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 2025

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

  • Family law

  • Civil procedural law

  • Judicial ethics and professional conduct

  • Judicial protection in the European Union

Application

The application process has two stages:

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

2. In order to register the team, each Institution must certify the nomination by appending to the application form the Institution’s stamp. The form should be dated and signed by an authorised signatory from the Institution and the completed form sent send to THEMIS Project Manager (flavio.mastrorillo@ejtn.eu).

An incomplete registration form will not be accepted as a valid entry.
If an Institution wishes to submit more than one team in the competition (whether in the same or other semi-final) an application complying with paragraph above should be sent in respect of each team.

Applications will be registered according to the date/time they are received by the EJTN Secretariat.

History

THEMIS’ roots

THEMIS was created, financed and run from 2006 to 2009 by the Portuguese Centre from the Judiciary 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 recognize 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 2025

Reference Topic Dates Venue
TH/2025/01 Semi-Final A: EU and European Criminal procedural law 26-30 May 2025 Valletta, Malta
TH/2025/02 Semi-Final B: EU and European Family law 30 June-4 July 2025 Naples, Italy
TH/2025/03 Semi-Final C: EU and European Civil procedural law 12-16 May 2025 Lisbon, Portugal
TH/2025/04 Semi-Final D: Judicial Ethics and Professional Conduct 9-13 June 2025 Vilnius, Lithuania
TH/2025/05 Grand Final: Judicial protection in the European Union December 2025 (TBC) (TBC)

 

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.

Please find here the 2025 Registration forms.

For any questions regarding the THEMIS Competition, please contact the EJTN Secretariat at flavio.mastrorillo@ejtn.eu

Download rules