The Jessup Moot Court Competition
The Jessup Moot Court Competition is the biggest in the world. But what is it? In this post, I explain a little about it and how I plan to engage with this year's topics.
11/20/2024
It's that time of year. Law students around the globe are getting stressed out trying to balance studying for finals, being a part of approximately one million associations, and oh yeah, eating breakfast. It's hard to have a proper balance in law school. And once finals are over, then comes another problem for thousands of students around the world: the Jessup.
Now I know that a whole lot of the readers of this short post will not know what the Jessup even is. Honestly, I don't like when those in Jessup call it "that Jessup," but look, I've done it multiple times already. Long story short, Jessup is a moot court competition that is worldwide. Hundreds of law schools participate and thousands of students across the globe put together teams and try to fight their way through regional/national rounds and into international rounds.
The most interesting part of it all, though, is what they are actually arguing about. Jessup is not your ordinary moot court, especially if you are, like me, from the United States and thinking that all moot courts must consist of sweaty try-hards arguing about intense criminal law or some invigorating personal injury case. No; Jessup is something truly unique. It is international law.
If that's a shock, go back and read my description of the Jessup. It is worldwide, it is the world's largest moot court competition for a reason. But that brings us to the point of this post: does Jessup, or international law, even matter?
I participated in the Jessup for two years. I argued things like economic sanctions, passports, and hazardous waste cleanup. The interesting part was the use of treaties and customary international law to back up my arguments. It is truly astounding to see just how many times the countries around the world have come together and at least made attempts to help each other. While for the most part, these efforts are wishful thinking, it is still fascinating to think about what our world could be if international law was actually taken seriously.
Consider this year's topics (2024-2025): 1) the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice; 2) the ability of one state to arrest and prosecute a former government official from another; 3) the ability of a state to freeze its baselines despite its receding coastline; and 4) how one state can decide which person claiming to be a leader of another state actually is the leader. These are just the broad overview of the topics, as they go much, much deeper than this.
Because this year I am no longer in law school (I graduated), I'd like to at least lend a hand to those folks studying and training for the Jessup this year by posting some stuff here on my ideas. Just some general thoughts on how to argue certain points, which side may have the upper hand on some issues, etc.
I do this because I really do think international law matters. I think Jessup matters. And I think this because I really believe that cooperation is the way to move forward with things. For example, green energy can progress so much more if collaboration between scientists across the globe was encouraged even more. Another example: peace can be more readily accomplished if the nations of the world actually abided by the treaties they have between them.
By examining the Jessup problems, maybe we can just get a sense of some of the issues that are at the forefront of the international legal arena. But even moreso, I hope we can get some ideas of how international law might grow in prevalence. Over the next few months, expect a few posts on those Jessup topics I listed above. If you'd like to make sure you see those posts, sign up for the newsletter! Reminder: it's free and always will be.