THE NATIONAL COMPETITION IN CRIMINAL LAW STARTS AT VARNA FREE UNIVERSITY
On April 5th, 2025, on the eve of the Lawyers Day, the National Student Competition in Criminal Law will be held at Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar". The organizers of the event are the Lawyer's Club "Prof. Tamara Hinova" at the Student Council and the Faculty of Law at the university. 12 teams from six key universities in Bulgaria will participate in the competition. The main goal of the competition is to promote legal culture, stimulate academic activity and create an environment for the exchange of experience and ideas between future lawyers from different universities.
The UNWE will be represented by three teams, Veliko Tarnovo University "St. St. Cyril and Methodius", Ruse University "Angel Kanchev", Southwestern University "Neofit Rilski" and Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" will be each represented by two teams, and Plovdiv University "Paisiy Hilendarski" by one team. The competition will be held in two rounds - students will solve cases related to substantive and procedural criminal law. The format includes practical tasks that will place participants in situations requiring analysis, legal argumentation and presentation of decisions before the authoritative jury, composed of university lecturers and representatives of practice. The four best-performing teams will take part in the second round.
The chairman of the jury is the prominent Bulgarian lawyer and university lecturer Prof. D. Sc. Lazar Gruev - member of the Constitutional Court (2003-2007) and chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation (2007 - 2014).
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The winners, their mentors and all participants will receive prizes provided by Varna Free University, the Faculty of Law, the Student Council and the partners of the competition - the key Bulgarian legal literature publishers "Sibi" and "Ciela". The competition will also award a special individual prize for the best speaker. The winner in this category will participate in the May Seminar 2025 'The Art of Communication' of Varna Free University, with lecturers: Anna Tsolova – a key Bulgarian journalist and author of the project 'Speak So They May See You', as well as Prof. Dr. Stefan Selezliev – a practitioner and lecturer in building a personal brand and branding.
The National Competition in Criminal Law Sciences aroused serious interest not only among university students, but also among school students who wish to continue their education in the Law major. Guests will be the students of Law Administration at the secondary School for Humanities and Arts “Konstantin Preslavski” – Varna, as well as high school students from language and mathematics high schools. For the students, the Faculty of Law has prepared a special visit to the rooms on methodology and tactics of investigation and a talk with Prof. Dr. Yonko Kunchev - Dean of the Faculty of Law at Varna Free University.
PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITION IN CRIMINAL LAW
April 5th, 2025, Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar"
09:00 – 09:20 Official opening of the competition
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
09:20 - 09:50 Drawing of a case and casting lots for the order of presentation of the teams
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
10:00 - 11:00 Solving a case with determining the legal qualification of a crime with detailed justification by the teams
Teams work in the halls of the university
11:00 - 13:10 Presentation of the teams
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
13:10 – 14:10 Lunch and coffee break
14:10 – 14:30 Announcement of the results and choosing the teams that have advanced to the next round
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
14:30 - 16:00 Second round - solving a case with determining the legal qualification of a crime, preparing a disposition and answering questions related to criminal procedural law
16:10 – 16:50 Presentation of the teams
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
17:10 – 17:30 Announcement of the results
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
17:30 Awarding of the winners and the participants
Hall 1 of the Academic and Sports Complex
The full competition regulations and information about the partners can be found here