The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition Explained

The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition.[1] is an international moot court competition on WTO law.[2] [3] [4] The competition takes place on a yearly basis, with its first edition dating back to 2002. The competition was formerly known as ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO but has been renamed in 2018 after the American professor of law John Howard Jackson.

The competition is structured into six regional rounds all over the world and a final oral round where around 25 selected teams take part in. Each edition of the moot court hosts around one hundred teams constituted of two to four law students.

The Competition simulates a hearing of the WTO dispute settlement system. Teams prepare and analyse a fictitious case created by specialists of WTO Law and present their arguments for both the Complainant and the Respondent, first in a written format and then in front of a Panel which consists of WTO and trade law experts.

The competition is organised by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) and is technically supported by the World Trade Organization.[5] It gathers participants from around 40 countries and 80 universities every year. The 18th and the 19th editions of the Competition where mainly organised online.

Since 2020, Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the WTO, is the Patron of the Competition.

The competition

Organisers

The Competition is organized by the international board of the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA). The European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) is an international, independent, non-political, non-profit making organisation for students and recent graduates in the field of Law. ELSA organises international project, amongst which the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition.

The administrative planning of the Competition, the coordination of the Regional Rounds, and the organisation of the Final Oral Round is carried out by ELSA and the regional rounds of the competition are organized by selected hosts (universities, entities, firms)[6]

Sponsors and supporters

The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition is supported by multiple historical sponsors, in addition to the technical support of the World Trade Organization. They are providing financial and academic support to the organisation.

Van Bael & Bellis is the main sponsor of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition. Baker McKenzie, Akin Gump and Steptoe are the gold sponsors of the Competition and Sidley Austin and White and Case are the silver sponsors of the Competition.

Georgetown Law is the main academic supporter of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition and the World Trade Institute (WTI) and the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) are the academic supporters of the Competition

Awards

During the Regional Rounds as well as during the Final Oral Round of the Competition, some teams and some participants are Awarded. The sponsors and supporters of the Competition are providing prizes for some of the Awards during the Competition.

The awards are:

Structure of the competition

1. The Written Round

On the 15th of September, the new edition is launched and the Case if published. The teams taking part in the competition have then between four and five months to draft two written submissions of 35 pages maximum each, one for each side of the dispute (Complainant and Respondent).

This round is not eliminatory, and all the teams submitting the written submissions will take part in the Regional Rounds. There the scores of the written submissions will be added to the scores they will receive in their pleading.

2. The Regional Rounds

All the teams that submitted a Written Submission will proceed to one of the 6 Regional Oral Rounds, depending on their location, from February to May of the second semester of the Edition. They will then plead against each other in sessions of 2 hours 30, at least two times.

Six rounds, as follow, are taking place in a new location every ear, hosted by Institution, chapters of ELSA or ALSA[7] or Universities:

They will first plead for the Complainant and the Respondent side in the preliminary sessions, then the four selected teams will plead during the Semi-Finals of the regional round and the winning teams of the Semi-Finals are taking part in the Final of the Round, open to public.

3. Final Oral Round

The 25 selected teams of the Regional Rounds gather in Geneva, at the WTO Headquarters and at the Graduate Institute,[8] where the Final Oral Round of the competition takes place at the end of June.

The Final Oral Round is structured in the same way as the regional rounds.

Overview of the previous editions[9]

Winners of the previous editions

!Edition!Year!Winning Team
20th2021-22University of Zurich, Switzerland[10]
19th2020-21University of Colombo, Sri Lanka[11]
18th2019-20Government Law College, Mumbai, India[12] [13]
17th2018-19Strathmore University, Kenya
16th2017-18Graduate Institute for International Studies, Switzerland
15th2016-17Harvard Law School, USA[14]
14th2015-16Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
13th2014-15National University of Juridical Sciences, India
12th2013-14University of Athens, Greece
11th2012-13Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
10th2011-12Graduate Institute for International Studies, Switzerland
9th2010-11University of Melbourne, Australia
8th2009-10National University of Juridical Sciences, India
7th2008-09University of Melbourne, Australia
6th2007-08University of Los Andes, Colombia
5th2006-07University of Melbourne, Australia
4th2005-06University of Sydney, Australia
3rd2004-05City University London, United Kingdom
2nd2003-04 London School of Economics, United Kingdom
1st2002-03University College London, United Kingdom

Cases of the previous editions

!Edition!Case!Case Authors
19thBudica - Measures relating to the importation and marketing of nutrition food barsGustavo Guarín-Duque;

Julián Becerra-Sánchez;

Sara Lucía Dangón-Novoa

18thTaikon– Requirements on the Importation of Prepared Foods and Live Animals from AstorGeraldo Vidigal
17thZycron – Certain Measures Related to Electric Vehicles Charging Points and InfrastructureMaria Anna Corvaglia;

Rodrigo Polanco Lazo

16thBorginia– Measures Affecting Trade in Textile ProductsProf. James J. Nedumpara
15thThe CHIMEHA FTA between Chilo, Meco and HaitoDr. Gabrielle Marceau
14thEriador – Measures affecting the electricity sectorAndrew Lang
13thViridium – Measures Affecting the Agricultural Sector Nicolas Lamp
12thAquitania – Measures Affecting Water Distribution and Sewage Collection ServicesMarkus Krajewski
11thFixitania – Certain Measures affecting Financial Services and Influencing the Exchange-rateProf. Dr. Christoph Herrmann
10th
9thRusselia – Measures Affecting the Importation of Sheep and Sheep Products from AldousiaDr Tomer Broude;

Dr Lukasz Gruszczynski

8thIpland Certain Measures Affecting the Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property RightsProf. Bryan Mercurio
7thEcoland – Measures Relating to Biofuels Made from Pine ConesProf. Bradly Condon
6thTeleland – Measures Affecting Telecommunications ServicesProf. Shin-yi Peng
5thFactoril – Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceutical PatentDr Tania Voon
4thSubsidia – Agricultural Subsidies on Sweet Biscuits, Wheat & PorkProf. Jacques Bourgeois;

Prof. David A. Gantz;

Dr. Laura Nielsen

3rdDispute concerning Paradise – Differential Tariff Restrictions on Food Imports from Developing CountriesProf. Robert Howse
2ndDispute Concerning Mullavia - Measures Undertaken for the Establishment of the CUMCURIA ArrangementDr James Mathis
1stBohemian Union – Import Restrictions on Tuna from the Empire of Avalon.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: johnhjacksonmoot. 2021-04-14. en-US.
  2. Web site: John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition. 2021-05-05. www.law.georgetown.edu. en-US.
  3. Web site: ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION, WTO Dispute Settlement System. 2021-05-05. Advocacy. en.
  4. Web site: WTO Moot Court 2016/2017. 2021-05-05. www.ivr.uzh.ch. de.
  5. Web site: WTO - Elsa Moot Court. 2021-05-05. www.wto.org.
  6. Web site: Moot Court. 2021-05-05. American University Washington College of Law. en.
  7. Web site: Asian Law Students' Association Always be One!. 2021-04-14. en-US.
  8. Web site: WTO Moot Court Competition IHEID. 2021-05-05. www.graduateinstitute.ch.
  9. Web site: johnhjacksonmoot Former Editions. 2021-04-14. en-US.
  10. Web site: WTO Hosts 20th Edition of John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition. 2022-08-06. www.wto.org. en.
  11. Web site: WTO announces winners of John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition. 2022-08-06. www.wto.org. en.
  12. Web site: WTO awards winners of John H. Jackson Moot Court competition's final round. 2021-04-14. www.wto.org. en.
  13. Web site: 2020-06-30. WTO awards winners of John H. Jackson Moot Court competition's final round. 2021-04-19. Global NGO Impact News. en-US.
  14. Web site: 2012-11-14. WTO. 2021-05-05. Harvard Law School Moot Court. en-US.