CONFERENCE
About the Competition
To broaden the scope of legal fields covered by national-level moot court competitions and to honor the founder of Latvian criminal law and criminal procedure, the Professor Pauls Mincs Moot Court Competition has been organized by the Student Council of the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia since 2011.
Participants in the competition have included students from the University of Latvia, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, Daugavpils University, the Latvian Business College, EIHSEBA Higher School, and Turība University. The judging panel has featured academics from various universities, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, as well as notable figures such as former Prosecutor General Ēriks Kalnmeiers and former Director of the Constitution Protection Bureau Jānis Maizītis.
In addition to various other prizes, the winners of the competition receive a traveling statue of the goddess of justice, Themis, created by sculptor Edvīns Krūmiņš. This award is a miniature bronze replica of the Themis statue originally crafted by sculptor Daniels Kurlavskis in 1757 for Riga’s Town Hall.
About Pauls Mincs
Pauls Mincs was born in 1868 in Daugavpils. In 1886, he graduated from Riga City Gymnasium and enrolled in the Faculty of Law at Saint Petersburg University. In 1890, he continued his studies at the University of Tartu, where in 1892, he defended his master's dissertation in criminal law and began working as a lawyer in Riga.
Mincs participated in the founding of the Republic of Latvia as a member of the People’s Council and later became a member of the newly established Latvian Senate. He also served as the State Comptroller in Kārlis Ulmanis' second and third Provisional Governments and in the First Cabinet of Ministers (1919–1920). In 1920, he was elected as a member of the Constitutional Assembly and became a co-author of the Latvian Constitution (Satversme). From 1920 to 1921, he served as Minister of Labor.
Following the founding of the University of Latvia in 1919, Mincs became a docent in criminology and, in 1921, was appointed professor. From 1921 to 1930, he chaired the Latvian Penal Code Drafting Commission. Between 1922 and 1930, he lectured on criminal law, minority rights, and international law at the Riga Herder Institute. In 1934, he became Latvia’s representative at international criminal law organizations in Bern and Bucharest, participating in international criminal law congresses.
After the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Mincs was arrested and deported to the USSR, where he died in a labor camp in Krasnoyarsk Krai on December 28, 1941.
In the 2023 competition, the victory was claimed by students from the University of Latvia Faculty of Law – Vanesa Vīndedze, Hannelora Voiciša, and Ādams Vizulis.
In the final, the University of Latvia Faculty of Law team “Cēloņsakarībiņa” (Vanesa Vīndedze, Hannelora Voiciša, Ādams Vizulis) competed against the Riga Stradiņš University student team “Šaubu ēnā”.
In the 2021 competition, the winners were Tomass Hodosevičs, Harijs Bašs, and Kārlis Mārtiņš Krauze, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
The special recognition award, presented on behalf of the Supreme Court's Criminal Cases Department, was also awarded to this team's representative, Kārlis Mārtiņš Krauze.
In the 2017 competition, the winners were Kristiāna Bernāne, Anatolijs Orehovs, and Oskars Kulmanis, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
The award for Best Orator was given to Linards Birznieks, while the participants recognized Ivonna Ādamsoni-Struža, a judge at the Riga District Court, as the Best Judge. According to the judges’ evaluation, the best written work was prepared by Linards Birznieks, Jānis Guobis, and Anete Kaparkalēja.
Information about the students' achievements was published in the journal Jurista Vārds on April 25, 2017, issue No. 18 (972).
Photo gallery of the competition: Preliminary rounds and semifinals; final and awards ceremony.
Students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia: Santa Ratnika, Ance Drīksne, and Sindija Erele.
The award for Best Orator was given to Anatolijs Orehovs, while the participants recognized sworn advocate and University of Latvia Faculty of Law graduate Egons Rusanovs as the Best Judge. According to the judges’ evaluation, the best written work was prepared by Anatolijs Orehovs, Kristiāna Bernāne, and Staņislavs Sviderskis.
Information about the students' achievements was published in the journal Jurista Vārds on April 26, 2016.
Photo gallery of the competition: Preliminary rounds and semifinals (photos by Zane Stira); Final and awards ceremony (photos by Klāvs Vasiļevskis).
In the 2015 competition, only the written round took place. The best written work was submitted by Toms Vilnis and Armands Smans, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
In the 2014 competition, the winners were Ilga Vaļko and Jānis Gavars, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
The award for Best Orator was given to Jānis Gavars, while the participants once again recognized sworn advocate Jānis Rozenbergs as the Best Judge, who had also received this award in the first competition in 2011. According to the judges’ evaluation, the best written work was prepared by Armands Smans and Dārta Freimane.
Information about the students' achievements was published in the journal Jurista Vārds on April 22, 2014, issue No. 16 (818).
In the 2013 competition, the winners were Artūrs Parfjonovs and Andris Eglons, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
The award for Best Orator was given to Armands Smans, while the participants recognized Professor Kristīne Strada-Rozenberga from the University of Latvia as the Best Judge. According to the judges’ evaluation, the best written work was prepared by Juris Janums and Jānis Dobelnieks.
Information about the students' achievements was published in the journal Jurista Vārds on April 23, 2013, issue No. 16 (767).
In the 2012 competition, the winners were Jānis Maulis and Rihards Plotka, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
The award for Best Orator was given to Elīna Ingelande, while the participants recognized Gunārs Kūtris, President of the Constitutional Court and lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia, as the Best Judge. According to the judges’ evaluation, the best written work was once again submitted by Edgars Strauts and Ivars Livdāns, students from Rēzekne University.
Information about the students' achievements was published in the journal Jurista Vārds on April 24, 2012, issue No. 17/18 (716/717).
In the 2011 competition, the winners were Zane Akermane and Aija Freiberga, students from the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia.
Viesturs Lācis was recognized as the Best Orator, while the award for Best Judge of the competition was given to Jānis Rozenbergs, a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia and a sworn advocate. The best written work was submitted by Edgars Strauts and Ivars Livdāns, students from Rēzekne University.
Information about the students' achievements was published in the journal Jurista Vārds on April 12, 2011, issue No. 15 (662).