DPMC 2024 officially kicked off

by Klaudia Kwiatkowska

On 7 October 2024, the third edition of the Data Protection Moot Court (DPMC) officially kicked off with an online introductory meeting for all participants and coaches.

The DPMC is an online moot court for law students and recent graduates with an interest in data protection law in which participants compete in a fictional procedure before a data protection authority. The DPMC aims to cultivate among students an interest in European data protection law, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPMC consists of a written and an oral phase as well as a final hearing for the best two teams.

The DPMC is organized by a group of data protection lawyers with the kind cooperation and sponsorship of the University of Vienna as well as law firms, a civil society organisation and a privacy training center.

This year’s edition welcomed applications from individuals and teams around the world. In total, twelve teams participate in the DPMC, representing universities from around Europe and outside, including Austria, Italy, the Netherlands but also the United States, Turkey and Peru.

The teams are coached by GDPR experts from legal practice and academia.

During the introductory meeting, this year’s participants were informed about the details of the competition, and they received some practical tips for the moot court from two keynote speakers. Rosanna Fol (Wilson Sonsini) talked about data protection in practice and gave insights into how it is to work on GDPR compliance with controllers. Lukas Feiler (Baker Mackenzie) gave a speech about GDPR litigation and provided tips to the participants on how to present one’s legal arguments during oral pleadings.

The DPMC participants will be able to soon use this advice in practice as the written phase of the competition officially commenced after the introductory meeting. Oral hearings are scheduled to take place in December and will be heard by jury members composed of data protection specialists from legal practice, civil society, academia and the Austrian data protection authority.

The DPMC wishes all participants a fruitful mooting experience!

The DPMC also thanks all sponsors and supporters, coaches and jury members without whom the competition could not take place.

For more information, visit the DPMC website.