Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, also known as the Jessup, is a prestigious international law mooting competition which is organised by the International Law Students Association (ILSA), and attracts participants from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries. [ [http://www.ilsa.org/jessup/] ] The competition is named after Philip Jessup, who once served on the International Court of Justice.

Location

The moot is held yearly in Washington D.C., usually in the first week of April. The competition is timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law.

Moot format

The moot involves arguing a hypothetical case on issues of international law as if before the International Court of Justice. The hypothetical case usually involves topical issues in international law. Thus, recent competitions have embraced issues of universal jurisdiction, the International Criminal Court, international maritime law, international free speech law, and many other pressing issues.

Each team normally contains five competitors, although teams have been known to contain as few as two competitors. Each team must prepare to argue the sides of both the Applicant and Respondent in the case, and must produce a written "memorial" for each side of the case. Each round, two competitors from a team will argue one side of the case (chosen at random). A third team member may be seated at the bar table, but may not present argument.

There is no common team organisation. Some teams dedicate two oralists to each side of the argument, with the fifth person serving as a "brief editor", alternate oralist, researcher, librarian or logistical support. In other teams, only two or three speakers will present oral argument, with at least one person arguing both Applicant and Respondent sides. In addition, most teams also include coaches who advise and prepare their teams throughout the year prior to the competition. Coaches include the respective universities' international law faculty and/or past Jessup competitors.

Team selection

Countries are represented by one or more teams at the Shearman & Sterling International Rounds of the Jessup competition, depending on the number of teams that have entered the national competition. As a result, most countries hold domestic competitions to select the best team to advance to the international competition in Washington D.C. International law firms proudly associate themselves with the Jessup at various levels. For instance, in Canada and Russia, universities compete in a national competition sponsored by international law firm White & Case. In addition to sponsoring the International Rounds and the ultimate Jessup prize—the Shearman & Sterling Cup—international law firm Shearman & Sterling also sponsors the competition at a national level. The Russian competition, like the vast majority of national competitions, is held in the English language. In fact, considering that the final rounds are held in English, and that teams wishing to compete in a different language carry the burden of providing translation services into English, it is exceptional for a national round to be held in a language other than English. Subsequently, the winning team advances to Washington to compete for the Shearman & Sterling Jessup Cup.

The United States is usually represented by eleven to twelve regional teams based on participation by nearly 150 law schools. The United States is by far the largest participant country although Russia is growing exponentially with 43 teams participating in 2007. American law schools fielding Jessup teams must prevail at competitive regional competitions prior to advancing to the international competition. At the regional level, competition between schools is fierce, and includes rivalries between top American law schools.

One of the main reasons for Jessup's popularity and prestige is the caliber of students that compete at the international level. By the time teams arrive in Washington D.C., competitors are fluent in basic principles of international law, international institutions and procedures. In addition, students have an extraordinary grasp of international case law, as well as current events. Competitors are expected to have nearly encyclopedic knowledge of pertinent cases (such as ICTR, ICTY, and ICJ cases) as well as secondary materials by leading international law scholars.

The D.C. Jessup Party

Teams advancing to the Shearman & Sterling International Rounds in Washington D.C. compete during three days of preliminary moots. Teams with the highest point totals advance to round of sixteen, quarterfinal, semifinal and then final rounds.

Traditionally, following the announcement of the teams which advance to quarterfinals, the remaining teams throw large parties in their respective hotels and various D.C. bars. These parties are notorious for the traditional exchange of local drinks, toasts, and other cultural mores. In addition, Jessup also hosts an international party during which competitors don traditional costumes, sing ethnic songs, and perform traditional dances.

Past winners

The winner of the competition for 2008 was the Case Western Reserve University from the United States.

The National University of Singapore holds the highest number of top-two finishes in the competition (four times champions, seven times runner-up). Universite de Paris I (1992) from France was the first non-native speaking university to win the competition.

Over the past nine years (2000-2008), teams from Australian universities have dominated the world titles, winning the competition four times and being runners-up twice.

References

External links

* [http://www.ilsa.org/jessup/ The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition registration and schedule]