The Jessup Moot Court is the largest and oldest international competition in the field of international law. Founded in 1959 by students from Harvard, Columbia and the University of Virginia, it has been organized annually by the International Law Students Association (ILSA) ever since.
Between 500 and 700 teams from over 100 countries take part each year. The competition involves a mock trial conducted in English before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Teams represent the disputing states on both the plaintiff and defendant sides. They compete against teams from other universities by submitting written submissions (‘memorials’) and presenting oral arguments (‘pleadings’) – both in English.
The competition begins in September with the release of the case. Teams then have until mid-January to prepare and submit their written pleadings. In the run-up to the national preliminary round, students focus on preparing their case in order to answer the judges’ questions with confidence.

You can find information about the 2027 National Rounds at Freie Universität Berlin here.