Jessup Moot Court
The “Jessup” is the largest and oldest international moot court in the field of international law. It was founded in 1959 by students from Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Virginia and has been organized annually by the International Law Students Association (ILSA) ever since. Students from over 500 universities from around 100 countries currently take part.
The Jessup Moot Court is a simulated court hearing in English before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Teams represent both the plaintiff and defendant side of an international legal dispute between two states and must qualify for the International Rounds in Washington, D.C. with written memorials and an oral national elimination round - both in English - where the best teams from more than sixty states meet to compete in a further round of oral proceedings. The judges in the national and international qualifying rounds are professors or practitioners; in the international qualifying round, judges from the ICJ also take part in the negotiations.
In teams of four or five students, the briefs for both sides of the case are prepared from September until the deadline in January and then the oral hearings for the national preliminary decision in February and, if necessary, the international final in Washington, D.C. in March/April are rehearsed. The HU team will be supervised by coaches and the chair of Prof. Marxsen.
Prerequisites for participation are previous knowledge of or interest in international law, a good command of English, a desire to argue and commitment.
In addition to the acquisition of good knowledge of international law and the teaching of rhetorical and linguistic skills, participation in the Jessup Moot Court can be credited as four elective weekly hours, as a key qualifications module or as a module of subject-oriented foreign languages as part of specialization 6. If participation is not to be credited as exam-relevant coursework, it can alternatively be used for a free extension of one semester.
For a brief impression of the Jessup, you can find the trailer of “All Rise”, a documentary about six participants of the Jessup 2013/14, here.
Reports on former teams can be found here.
Application for the Jessup Moot Court 2023/24
Interested in solving an unprecedented global crisis instead of exams for a change? Apply for the HU team at the Jessup Moot Court 2023/24!
Application requirements are interest in and (preferably) prior knowledge of international law, good English language skills, high motivation and willingness to work in a team. Send your application with a letter of motivation and curriculum vitae (each in English) and a current transcript of records, as well as any language certificates by 12.06.2023 to jessup@humboldt-moot.de. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
An information event will take place on 25.05.2023 at 6 p.m. s.t. in room E23.
We are looking forward to the start of the coming season with a motivated and committed HU team!