Holding listeners spellbound with your eloquence in the land where the gods “pour sweet dew on the tongue, and from the lips flow honeyed words” takes a pronounced talent. In the land that is the cradle of the art of rhetoric, Greece, Anna-Maria Atanasova proved she is one of the lucky few capable of building cathedrals out of words.

Anna-Maria is the first Bulgarian to win the prize for best speaker at the Europa Moot Court Competition in Kavala, Greece. She is also part of the St. Kliment Ohridski University team, alongside Ivan, Emanuil and Teodor which came third.

“This is one of the leading law competitions in the EU, with eight teams reaching the finals,” says Anna-Maria Atanasova. “The case was connected with competition law and intellectual property law and each team had to prepare the defence of the applicant and of the accused. We simulated a trial at the Court of Justice of the European Union which had to make a ruling interpreting European law.”

The case was an interesting one. A pharmaceutical company patents a lung cancer medicine, but the same substance is found to have been invented 60 years ago. But the company has already issued licenses to other companies for the manufacture of the drug and they on their part have been paying it royalties. Ultimately, the court annuls the patent, as the substance is not new - as a result the license agreements are terminated and trials initiated. There is a second case, connected with a cartel and a European directive, regulating the rules for damages for breach of competition law. It was in this case that Anna-Maria stepped into the shoes of the applicant.

To prepare for the competition Anna-Maria and her team-mates, together with their coach Ivan Stoinev read and commented law books in English - the working language of the competition but also the language the principal works - published mostly in Oxford and Cambridge - were written in. And even though she is not a native speaker, Anna-Maria's performance was well appreciated by the jury.

“Perhaps what impressed them was the way I answered their questions. What matters in the competition is the argumentation of the defence but even more important is the way the contestant answers the court's questions. The judges interrupt and ask a great many different questions. That is why you have to be quick on your feet and give an instant answer. Apparently I answered their questions satisfactorily.” Anna-Maria Atanasova says.

And as she lives in an open world of infinite possibilities, the third-year student, whose dream is to practice European law, is starting an internship at the Court of Justice of the European Union in September. In Luxembourg she will be assisting the advocate general in drafting opinions - thanks to her speaker's prize.

“I imagine I will be working on real cases on which the advocate general will have to form an opinion,” Anna-Maria says. “I hope to find information from different sources, to look for relevant practices, to read articles. I hope to be able to learn a great deal. The prospect is really exciting.”

Anna-Maria Atanasova says she dreams of working in Bulgaria and deciding cases like the one in Kavala. She refuses to state an opinion on the judicial system where she will, one day try to make a professional name for herself, because, as she says, she is still learning and does not know the system well enough. Right now she is grinding away at her French - the official language of the European Court of Justice. And the little spare time she has she devotes to sports, dancing and her favourite books.

English version: Milena Daynova