A Moot Court is a simulated court procedure. Participating students will act as lawyers in a fictional case, where they have to convince the court in both written and oral proceedings. The Bench is composed of both ‘real’ judges and practitioners as well as professors from the relevant legal field. The legal correctness of the argument might be a little less important than rhetorical and argumentation skills.

Among the various Moot Courts, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the largest, oldest and most prestigious Moot Court. It is named after the American public international law scholar and former Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Philip C. Jessup. In 1959 law students at Harvard, Columbia and Virginia University founded the Jessup. Accordingly, the 2019 rounds marked its 60^th anniversary. It is now organized by the International Law Students Association (ILSA).

In the Jessup Moot Court, the students simulate court proceedings before the ICJ in English. During the written proceedings, the participants draft written pleadings (Memorials), which they will defend in the oral phase (Pleadings). The rules of procedure of the ICJ are applicable. Each team will represent both applicant and respondent.

According to ILSA, 3000 students from 700 law schools in 100 countries have participated in the last round of the Jessup Moot Court. From the 17 German teams that have participated in 2020, the three best teams were invited to the international rounds in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, the International Rounds were canceled because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The topics of the Jessup Moot Court typically cover complex and current issues of public international law and have concerned, inter alia, the law of international armed conflicts, international law of the sea and international economic law as well as questions of the war on terror, humanitarian intervention, the prohibition to wear religious symbols, extradition, the right of self-determination of indigenous peoples, the use of unmanned armed drones, and so called ‘targeted killings’.

In 2014, the case concerned the exploitation of maritime resources, international criminal jurisdiction and the salvage of sunken cultural objects.

The case in 2015 was about the interpretation and adaption of treaties after a fundamental change of circumstances, the lawfulness of countermeasures and procedural and substantive questions of secession and annexation.

The topics of the 2016’s case followed the NSA scandal and concerned the legality of electronic mass surveillance, the confiscation of surveillance devices and the obligation of States to prosecute people involved in electronic mass surveillance.

The 2017 case was about transboundary aquifers, obligations regarding world heritage sites in danger, the repatriation of cultural property, and the costs of refugee crises.

The 2018 case concerned international arbitral proceedings, the capture of an autonomous underwater vehicle, the breach of nuclear disarmament obligations, and the conduct of naval warfare.

The topics for Jessup 2019 concerned state responsibility for corporate environmental degradation and human rights violations and the appropriation of traditional knowledge for commercial purposes.

The 2020 case concerned the development and deployment of an autonomous weapon system along a border, immunities of a foreign ministers who committed war crimes and international multi fora litigation.

The 2021 case will focus on a global pandemic, and the obligations and responses of States with respect to its outbreak. It will also involve questions of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, a desperate claim for political asylum by an alleged rogue scientist, and State responsibility for a suspicious aircraft explosion.

After selecting the team (est. start in July each year), the team will receive their first research tasks to become acquainted with the topics of the case. Around that time, there will also be the first introductory courses on public international law, legal research, legal writing, etc.

The actual competition will start in September, when ILSA releases the Jessup problem. In the following weeks, the team will analyze the problem and comprehensively research the legal issues. The participants will present their work in weekly meetings. After approximately one month, the team will start drafting the Memorials. Every team has to draft one award for each State party (applicant and respondent). The Memorials are roughly 35 pages long (plus summary of the facts, etc.). The written phase is very time intensive. It will usually require working on some weekends. In mid-December, the Memorials are distributed for proofreading. In parallel, preparations for the oral phase will start before the Christmas break.

After the Christmas break, the team revises its Memorials. This phase will be very demanding, since there is only little time until the Memorials have to be submitted in mid-January. After that, the team will prepare the oral phase via mock pleadings, both internal (at the University of Passau) and external (at international law firms in Munich and Frankfurt).

The German national rounds will likely take place at the beginning of March and will last for one week. In the preliminary rounds, each team will plead four times – twice as applicant and twice as respondent. They will score points according to their written Memorials and their oral presentations. The best teams will progress to the advanced rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals and final). Both finalists and presumably also the third best team will qualify for the international rounds in Washington, D.C. (USA) in beginning/mid-April.

Because the competition is entirely held in English, participants will greatly improve their written and spoken English skills.

Preparing for the oral phase will involve a great number of mock pleadings at international law firms in Munich and Frankfurt. Thus, participants will also get a unique chance to network and to receive internship offers.

Thanks to our sponsors, the travel costs for the mock pleadings in Munich and Frankfurt as well as to the national and international rounds will be covered to a large extent.

Participating in the Jessup Moot Court will give students the possibility to assume the role of a lawyer already during their studies. They will have to represent and ‘fight’ for their party instead of reading out a mere evaluation of the legal issues.

Furthermore, the oral phase is an excellent rhetoric training. The Jessup judges will interrupt the pleading with their questions. During the competition, the participants will learn to proficiently answer these questions within a very strict time limit – a skill that is not only useful in oral exams.

Writing Memorials and preparing for the oral phase can only be achieved in team work. Therefore, the students will acquire the ability to work in a team and improve their social skills.

Last but not least, participants will acquire a profound understanding of public international law.

The team is responsible for drafting the Memorials and preparing the pleadings. The Chair of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Public International Law, European and International Economic Law (Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Dederer) will support the team within the permitted range. This includes:

• A drafting workshop, where participants will learn how to write memorials in English,
• an individual rhetoric training, where participants will improve their rhetoric skills and learn how to convincingly argue under stress,
• a crash course in public international law,
• a course on legal research, where participants will learn how to use databases such as WestLaw, LexisNexis, HeinOnline and MPEPIL,
• mock pleadings with Professors, research assistants and former Jessup participants,
• the organization of mock pleadings at law firms in Munich and Frankfurt, where participants will both improve their pleadings and get access to networks,
• acquisition of sponsors and donors, which will ensure that participants will not bear a heavy financial burden (in all previous years, there was enough funding to completely finance the trips to Munich, Frankfurt, the national and international rounds),
• handling all administrative tasks, so that the team can fully concentrate on writing the Memorials and preparing their pleadings,
• …

Each applicant fulfil the following criteria during the Jessup Competition:

• Enrolment at the University of Passau,
• no completed university degree,
• available in Passau from September/October through March/April next year.

Applicants should (if possible) fulfil some additional criteria, such as:

• Enrolment in advanced legal or political studies,
• motivation for the Jessup Moot Court,
• interest (and knowledge) in Public International Law,
• competence in teamwork,
• advanced command of the English language,
• advanced rhetorical skills,
• ability to work under pressure,
• …

During the competition (September through April) we do not accept any applications. If you want to be up-to-date, follow the news about the current competition on the left. The application process for each team starts in May.

All Moot Court Competitions (Jessup, Vis, etc.) are time-consuming. This is why all participants obtain a “Freischussverlängerung” for their legal studies. All participants who do not study law in Germany, the participation is rewarded with 25 ECTS points.

Usually, students can partly continue their normal studies in parallel to doing the Moot. Also, having a part-time job is possible. Nevertheless, every participant should be in Passau and regularly available for team meetings, discussions, continuing educational events, lectures, etc. If you have specific questions about time allocation or the like, please do not hesitate to contact us.

After the deadline for applications, the Coaches and Professor Dederer analyse all applications. Evaluation criteria are among others:

• motivation for the Jessup,
• personal productivity (based on extracurricular activities),
• capacity for teamwork,
• command of the English language,
• rhetorical skills,
• knowledge in Public International Law (not mandatory) and
• further legal knowledge.

A small group of all applicants will take part in an application workshop which takes place in Passau or via zoom in August. Those applicants who are invited will receive a separate email with additional information. We ask all applicants to save the dates which are outlined in this year's schedule.

Please browse the International Law Students Association’s official website for more information http://www.ilsa.org/jessup/

If you have any further questions about the Jessup Moot Court Team, if you want to support us or if you need any additional information for your application, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would also be happy to link you to our alumni for additional questions and exchange of experience.