THEMIS Competition

The THEMIS Competition is open to judicial trainees from all EJTN Members or Observers. Teams composed of three judicial trainees and one tutor may enrol. The Competition aims to promote practical knowledge of EU law and the European Convention of Human Rights.

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AIM

What’s the objective of THEMIS?

The main objective of the THEMIS Competition is to bring together future magistrates from different European countries to enable them to share common values, to exchange new experiences and to discuss new perspectives in areas of common interest.

THEMIS Competition aims to:

  • Promote a forum of discussion on European and International
    Law topics.
  • Promote the exchange of experience between participants.
  • Obtain and spread interesting and useful theses on the chosen
    subjects.
  • Encourage the development of the critical thinking and
    communication skills.
  • Promote and foster relationships among participants from
    across the European judiciaries represented in the
    Competition.
Competition

Events in 2026

The highly acclaimed THEMIS Competition, open to future EU magistrates undergoing entry level training, is an event for debating topics, sharing common values, exchanging new experiences, discussing new perspectives and practicing judicial skills. The Competition consists of four semi-finals and a grand final and aims to promote practical knowledge of EU law and of the European Convention of Human Rights.

  • Criminal procedural law

  • Administrative law

  • Civil procedural law

  • Judicial ethics and professional conduct

  • Judicial protection in the European Union

Application

The application process

NCPs will need to create the teams in the OSP system and assign them to the specific Semi-final with the correct priority.

If an Institution wishes to submit more than one team in the competition (whether in the same or other semi-final) an entry for each team should be inserted in OSP.

Applications will be registered according to the order they are received by the EJTN Secretariat.

As of 2026, low participation countries will have the opportunity to form “transnational teams”, i.e. teams composed of participants from different low participation countries.

At least two low participation countries must be represented in a transnational team. The teacher/tutor must have the same nationality as one of the team members.

Countries that have had fewer than two participating teams in the previous five years are considered to have low participation.

History

THEMIS’ roots

THEMIS was created, financed and run from 2006 to 2009 by the Portuguese Centre for Judicial Studies (CEJ) and the National Institute of Magistracy of Romania (NIM).

In 2010, the Competition became an EJTN activity and steps were then taken to adapt and enlarge its format in order to recognise its importance in cross-border training in European Law.

All past THEMIS Competitions

Achievements

Achievements

The fifth edition of the THEMIS ANNUAL JOURNAL 2023 (TAJ) includes the best 13 papers from the Themis 2023 semi-finals.

The fourth edition of the THEMIS ANNUAL JOURNAL 2022 (TAJ) includes the best 11 papers from the Themis 2022 semi-finals.

The third edition of the THEMIS ANNUAL JOURNAL 2021 (TAJ) includes the best 9 papers from the Themis 2021 semi-finals.

The second edition of the THEMIS ANNUAL JOURNAL 2020 (TAJ) includes the best 10 papers from the Themis 2020 semi-finals.

The first edition of the THEMIS ANNUAL JOURNAL 2019 (TAJ) includes the best 10 papers from the Themis 2019 semi-finals.

Activities planned for 2026

Reference Topic Dates Venue
TH/2026/01 Semi-Final A: EU and European Criminal procedural law 8-12 June 2026 Vilnius, Lithuania
TH/2026/02 Semi-Final B: EU and European Administrative law 11-15 May 2026 Balatonszemes, Hungary
TH/2026/03 Semi-Final C: EU and European Civil procedural law 22-26 June 2026 Naples, Italy
TH/2026/04 Semi-Final D: Judicial Ethics and Professional Conduct 25-29 May 2026 Trier, Germany
TH/2026/05 Grand Final: Judicial protection in the European Union December 2026 (TBC) (TBC)

 

Each team taking part in one of the semi-finals must submit a written text on any subject related to the theme of the semi-final concerned. The deadline for submitting these texts is 10 April 2026 (EOD), i.e. 4 weeks before the first day of the first semi-final.

Hall of fame

Competition year Winner 2nd place 3rd place
2024 ROMANIA Germany I Spain
2023 ITALY France Netherlands
2022 ROMANIA Netherlands II Czechia
2021 SERBIA II Germany Romania
2020 PORTUGAL II Serbia France II
2019 GERMANY Romania II Italy
2018 FRANCE I Romania Austria
2017 FRANCE II Poland I Czechia
2016 ROMANIA II France II Austria
2015 FRANCE IV Italy I Poland II
2014 ROMANIA II France IV Spain I
2013 POLAND France Italy
2012 ROMANIA France VI France I
2011 FRANCE III Italy II Hungary I
2010 NETHERLANDS II Germany III Italy II

 

FAQ

Any questions?

Please review the THEMIS rules for important information.

Please find here the Themis Annual Journal Stylesheet for the papers.

For any questions regarding the THEMIS Competition, please contact the EJTN Secretariat at [email protected]

Download rules