The Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security is proud to be entering a team for this year’s Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Five students, drawn from across our International Law & Security, International Economic Law, and Erasmus Mundus LLM programmes, will carry out intensive research over the academic year, preparing written and oral arguments on complex issues of contemporary international law. The case for 2022 concerns the interpretation of a peace treaty, deadly attacks in allegedly occupied territory, unilateral economic sanctions, and the legal consequences of failing to dispose of hazardous waste properly.
The team are gratefully funded by GCILS and the School of Law’s International Mooting budget. Alongside our coaches, staff from across GCILS will also offer support and advice to the students as they prepare their written and oral arguments.
What is the Jessup?
The Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition is an advocacy competition for law students, organised by the International Law Students Association with the support of White & Case LLP. It is the largest competition of its kind in the world, with roughly 700 teams participating from over 100 countries and jurisdictions. Teams compete against one another through the presentation of oral and written pleadings to address contemporary issues of public international law in the context of a hypothetical legal dispute between two states.
UK Qualifying National Rounds will take place in London 17–19 February 2023. The top three teams from the UK Nationals will then advance to represent the UK at the international rounds in Washington DC in April 2023, where over 120 teams representing some 95 countries will compete for the top prize.
The case and further information about the competition can be found at https://www.ilsa.org/about-jessup/.
Our coaches
Dr David Scott is a Postdoctoral Researcher in International Law & Governance, working within the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs. David has almost a decade’s mooting experience, having taken part in the University of Glasgow’s European Human Rights Project in 2013–14 and the Jessup in 2014-15, representing the University of Helsinki. He has subsequently coached teams from the Universities of Helsinki, Manchester, and Tashkent State University, as well as serving as a Jessup judge in Brazil, Ukraine, and the European Friendly Rounds in Budapest, Lisbon, and Prague.
His 2021 article ‘The Politics of the Moot Court’ (co-authored with Ukri Soirila in the European Journal of International Law) makes the case for expanding the use of moot court competitions to teach critical approaches to international law.
Eve-Anne Travers is a trainee solicitor in asylum and immigration law working with Latta & Co Solicitors in Glasgow. Eve-Anne first took part in the Jessup Competition in 2016 representing Leiden University during their LLM in Public International Law.
Eve-Anne has been coaching moot court teams in public international law and international criminal law since 2017, for the University of Prishtina in Kosovo and the Tashkent State University of Law in Uzbekistan, and has judged the Jessup on several occasions at the European Friendly Rounds.
Contact
Any questions about mooting at GCILS should be directed to David.Scott@glasgow.ac.uk