A moot court competition simulates a court hearing (usually an appeal against a final decision), in which participants analyse a problem, research the relevant law, prepare written submissions, and present oral argument. Moot problems are typically set in areas of law that are unsettled or that have been subject to recent developments. They usually involve two grounds of appeal, argued by each side. The procedure imitates that followed in real courts: the judge enters, the mooters and the judge bow to each other, the clerk announces the matter, the mooters give their appearances and are then called on in turn to present their submissions, the judge asks questions of the mooters, the court adjourns, and the judge then returns to deliver a brief judgment and some feedback.
Moot court competitions are widely prevalent in Indian law schools and are considered to be an important element of the co-curricular framework. In fact, several Indian universities over the years have fared exceedingly well in prestigious international competitions. In this article, we highlight 10 of the most renowned and brutally competitive international mooting events. Read on!
1. Philip C. Jesep International Law Moot Court Competition
Jessup is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from roughly 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions. The Competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. One team is allowed to participate from every eligible school. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.
Each team prepares two written memorials and two 45-minute oral presentations, one for each party to the dispute (the “Applicant” and the “Respondent”). Teams argue alternately as Applicant and Respondent against competing teams before a panel of judges, simulating a proceeding before the International Court of Justice.
Find the official website HERE.
2. Henry Dunant Human Rights Moot Court Competition
In 2001, ICRC Regional Delegation for South Asia, initiated the Henry Dunant Memorial Moot Court Competition, with the aim of promoting better awareness of IHL among law students at universities throughout India. This competition is named in memory of Mr Henry Dunant, the co-founder of the ICRC and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1863. The reputation and status of the Henry Dunant Memorial Moot Court Competition has grown steadily since its inception in 2001.
The success of the competition has prompted the organisers to expand the Moot Court beyond India in 2005. As a result, in 2005 the Henry Dunant Moot Court Competition was expanded to include a regional competition, drawing teams from countries across South Asia. The national Moot Court competition is followed by regional competitions.
Find the official website HERE.
3. Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition
The Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition began in 1996 to raise awareness about international environmental challenges. The event has grown to include regional competitions in Australia, Latin America, North America, North India, South India, and Southeast Asia, with more than 80 teams competing from law schools around the world.
The Stetson competition provides an opportunity for law students to explore issues of international environmental law in the context of a dispute before the International Court of Justice. The participants’ memorials (briefs) are evaluated by international environmental legal experts.
Find the official website HERE.
4. Annual William C. vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot
The purpose of the Vis Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration and provide a practical training to students for resolving international business disputes. The business community’s marked preference for resolving international commercial disputes by arbitration is the reason this method of dispute resolution was selected as the clinical tool to train law students.
There are two crucial phases in the Vis Moot to train advocacy skills: the writing of memoranda for claimant and respondent and the presentation of arguments in oral hearings held before arbitration practitioners and academics. The forensic and written exercises require determining questions of contract — flowing from a transaction relating to the sale or purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and other uniform international commercial law.
Find the official website HERE.
5. Red Cross International Humanitarian Moot
The Hong Kong Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot is an annual international moot court competition organised by the Hong Kong Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with universities in Hong Kong. It is an inter-university competition on international humanitarian law for law schools in the Asia-Pacific region (Asia, Australia, and New Zealand). The moot, which is hosted in Hong Kong, started as a local moot in 2003 before becoming a regional moot the next year. In recent times more than 100 law schools have participated in the local and regional rounds each year, with the top 20-odd teams making it to the international rounds.
Find the official website HERE.
6. Price Media Law Moot Court Competition
The Price Media Law Moot Court Competition has been part of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, since 1 August 2017. The Price Media Law Moot Court Programme aims to foster and cultivate interest in freedom of expression issues and the role of the media and information technologies in societies around the world. It was established by the Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy at the University of Oxford in 2008.
Find the official website HERE.
7. Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition
The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the only global moot court competition explicitly dedicated to human rights. It is co-organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, the Academy on Human Rights, Washington College of Law, American University, and the United Nations Human Rights Council Branch (HRCB), at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Nelson Mandela Moot Court Competition is an annual event in which students from around the world come together in Geneva to argue a hypothetical human rights case.
Each year a new case is carefully developed, drawing on current global human rights issues – these range from human rights and artificial intelligence, over terrorism and mercenaries, to the right to not be discriminated against on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Find the official website HERE.
8. International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition
The International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition or ICCMCC is an annual international moot court competition on international criminal law that is held at The Hague and organised by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University, The Hague Campus, with the institutional support of the International Criminal Court and International Bar Association. Pace Law School had conceived of the moot as an in-class exercise in 2004, and it was in 2005 that a domestic competition was started.
The competition became international the following year, with the finals being held in 2007. With more than 100 teams from 50 countries taking part annually, the ICCMCC is the world’s largest competition on international criminal law and is considered one of the grand slam or major moots.
Find the official website HERE.
9. Leiden–Sarin Air Law Moot Court Competition
The Leiden Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition was launched in India in 2010. It is the brainchild of Sarin & Co.’s Managing Partner, Nitin Sarin and Prof. Pablo Mendes de Leon, Director, International Institute of Air & Space Law (IIASL), Leiden University, the Netherlands.
Ten years down the line, the Moot has competition has grown from strength to strength and travelled the world over. The Moot has been organised in New Delhi, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bucharest, Istanbul, Jakarta, Beijing, Malta, Seoul, Chandigarh. Not only does the Moot bring the brightest young minds from across the globe together to compete against each other; it also brings the best experts in the field of air law from around the world to judge the competition year after year.
Find the official website HERE.
10. Manfred-Lachs Space Law Moot
Since its inception by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) in 1992, the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition has grown to cover five world regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. More than 60 teams participate yearly in this competition. Registered teams get exclusive on-line access to papers of the IISL’s Colloquium Proceedings from 2005.
Find the official website HERE.
YLCC would like to thank Sachet Labroo for his valuable inputs in this article.
