The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the largest and the most prestigious international law advocacy competition in the world. Founded in 1960, it is administered around the world by the International Law Students Association (ILSA). About 2000 students of over 500 law schools from over 80 countries participate in the Jessup Competition annually. The competition is held entirely in English and provides students with unique opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of international law and practice their legal English skills.

The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. The 2010 Jessup Problem addresses the issues of territorial sovereignty, right to self-determination and guarantees provided to investors by bilateral investment treaties.

The competition has two parts. Firstly, the teams prepare their written memorials and secondly, the participants present their oral pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case in front of three qualified judges.

The team from Siberian Federal University took the second place in the national championship of the competition and will represent Russia in the international rounds of the competition taking place in Washington, D.C. in March 2010!

This is the fourth year the students of Comparative Law Department have participated in the competition. 55 teams from different Russian universities took part in the National championship 2010. The team from SFU competed against the teams from such well-known universities as MGUA, MGU and MGIMO. Having won in each round, the team participated in the final round and competed against the team from SPbGU, which became the Russian national champion in 2010.

We congratulate the team of SFU with such a successful performance and hope that the team will perform even better in the international rounds in Wasnington, D.C.!