The Jessup Moot Court Team of the University of Vienna has this year again been very successful

Juridicum in the quarterfinals of the Jessup European Friendlies 2024, Viennese students honoured for top rankings

Jessup Moot Court team from the University of Vienna reaches the quarterfinals of the European Friendly Rounds 2024 in Bratislava

From 29 February to 2 March 2024, the European Friendly Rounds of the Jessup International Law Moot Court took place at Trnava University. For the tenth time, 15 universities competed against each other in friendly preparation for the world final in Washington D.C. Based on a fictitious dispute between two states, they each represent the applicant and respondent state before the International Court of Justice. This year's case concerns topical issues of international law, including the assertion of group interests before the ICJ, statelessness, the right to consular representation and the role of the UN Security Council in the peaceful settlement of disputes.

After four strong preliminary rounds against universities from Jordan, Slovenia, Kosovo, and Switzerland, all but one of which the team won, putting them in fourth place among all teams from the preliminary rounds, the respondent representatives Sophie Großmann and Hannah Roth faced the plaintiffs from the Law Society (Ireland) in the quarterfinals on Friday. The very close decision after the round was in favour of the Irish team. It is particularly noteworthy that all four students were among the 20 best speakers of the tournament and Nikolaus Ebner was honoured as the best speaker.

The international rounds of the Jessup Moot Court will take place in Washington, D.C., from 30 March 2024. The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court is the oldest and most prestigious international law competition in the world, in which over 130 teams from all over the world will compete. The team from the University of Vienna is supervised by Fritz Kainz and Maximilian Weninger from the Department of Public International Law and International Relations.

The team is supported by the University of Vienna, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Schönherr Rechtsanwälte, Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich, Völkl Rechtsanwälte and Dietrich Rechtsanwalts GmbH.

More information about the Moot Court: https://ilmc.univie.ac.at/

University of Vienna at the forefront at the Jessup Moot Court

Four students of the Juridicum bring in successes at international and regional level

In the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court, the largest legal competition in the world, the University of Vienna again achieved considerable success this year. The Viennese team reached the round of sixteen in the "International Rounds", leaving universities such as Harvard, Heidelberg and the National University of Singapore behind. In addition, the team was recognised for the 13th-best overall performance and two students for their performance as Top 50 Oralists, out of more than 500 students.

In addition to being recognised as Octo-finalists in the International Rounds, the Vienna team had already won the European Friendship Rounds in Geneva in March, where they prevailed over Hungary's Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in the final. In addition, Sophie Köck was awarded as the best speaker of the tournament. The University of Vienna was represented this year by Adela Zinschitz, Maria Huber, Sergej Stoma and Sophie Köck, who initially prepared two briefs for the Applicant and Respondent sides since October last year and intensively prepared for the oral phase since January.

The Jessup Moot Court is the oldest and most renowned international law competition in the world. Based on a fictitious dispute between two states, the students represent the Applicant and Respondent before the International Court of Justice. This year’s case concerned demilitarisation treaties, the prohibition of the use of force and self-defence, standards of treatment of prisoners of war, the legality of severe economic sanctions and the environmental obligations of states in dealing with hazardous plastic waste. The competition was held in Washington, D.C., for the first time since 2019, after the Corona pandemic necessitated a cancellation and, in recent years, an online version. As a result, for the first time in four years, over 130 teams and more than 200 judges were able to come together for the competition, sharing experiences and networking. In total, more than 600 teams took part, of which 135 qualified for the final rounds in April. The finals are traditionally held in front of judges of the International Court of Justice, many of whom were once participants of the Jessup themselves and thus started their careers in International law. This year, the team from the University of Amsterdam won for the first time, against Peking University in the final.

The team was coached this year by Martin Baumgartner, Markus Stemeseder and Maximilian Weninger. The team was supported by the University of Vienna, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Schönherr Rechtsanwälte and Völkl Rechtsanwälte.

Juridicum defends title at International Law competition in Geneva

The Jessup Moot Court team of the University of Vienna wins the Jessup European Friendly Rounds 2023 in Geneva

From 9 to 11 March, the European Friendly Rounds of the Jessup International Law Moot Court took place at the Université de Genève. In a dignified setting, close to the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, 19 universities from 17 countries competed against each other before the world finals in Washington, D.C.. Based on a fictitious dispute between two states, they each represent plaintiff and defendant sides before the International Court of Justice. This year's case concerns demilitarisation treaties, prohibition of force and self-defence, standards of treatment of prisoners of war, the legality of severe economic sanctions and the environmental obligations of states in dealing with hazardous plastic waste.

After four strong preliminary rounds against universities from Slovakia, Switzerland, Poland and Ukraine, all of which the team won, Adela Zinschitz and Maria Huber advocating for the Applicant faced the defendant side from the University of Maribor (Slovenia) in the semi-finals on Saturday. They were able to convince the demanding bench, including world trade expert Prof. Gabrielle Marceau, with their legal arguments and confident presentation and secured the Juridicum a place in the final round.

In the final, the Respondent side of the University of Vienna with Sergej Stoma and Sophie Köck faced the ELTE University Budapest and the critical questions of the top bench. Prof. Makane Moïse Mbengue, Prof. Marco Sassòli and Dr. Jane Alice Hofbauer challenged both teams with difficult and in-depth questions and awarded the first prize to the Austrian team after a strong performance by both teams. Furthermore, in addition to an outstanding performance in the final, Sophie Köck also scored points in the preliminary rounds and was named the best speaker of the tournament.

However, this victory does not mean the end of our efforts: Starting on 8 April, the International Rounds of the Jessup Moot Court will be held again in Washington, D.C., for the first time in four years. The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court is the oldest and most prestigious international law competition in the world, with over 150 teams from all over the world competing in April. The team from the University of Vienna will be supervised by Martin Baumgartner, Markus Stemeseder and Maximilian Weninger from the Department of International Law and International Relations.

The team is supported by the University of Vienna, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Schönherr Rechtsanwälte and Völkl Rechtsanwälte.

Jessup Team of the University of Vienna among the world’s leading teams

The Juridicum's quartet brings further success in the international rounds of the world's largest moot court competition.

In the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court, the largest International Law competition in the world with 644 participating universities from 93 countries, the team of the University of Vienna was at the top. The four students Triinu Jõgi, Konstantin Kladivko, Catherine Liko and Maximilian Weninger made it to the round of 16 of the "International Rounds" for the first time since 2016 - and thus among the best 16 of the remaining 194 teams.

However, making it to the "Round of 16" was not the only award that the Juridicum brought home. For the first time since 2018, it also took first place in the European Friendly Rounds, which were held this year at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest (ELTE). In doing so, it defeated the host university ELTE, which was not only the defending champion of the European Friendlies, but also a former world champion. The four students were also among the best 15 oralists of the European Friendlies and were among the best 200 of the more than 750 participating speakers in the international rounds. In the preliminary rounds, Konstantin Kladivko took 28th place, Triinu Jõgi 48th place, Catherine Liko 130th place and Maximilian Weninger 192nd place. In the advanced rounds, Triinu Jõgi took 11th place out of over 350 participants, Konstantin Kladivko 46th place and Maximilian Weninger 50th place.

"We are incredibly proud to have brought home the overall victory in the European Friendlies and to have come so far in the international rounds," say Martin Baumgartner and Markus Stemeseder, who have been preparing the team from the University of Vienna for the competition since the end of September. "Unfortunately, for many judges in the international rounds, rhetoric seemed to count more than legal argumentation. But we are all the more pleased to have done better as 'non-natives' than many expensive private universities - and to see our students among the best speakers of the competition," explains Stemeseder. In the end, the world champion was the team from Harvard Law School.

The team was supported by the University of Vienna, OBLIN Rechtsanwälte, Schönherr Rechtsanwälte and Völkl Rechtsanwälte.

More information on the Moot Court: https://ilmc.univie.ac.at/

Juridicum wins Moot Court competition in Budapest

The University of Vienna's Jessup Moot Court team brings the victory back to Vienna

For the first time since 2018, the University of Vienna team took first place in the European Friendship Rounds of the prestigious Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition. After a two-year break due to the pandemic, the competition was again held on site at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest (ELTE). 14 universities from 13 countries took part in the "European Friendly Rounds", which lasted from 3 to 5 March. The University of Vienna is represented this year by Triinu Jõgi, Konstantin Kladivko, Catherine Liko and Maximilian Weninger. They won all six rounds.

Already on the first day of the competition, the team of the University of Vienna prevailed against the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Three more victories against the University of Latvia, Helsinki and Pristina followed on Friday. With four victories, the University of Vienna advanced to the semifinals as the most successful team of the preliminary rounds, where a second victory was scored against the extremely strong team of the University of Helsinki. In the final on Friday evening, the applicants of the University of Vienna, finally shone against the respondents of the host, the University of ELTE. However, the overall victory was not the only award that the Juridicum brought home. All four participants also made it into the 15 best "oralists" of the competition.

Despite the victory in Budapest, the preparations are not over yet. Already in three weeks, the "International Rounds", which are held worldwide, will begin - due to the pandemic, however, not in Washington D.C., but virtually.

The Jessup Moot Court is the oldest and most renowned international law competition in the world.

Based on a fictitious dispute between two states, the students represent the Applicant and Respondent sides before the International Court of Justice. This year's case concerns the prohibition of the use of evidence in international law, the dissemination of fake news to influence elections, the human rights conformity of blocking social media accounts and the legality of cross-border cyber operations. The team is supervised by Martin Baumgartner and Markus Stemeseder from the Department of International Law and International Relations.

The team was supported by the University of Vienna, OBLIN Rechtsanwälte, Schönherr Rechtsanwälte and Völkl Rechtsanwälte.