Frequently Asked Questions

The AI Moot Court is an academic competition in the form of a moot court open to students from the Faculties of Law and Political Sciences of various universities in Portugal. It aims to deepen students’ legal knowledge while applying Generative Artificial Intelligence tools in a legal context.

The competition is open to students enrolled in the Faculties of Law and Political Sciences of universities in Portugal. Teams may also include up to two students from other Faculties. Participants must be in at least their second year of a bachelor’s degree or pursuing a master’s degree.

Each Team consists of four to six members, who will be divided into two sub-teams: one representing the applicant and the other sub-team representing the defendant. The composition of the sub-teams only needs to be communicated prior to the oral stages of the competition.

- First Phase (Written Stage): All Teams submitwritten memoranda for both the applicant and defendant;
- Second Phase (Oral Stage): Qualified Teams participate in the moot court presenting their oral pleadings in online moot court sessions;
-  Final Phase (In-person Oral Stage): Knock-out rounds where the Teams participate in the moot court presenting their oral pleadings in person.

The entire competition will be conducted in English, including the written memoranda and oral pleadings.

Teams must apply through the AI Moot Court website. The Team Leader should complete the application form and submit it by the specified deadline. Following application, all members of each Team will individually receive an e-mail with instructions to register on the Competition Platform, until the specified deadline.

Following submission of the application, no changes are allowed to the composition of the Teams, except under exceptional circumstances and with prior approval from the organisers. Each Team can register up to two Coaches following their application and before the registration deadline.

A maximum of two Coaches can be registered by each Team following application. To do so, the Team Leader must request the registration of their Coach(es) by e-mail (addressed to vdaaimootcourt@vda.pt) before the registration deadline.

Coaches can guide their Team through general discussions of the case, provide suggestions on research resources and offer advice on public presentation techniques. However, Coaches are not allowed to directly participate in their Team’s oral pleadings.

Once registered, no changes are allowed to the coaching team, except under exceptional circumstances and with prior approval from the organisers.

The competition will be held in the Competition Platform. Each Team member will receive a link to register on this platform.

The written memoranda must be prepared in line with the defined formatting rules and be submitted through the Competition Platform by the set deadline.

The scoring criteria is defined in article 14 of the AI.Moot Court Rules.

TeamTeams must maintain strict anonymity. Team members’ identities and their university should not be disclosed in the written or oral submissions. Any breaches can result in penalties or disqualification from the competition.

Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and,therefore, any Team found guilty of plagiarism may be disqualified.

The penalty criteria are defined in Article 14 of the AI Moot Court Rules.

- The winning Team will receive a monetary prize.
- The Best Speaker will be awarded an internship at VdA.
- The Best Written Memoranda Team members will be awarded summer internships at VdA.