Helsinki Moot Court aims to advance student collaboration, experience with crucial legal topics

The Helsinki Information Law Moot Court, the mock trial competition dedicated to data protection and digital governance matters, is building toward its 2027 contest after canceling this year's trial due to minimal participation. The moot welcomes undergraduate or master's level students from across the world to test and showcase their ability to tackle legal problems in a courtroom setting.

Bird and Bird Data Protection and Regulation Partner Tobias Bräutigam, CIPP/E, CIPM, FIP, who organizes the HILM alongside Finland's Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman Senior Officer Sam Wrigley, said the moot pairs EU General Data Protection Regulation concepts with emerging issues.

The HILM, which is hosted in Helsinki, Finland, advances students' international network and first-hand experience with global privacy regulations. "The problem is always about GDPR plus something else," Bräutigam said, citing past add-on topics ranging from children's privacy to robotics.

IAPP Westin Fellow Will Simpson, AIGP, CIPP/US, competed in the moot as a student at the University of Maine School of Law. He said the competition's collaborative structure was "incredibly kind and welcoming" while participants "were just as invested in the experience itself as winning or losing the competition."

Simpson highlighted how the international aspect of the competition provided the chance to engage with EU legal frameworks and familiarize with their intricacies. He said that experience is one example of how the moot embraces "cultural differences in the practice of law and perceptions of data protection, privacy, and fundamental rights."

Collaboration between universities from different regions aims to grant students the ability to learn new approaches to legal reasoning and advocacy. Bräutigam said students involved in the HILM often highlight the competition as "the best thing they did during their studies. They like getting into a hot topic and understanding it deeply."

Simpson also highlighted the opportunity to "engage directly with pressing digital issues and have coaches, judges and other experts push back on my arguments was one of the most instructive opportunities I had in law school."

Engagement in the HILM shaped Simpson's approach to collaboration and advocacy and pushed him to strengthen his "ability to collaborate on legal projects and engage in oral advocacy."

The exposure translated into practical skills that carried beyond law school.

"So much of school is theoretical, Moot court is a chance to break out of that mold and test legal and policy arguments on real world problems," Simpson said. "It also presents an opportunity to challenge your worldviews and argue for a side you might personally disagree with."

As the HILM approaches 10 years since the first Moot, its continued relevance stems from its ability to evolve alongside the legal and technological landscape.

While the 2027 problem is expected to be finalized by August, Bräutigam indicated it may explore tensions between access to valuable data and the protection of individual privacy.

"If you know students, work at a university or are a student, the HILM is the right moot court for you," Bräutigam said. "It is top-notch, and you will get to know a lot of great people. We hope to build an alumni network over time and if data protection is the right field for you, then this Moot is ideal."