Our Students in the Semi-Finals of the European Tax College Moot
In February of 2011 University of Belgrade Faculty of Law has, for the second time, participated in the European Tax College Moot Court Competition, a competition in the area of international and European tax law that has been, for the last eight years, held at one of the oldest universities in Europe, in Leuven, Belgium. Participants of this competition are universities from across Europe and USA.
The competition consists of analyzing and solving a case from the area of international and/or European tax law. The language of the competition is English. The judges in this competition are world renowned experts and scholars in this field of tax law. The first task is to submit two written memoranda, one on the behalf of the applicant, and the other for the defendant. After that, the first round of the oral part of the competition is held where each of the teams compete both as the applicant and as the defendant against the teams of the other participating universities. By adding points from the first round and the score obtained on the basis of written submissions, the best six teams going to the second round (semifinals). The second round, as the first one, consists of the presentation of the oral arguments. On the basis of the awarded points, two best teams pass to the finals. The finalists are given a new problem, and, according to the strength of the arguments and presentation skills, the winner of the competition is chosen.
This year’s problem was based on cross-border payments of dividends, in a situation that includes only Member States of the European Union. A Double Taxation Convention is in force between the given countries. It contains a clause which has not yet been confirmed to be in line with EU law (the LOB clause)Preparation for the competition at the Faculty of Law has begun in the end of September 2011. Twelve students of both bachelor and master studies have taken part in these preparations: Anđela Bogojević, Ivan Cavdarević, Milan Vojinović, Nataša Gatarić, Nebojša Jovanović, Nebojša Pejin, Nikola Filipović, Sanja Ristić, Sara Nenadić, Slobodan Trivić, Slobodanka Kolundžija, Tanja Ristić. Classes were held by the assistant on the Tax Law course , Svetislav V. Kostić LL.M. (as the coach of the team) with the assistance of Dejan Maraković LL.M., from Deloitte.
From September to mid-January, the preparation consisted of research and analysis of legislation and case law relevant for the given case, and in drafting of the written memoranda. The work was completed in January, when the memoranda had to be sent to Belgium for evaluation. At the same time, from the original twelve students four were selected for the final team, in accordance with the rules of the competition. It was decided that in the oral part of the competition students Nebojša Jovanović and Nebojša Pejin will be representing the applicant, while students Slobodan Trivić and Slobodanka Kolundžija will be representing the defendant. Accordingly, the preparations continued.
The oral part of the competition took place in Leuven, from February 26th to March 4th 2011. With the support and guidance of the assistant Svetislav V. Kostic, in the first round our team competed as the defendant against the team of the University of Helsinki (Finland) and as the applicant against the Corvinus University of Budapest (Hungary). Based on the demonstrated knowledge and presentation skills, as well as the quality of the written memoranda, the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law team qualified for the second round.
In the second round, our team competed against the team of the Maastricht University (Netherlands) and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the host and a regular finalist of this competition. Despite the effort and dedication, our team did not manage to enter the finals. This years finalist were Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (Austria).
Our team was the only European team from a non-EU member state, but it has demonstrated a remarkable knowledge of EU law, as well as good presentation skills. This has resulted in a good impression on the judges and the other contestants.
The official web site of the European Tax College Moot Court Competition: http://www.law.kuleuven.be/eutax/
