March 06, 2012

LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science), UK, LLM student wins 2012 UK Jessup Mooting Cup

Source: LSE

Current LSE LLM student Rebecca Russell-Carroll together with LLB students Mashal Kadri, Soham Panchamiya, Zachariah Sammour and Yik Boh Ting has won the 2012 UK Jessup Cup. The students defeated Oxford’s team in finals that were presided over by the former FCO Legal Adviser, Sir Michael Wood.

The competition addresses a fictional dispute before the International Court of Justice, raising several contentious issues of public international law, such as recognition of governments, use of force and responsibility of international organisations, destruction of cultural property during armed conflict and whether sovereign immunity should be upheld in face of serious violations of human rights.

The Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world's largest moot, with more than 500 law schools from 80 countries participating each year. The UK national competition took place on the 16-19 February at The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn in London.

After four preliminary and three elimination rounds, the LSE team ranked first amongst the 17 UK universities participating this year. It is the first time that LSE has won the UK competition since 2005, and only the third time since the UK rounds were first held in 1973. The team will now travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the White & Case International Rounds taking place on 25-31 March. The United Kingdom will also be represented by teams from Oxford (runners-up) and King's College London (3rd place).