Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

The Council has always encouraged participation in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition as such activities enhance student knowledge of international law and the peaceful settlement of international disputes. The Jessup competition provides law students with a unique opportunity to prepare written and oral arguments on complex issues of international law involving a hypothetical case before the International Court of Justice.

The CCIL has a long-standing association with the Canadian round of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The Canadian Division has been hosted by one of the Canadian law schools in the winter every year since 1973. The International Round of the Jessup, the White & Case Jessup Cup, is organized by the International Law Students Association.

The CCIL was pleased to have hosted the 2024 Canadian rounds of the Jessup in Ottawa, Ontario for the first time and continues to support the 2025 and 2026 Canadian rounds in Ottawa.

Past Competitions

Twelve Canadian law schools compete in the 2026 Canadian Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition in Ottawa

The 2026 Canadian Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition took place in Ottawa from February 19 -21. The moot problem was “The Case Concerning the Gordian Gorge”.

The National Administrator, Maggie MacDonald, welcomed 12 law schools, over 70 volunteer judges and more than 30 student volunteers from across Canada.

In the Canadian final rounds the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa met the University of New Brunswick and Osgoode Hall – York University met University of Toronto. uOttawa and Osgoode triumphed in their final rounds, with uOttawa being named as the national champion. Along with third place finalist, University of Toronto, all three schools represented Canada at the International Rounds in Washington D.C. which concluded on April 4, 2026

In Washington, Osgoode advanced from the preliminary rounds ranked fourth in the world. Osgoode ultimately made it all the way to the quarterfinals before they were defeated by Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) who advanced to the Championship round.

Canada won memorial awards – Osgoode’s memorials ranked 8th in the world while Toronto’s ranked 20th. Toronto also won the top respondent memorial at the international rounds. Canada also had two speakers place in the top 50 in the world. Nikesh Mehta-Spooner ranked 21st and Patrick Weston ranked 48th after the preliminary rounds (both are from Osgoode)

This year students participating in the Canadian final rounds had the privilege of being judged by ad hoc judge of the International Court of Justice, his Excellency John Currie. Judge Currie was joined by the authors of this year’s Jessup problem, Dwight Newman and Michelle Biddulph, making for two difficult final benches.

Congratulations to all the competitors for their hard work.