
• The legal issues that could be highlighted in an amicus curiae. 

The Human Rights Committee will select three applications in mid-January. The three candidates must then prepare a brief within two months. 

The aims of the contest are:

• Supporting a threatened lawyer by providing a forum for their defence,
• Making the CCBE and its work known to the population of young future European lawyers,
• Emphasising the essential role of lawyers in the construction and defence of the rule of law, and
• Providing practical experience to law students by giving them the opportunity to practise writing a note that would take the form of an amicus curiae brief. 

The winner will be invited to receive a symbolic award at a ceremony to be held at the CCBE’s plenary session in Bordeaux, France, on 16 May 2025. 

The deadline for entries is 30 November.