Liverpool Law School students compete in Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
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From February 16th to 18th 2024, a team of students from the University of Liverpool Law School travelled to Lincoln’s Inn, London, to compete in the UK national rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition – the largest and most prestigious mooting competition in the world.
This year's moot problem addressed a range of complex and cutting-edge international law issues, including the right to political expression, statelessness, the right to a nationality, standing before the International Court of Justice, and the scope of the United Nations Security Council's authority.
After four intense preliminary rounds, Claudia Muresan (LLM), Pritpal Bhambra (3rd year LLB), Jamilia Kwajah-Ellimah (3rd year LLB), Olivia Mitchell (3rd year LLB), and Fraser Palmer (2nd year LLB) ranked 9th overall out of 20 competing universities. Each team member earned consistently high speaker scores, and Jamilia ranked an impressive 14th out of all individual oralists in the preliminary rounds. The team's written memorial also ranked 9th nationally.
The team was unlucky not to be one of the final 8 teams to reach the quarter-finals, missing out by only a handful of points, reflecting the extremely high standard and competitiveness of the UK national rounds. The eventual winners of the UK rounds were University College London. Best of luck to them and to the other 3 UK teams that advanced to the international rounds of the competition, which will be held in Washington, DC next month.
Liverpool Law School Jessup Moot team member Pritpal Bhambra said: "This competition was one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my academic journey. Prior to this competition, I had no knowledge of international law. Nevertheless, I took on the tasks of researching consular relations and the bindingness of UN Security Council Resolutions. Balancing Jessup alongside university and a part-time job was challenging. However, this experience taught me invaluable time-management skills and the importance of perseverance."
Congratulations to the Liverpool team for all its hard work and for representing the University so well, and many thanks to everyone in the Liverpool Law School who supported the team as it prepared for the competition, in particular their coach, Liverpool graduate Tori Hawley.
If you are a current student interested in participating in the Liverpool Law School's team for the 2025 Jessup Competition, details of how to apply will be shared soon in the Law School Life Bulletin and on the School of Law and Social Justice's social media channels.