Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
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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.[1] The competition is named after Philip Jessup, who once served on the International Court of Justice.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Criticism
Some competitors criticize the Jessup judging system for being biased towards well-endowed universities with sizeable international law libraries. Also, the competition has been criticized for the fact that the international competition is held in English, reflecting its origin as an American competition.
Proponents of the current Jessup model counter that the overwhelming majority of the primary and secondary materials required for preparation of the brief are available free of charge via the Internet. Likewise, with regard to English, proponents counter that the current model best reflects the reality of international law and specifically, the adjudication of cases before the International Court of Justice, the two official languages of which are English and French.[2] Further, the rules state that teams in the international competition may present their oral argument in a language other than English, although employment of a translator is at the team's own cost. [3]
Finally, neither criticism is borne out when one appreciates that, in the past fifteen years, universities from the Philippines, Venezuela, Mexico, South Africa, Russia and Malaysia have either won or placed second in the competition. Not all of these universities have sizeable endowments, nor is English a first language in all of these countries.
[edit] 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.
| Year | Champion | Runner Up | Semi-finalists |
| 1960 | No Champion Declared | — | |
| 1961 | No Champion Declared | — | |
| 1962 | No Champion Declared | — | |
| 1963 | Columbia University (USA) | University of North Carolina (USA) | |
| 1964 | University of Texas (USA) | — | |
| 1965 | Columbia University (USA) | University of Virginia (USA) | |
| 1966 | University of Texas (USA) | University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) | |
| 1967 | Vanderbilt University (USA) | Harvard University (USA) | |
| 1968 | Duke University (USA) | University of Miami (USA) | |
| 1969 | Rutgers University (USA); University of Michigan (USA) | — | |
| 1970 | University of Miami (USA) | University of Kentucky (USA) | |
| 1971 | University of Texas (USA) | University of California (USA) | |
| 1972 | University of Miami (USA) | Haile Selassie I University (Ethiopia) | |
| 1973 | West Virginia University (USA) | Brunel University (UK) | |
| 1974 | University of Texas (USA) | Haile Selassie I University (Ethiopia) | |
| 1975 | Cambridge University (UK) | Georgetown University (USA) | |
| 1976 | University of Toronto (Canada) | American University (USA) | |
| 1977 | University of Kansas (USA) | University of Toronto (Canada) | |
| 1978 | Brooklyn Law School (USA) | University of Toronto (Canada) | |
| 1979 | Northwestern University (USA) | University of Adelaide (Australia) | |
| 1980 | Georgetown University (USA) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | |
| 1981 | Australian National University (Australia) | University of the Pacific (USA) | |
| 1982 | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | University of the Pacific (USA) | |
| 1983 | University of Kansas (USA) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | |
| 1984 | Dalhousie University (Canada) | South Texas College of Law (USA) | |
| 1985 | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | Southwestern University (USA) | |
| 1986 | Boston College (USA) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | |
| 1987 | Georgetown University (USA) | Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) | |
| 1988 | University of Melbourne (Australia) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | |
| 1989 | University of British Columbia (Canada) | University of Melbourne (Australia) | |
| 1990 | University of Georgia (USA) | University of Toronto (Canada) | |
| 1991 | University of Saskatchewan (Canada) | University of Georgia (USA) | |
| 1992 | Universite de Paris I (France) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | |
| 1993 | University of Melbourne (Australia) | University of Hawaii (USA) | |
| 1994 | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | University of Melbourne (Australia) | |
| 1995 | University of the Philippines (Philippines) | University of Western Australia (Australia) | |
| 1996 | University of Sydney (Australia) | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | |
| 1997 | Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela) | University of Calgary (Canada) | |
| 1998 | Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico (Mexico) | Australian National University (Australia) | |
| 1999 | National Law School of India University (India) | University of Pretoria (South Africa) | |
| 2000 | University of Melbourne (Australia) | Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela) | |
| 2001 | National University of Singapore (Singapore) | Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela) | |
| 2002 | University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) | University of Western Australia (Australia) | |
| 2003 | University of Western Australia (Australia) | Mari State University (Russia) | Columbia University (USA); Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela) |
| 2004 | Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) | National University of Singapore | Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico); University of Vienna (Austria) |
| 2005 | University of Queensland (Australia) | International Islamic University (Malaysia) | Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina); American University (USA) |
| 2006 | Columbia University (USA) | Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela) | National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (India); Cape Town (South Africa) |
| 2007 | University of Sydney (Australia) | King's College London (UK) | National University of Singapore (Singapore); University of Queensland (Australia) |
| 2008 | Case Western Reserve University (United States) | University of New South Wales (Australia) | University College London (UK); National Law School of India University (India) |
