Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
The chair regularly supervises a student team at Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. This competition is the most traditional and largest student moot court. It has been held since 1959 and now participates annually students from over 500 universities from over 80 countries around the world.
According to the case, it is a simulated court case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which has the subject of an international legal dispute between two fictional states. The participating teams represent both the plaintiffs’ and the defendants’ side. For this purpose, pleadings must first be drawn up and submitted. After that, the participants compete against each other in oral proceedings. The role of judges is assumed by professors, diplomats, lawyers and other practitioners, including judges of the ICJ and other international courts.
By participating in the completely English-speaking Jessup Moot Court, the students not only develop profound knowledge of international law, but also train skills that will be extremely useful to them in the exam and later professional life: they learn to develop and formulate legal argumentation strategies in the interest of their clients. In the pleas, it is necessary to convincingly represent one’s own points of view against drilling questions of the judges with expertise and quick-wittedness.
In the national preliminary decision, the team will meet the other participants from all over Germany and have the chance to qualify for the international round in Washington D.C. This was achieved by the Münster teams in 2008, 2009, 2021 and 2022.
The team is assembled by the chair from interested students during the summer semester. The following winter semester, the Moot Court will take place. The chair supports the team in particular in the organization, research and training for the pleas.
Further information on the Jessup Moot Court can be found on the homepage of ILSA. Questions about the Jessup Moot Court can be directed at any time to Konrad Schilling (konrad.schilling@uni-muenster.de).