Moot Court: Administrative Law

In this practical, university-based course, students are expected to apply the substantive and procedural provisions of public law that they have learnt in concrete terms in proceedings before the administrative court.
Using a real-life situation, for example in the area of building law or citizenship law, students will learn the essential roles and steps in administrative court proceedings before the Styrian Provincial Administrative Court (LVwG) in a simulation game.

In small groups (teams), students alternate between the roles of the complaining party, the administrative authority and the LVwG. During the course, the students gain an insight into the respective roles and the associated steps and challenges.
The student teams are guided and supervised in the preparation of the pleadings and findings by practising lawyers, in particular members of the Styrian Provincial Administrative Court and the lawyer. At this time, preliminary discussions, coaching sessions regarding the pleadings to be prepared as well as feedback discussions and debriefings on the hearing units take place.

The planned written pleadings and the court decision are to be drafted from the perspective of the groups of persons involved in a (multi-) party procedure (complainant, authority concerned, court). Competing legal arguments are developed, presented orally and defended, weighed against each other and subjected to an appropriate assessment based on the procedural framework conditions in the proceedings.