Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, also known as the Jessup, is the oldest and largest international moot competition in the world, attracting participants from almost 700 law schools in more than 90 countries in recent years. The competition has been described as the most prestigious moot court competition in the world by a large number of organisations and universities internationally.

The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The competition is named after Philip Jessup, who once served on the ICJ. It is organised by the International Law Students Association. The Jessup moot, under the leadership of Stephen Schwebel (who also wrote the inaugural moot problem), started as a friendly advocacy competition between two teams from Harvard University in 1960. The first champions were declared in 1963 and the competition opened its doors to non-American teams in 1968. The current sponsor of the international rounds of the moot is White & Case.

The Jessup moot involves arguing a hypothetical case on issues of international law as if before the International Court of Justice, but with a smaller complement of judges (three instead of 15). The International Law Students Association Board is responsible for soliciting and selecting proposals for the compromis every year.

Each team comprises two to five student members. 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. In each round, two competitors from a team will argue one side of the case for 45 minutes in total, including any time reserved for rebuttal or sur-rebuttal. A third team member may be seated at the bar table as of-counsel, but may not present argument. There is no fixed team organisation. Some teams dedicate two oralists to each side of the argument, with the fifth person serving a more open-ended role. 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 include at least one advisor or coach, usually drawn from the respective universities' international law faculty and/or past Jessup competitors.

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