For the past eight years, the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Sz\u00e9chenyi Istv\u00e1n University has entered a student team in the international Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. This year\u2019s European round was hosted by Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna\u0144, Poland, where the University\u2019s remarkable achievements of recent years continued: the duo of Ferenc D\u00e1kai and Rebeka Merc\u00e9desz Kozma was ranked sixth best out of 24 teams based on the written submissions and oral pleadings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the competition, which has a history of more than three decades and simulates a dispute between two fictional states before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, participants had to resolve an extremely complex fictional legal case. This year, the focus was on the problematic issues surrounding private companies\u2019 space activities and state responsibility, specifically the capture of an uncontrollable and dangerous satellite, the rescue of the crew of a spacecraft forced to make an emergency lunar landing following a solar storm, and the international space law questions concerning compensation for the resulting damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team of the De\u00e1k Ferenc Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Sz\u00e9chenyi Istv\u00e1n University: coach Dr M\u00f3nika Ganczer; competitors Ferenc D\u00e1kai and Rebeka Merc\u00e9desz Kozma; student assistant coach Dorina Bosits; and coach Professor Dr G\u00e1bor Sulyok<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n During more than six months of preparation covering numerous areas of international law and space law, Ferenc D\u00e1kai and Rebeka Merc\u00e9desz Kozma prepared written memorials in English for both the applicant and respondent states, each approximately sixty pages long, following the form and content of submissions made to the International Court of Justice. In addition to knowledge of international and space law, preparing the memorials also required studying the case law of international judicial forums and acquiring fundamental technical knowledge related to the effects of solar storms on onboard electronics and lunar landings. Following this, the students presented oral pleadings for the two states during the oral round. In total, the students participated in four hearings lasting nearly one and a half hours each, presenting their arguments before three-member judicial panels composed of theoretical and practical experts in space law, and answering questions posed by the judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ferenc D\u00e1kai had previously achieved success in an international case-solving competition, and his lecturers drew his attention to this contest. \u201cIt was an excellent opportunity for my professional development. It was an especially difficult competition that required a great deal of study and hard work, but it was an extremely positive experience for me, particularly the oral round in Poland,\u201d<\/em> he stated. He emphasised that participation was also highly worthwhile from the perspective of improving his legal English and significantly expanding his knowledge of both general international law and space law. \u201cWithout the University\u2019s support and the tireless assistance of our lecturers, we could not have achieved such a strong result, for which I am especially grateful,\u201d<\/em> he added. The student also revealed that after graduating, he would like to continue his studies at the diplomatic academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to apply his knowledge in that field in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebeka Merc\u00e9desz Kozma had already been particularly interested in international law while at secondary school, and chose the programme in Gy\u0151r because of the field\u2019s high academic standards. \u201cFor one year, I was a member of the University\u2019s SZESAT Interdisciplinary College for Advanced Studies. I have always been interested in space law and astronomy. I am also a research member of the international non-profit organisation Space Generation Advisory Council, and the competition was especially beneficial for my activities there as well,\u201d<\/em> she explained. The oral round was also a defining experience for her, where in addition to meeting competitors, she was reunited with experts she had previously met through the European Centre for Space Law\u2019s \u201cSummer Course on Space Law and Policy\u201d, organised within the framework of the European Space Agency. The fourth-year student would also like to pursue a career in space law, which is why she considers the experience gained during the competition exceptionally valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The students\u2019 preparation was supervised by lecturers of the Department of International and European Law, Professor Dr G\u00e1bor Sulyok and Associate Professor Dr M\u00f3nika Ganczer. \u201cThis competition plays a major role in identifying and selecting talented students and in supporting the next generation of faculty staff. We have doctoral students who previously participated in this competition, and even among the lecturers of the Department of International and European Law there are former competitors. The contest requires such effort and diligence that only truly promising students possess,\u201d<\/em> explained coach Dr M\u00f3nika Ganczer, who is also Chair of the Faculty\u2019s Scientific Students\u2019 Association Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She added that space research also creates opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation, which is one of the strengths of Sz\u00e9chenyi Istv\u00e1n University, and therefore it is no coincidence that the subject is addressed across faculties within the institution, for example at the Defence, Space Industry and Technological Innovation Research Centre and the SZESAT Interdisciplinary College for Advanced Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Dr G\u00e1bor Sulyok pointed out that, as student team members change partially or entirely each year and the tasks are also renewed annually, the pace of preparation differs every year and participants are able to make use of different strengths. \u201cThis year, the competition rules allowed, in addition to the two supervising lecturers, the involvement of a so-called institutional support person. This important role was fulfilled by Dorina Bosits, a law student, two-time veteran of the moot court competition and last year\u2019s semi-finalist. With her knowledge and experience, she made an extraordinary contribution to the preparation process, particularly in training the students for the oral pleadings and answering judges\u2019 questions,\u201d<\/em> he highlighted. He emphasised that, as lecturers, it is especially inspiring to witness the development of the competitors\u2019 knowledge and skills during the months of preparation, and it is a particular pleasure for them that a former participant could already contribute so successfully to the joint work. As in previous years, the team\u2019s travel was made possible thanks to the support of the University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Created: 2026.05.20. 09:53 Students of Sz\u00e9chenyi Istv\u00e1n University\u2019s De\u00e1k Ferenc Faculty of Law and Political Sciences once again achieved outstanding results in the European round of the Manfred Lachs Space …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":10074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/admissions.sze.hu\/images\/News\/2026\/05\/vilagurjogi\/K%C3%A9p.png\" "\\"The")
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