Eligibility to Participate
Citizenship of, residency in or place of work in should be a country eligible for the Justice Programme (all Member States except Denmark; including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Moldova** and Ukraine). (*this designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence, ** this designation applies to the extent that participants do not replace the European quotas provided for).
The contest is open to lawyers in private practice at the beginning of their career. ’Young lawyers’ are those who are, at the time of registration, considered trainee lawyers under national law, including those who are in an induction or apprenticeship period; in jurisdictions in which initial training does not include a period of legal practice, newly qualified lawyers with less than three years of experience can apply. The organisers reserve the right to request proof of apprenticeship or qualification during the application process.
Participants should have a working knowledge of English.
Participation Costs
1. Young lawyers nominated by Bars financing the project participate free of charge or will be reimbursed by their bars. For participants applying independently or through other Bars, a fee of 200 Euro will be charged, including costs for documentation, lunch(es), coffee break(s) and dinner(s). No discounts are given.
Travel, Accommodation Expenses and Catering
2. Applicants will be subject to a selection procedure. ERA will send confirmation of selection to each participant individually. Confirmed participants are eligible to receive a fixed contribution towards their travel expenses following the event, upon receipt of travel and accommodation costs (invoice, ticket or boarding pass).
3. The precondition for payment of the travel cost contribution is confirmed attendance at all events (webinar, dinner, contest). Travel cost contributions are based on the distance between the place of work and the event venue (distance only one way – reimbursement amount is for the total travel cost) location and will not take account of the participant’s actual travel and accommodation costs. Please note that no contribution can be paid for travel under 50km. The reimbursement will be calculated as follows:
51-199 km € 100
200-399 km € 200
400-600 km € 245
601-800 km € 261
801-1200 km € 276
1201-1600 km € 288
Over 1601 km € 369
To calculate the distance please use this calculator, contribution is according to Table 2: https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/procedures-guidelines-tenders/information-contractors-and-beneficiaries/calculate-unit-costs-eligible-travel-costs_en#table-2-unit-cost-per-distance-band-for-air-rail-or-combined-airrail-travel-reference-commission-decision-c20234928
4. For the semi-finals, participants shall book their own accommodation. The conditions for payment of this contribution are to participate and sign all attendance sheets at the events (webinar and semi-final) and to attach the accommodation receipts to the reimbursement form. Accommodation cost contribution (1 night) for the YELC semi-finals:
- Semi-final in Bratislava: € 112
- Semi-final in Paris: €176
- Semi-final in Vilnius: € 94
5. Successful applicants will be sent the relevant claim form and information on how to obtain payment of the contribution to their expenses. Please note that no payment is possible if the registered participant cancels their participation for any reason.
6. Catering: ERA provides dinner the evening before, lunch and coffee break during the semifinals.
7. No per diem or daily allowance is available.
Participation
8. Selected participants will be asked to book their travel as soon as possible and confirm their itinerary to ERA.
9. Participation at the whole contest and webinar is required and participants’ presence will be logged. A list of participants including each participant’s working address will be made available to all participants unless ERA receives written objection from the participant no later than one week prior to the beginning of the event.
10. Participants are asked to give permission for their address and other relevant information to be stored in ERA’s database in order to provide information about future ERA events, publications and/or other developments in the participant’s area of interest.
11. A certificate of attendance will be distributed after the end of the conference.