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MILAN LIPOVSKÝ
CYIL 4 ȍ2013Ȏ
public international law, because the participating teams represent 550 law schools
based in more than 80 countries, including the Czech Republic. Obviously not all
these schools are able to send their teams to the international rounds that take place
in Washington D.C., USA, at the beginning of every year. The national rounds are
designed to select the best team (or, in larger countries, teams) that get through to
the international rounds and compete for that particular year’s best team award. The
so called compromis is on a written basis – a fictitious scenario, usually based on
some current issues that the international community deals with or has dealt with
and lays down four questions as a prayer for relief. Each team needs to write a written
submission for both applicant and respondent and send it to ILSA. The moot court
simulates proceedings in front of the International Court of Justice, so, except for
the rules of the competition, the participants need to familiarize themselves with all
possible sources of international law that they can search for and find relevant. The
written phase is followed by preparation of the oral rounds. Both of these phases
are evaluated independently. In the Czech Republic the national rounds alternate
between Prague, Brno and Olomouc, and the 2013 national rounds took place within
the beautiful premises of Anglo-American University in Prague. The oral rounds
truly simulate the International Court of Justice proceedings; hence the participants
need to present their case as well as respond to the questions of judges and to
arguments presented by their opponents. And manage to do this within a set time
limit. Due to this, the competition is more exciting and helps the students enhance
their presentation skills as well as find what weaknesses they need to improve. The
teams may consist of a maximum of 5 members, so there are mostly four speakers
and one researcher; however, this plan of action is not mandatory. The teams are
then evaluated according to the quality of their performance, and the best team (only
one in the Czech Republic) proceeds to the international rounds. The international
rounds themselves are an amazing experience: meeting participants from all over the
world, competing in front of judges/lawyers from different jurisdictions, enhancing
English language skills, and, of course, also being in the US capital city during the
beginning of year, when the trees are blossoming and the sky is deep blue. Since
the competitions simulate the ICJ proceedings, it is not an exception that the finals
judicial panel is presided over by a real ICJ judge. Taking all this information into
account, one cannot doubt that participating in Jessup is an unforgettable experience.
The PF UK’s teams have won the national rounds in many years (e.g. 2007 and
2008) and then competed in the international rounds. As the 2014 rounds are in
preparation, it is worth noting the theme for next year. The competition is going to
concern itself with the conflict between maritime development and conservation,
criminal jurisdiction, and maritime salvage rights.
Jessup is not the only competition that students of the Department of International
Law have participated in. Our team has also succeeded in the
World Human Rights
Moot Court Competition
. This competition was divided into two parts as well, the first
one was written and the second oral. The oral rounds took place 6 – 14 December in