Canadian National Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (the “Jessup”) is the largest moot court competition in the world. It is an annual competition engaging subjects of public international law:
The 2018 Jessup Compromis addresses the validity of interstate arbitration awards, the capture of a marine vessel, breaches of nuclear disarmament obligations, and the conduct of naval warfare.
The international rounds will take place in Washington, DC in April 2018. A full description of the Jessup can be found here. Canada will be sending two teams to compete at the international rounds.
In order to select those Canadian teams advancing to the competition in Washington, DC, competing Canadian law schools gather for an annual qualifying competition. This year’s competition will take place in Fredericton, New Brunswick from February 22 – 24, 2018. Up to sixteen Canadian law schools will be gathering in Fredericton to vie to be one of Canada’s representatives to the international rounds.
In order to successfully run the Canadian National competition, we require volunteers to serve as judges. We seek judges both for the memorials (the students' written arguments) as well as for the oral rounds. The written submissions will need to be judged in late January to early February. Judging oral rounds requires judges be present in Fredericton for their assigned rounds between February 22-24, 2018. Volunteer judges are provided with background materials to assist them (including a Bench Memorandum). In many jurisdictions, serving as a moot court judge counts for Continuing Legal Education / Continued Professional Development credit.
Oral round judges participate in panels of three and score the performance of competing schools.
Les participants au concours canadien ont le droit de présenter leurs arguments en français ou en anglais. Alors les juges qui sont capable de juger les arguments en français sont particulièrement appréciés. Par contre, le concours international ne fonctionne que en anglais alors le compromis et matériaux (en y inclus le "Bench Memo") sont disponible uniquement en anglais.
Rounds will take place at the Fredericton Convention Centre. For those judges coming from out of town, discounted accommodations will be arranged.
Oral round judges are provided breakfast and lunch and all judges are also invited to the final awards gala to be held on February 24, 2018. Rounds typically last 2.5 hours, and require about the same amount of time for preparation.
If you are interested in serving as a judge, please contact the National Administrator, David Quayat (quayat@msn.com). Additionally, please feel free to pass along this email to friends or colleagues who may also be interested in judging.