The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court is the largest legal competition in the world and is held in Washington D.C. every year. Over 143 teams from all over the world took part in the competition. The University of Vienna was the only team from the EU to reach the round of 16, placing it among the top 16 teams out of a total of over 600 participating teams worldwide.
In the preliminary rounds, the University of Vienna was even able to achieve an undefeated 11th place of all competing teams. After a unanimous victory in the round of 16 against the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law from India, the team from the University of Vienna only had to concede defeat to the eventual finalists, from the University di Tella from Argentina, in a close decision in the round of 16.
The University of Vienna was represented this year by Katharina Walbert, Nikolaus Ebner, Sophie Großmann and Hannah Roth, who have been preparing two memorials for the Applicant and Respondent sides since October last year and have been preparing intensively for the oral phase since January. It is particularly noteworthy that Nikolaus Ebner came 62nd and Katharina Walbert 75th in the ranking of over 500 participating students.
The Jessup Moot Court is the oldest and most prestigious international law competition in the world. Based on a fictitious dispute between two states, the students represent the Applicant and Respondent state before the International Court of Justice. This year's case concerned legal standing for asserting group interests before the International Court of Justice, the legality of rendering persons stateless, the rights of dual nationals in the context of consular protection and the competences of the UN Security Council in the peaceful settlement of disputes. This year's final judges were Maria Teresa Infante Cafi from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Sundareh Menon, judge at the Constitutional Court of Singapore, and former ECtHR judge Ganna Yudivska. This year's winner was the team from the University of the Philippines, who won in the final against the University di Tella.
This year's team was coached by Fritz Kainz and Maximilian Weninger. The team was supported by the University of Vienna, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Schönherr Rechtsanwälte, Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich, Völkl Rechtsanwälte, Dietrich Rechtsanwalts GmbH and Annacker International Disputes.
