International Law Moot Court

Course goals

 After this course:

• the student can make a link between theory and practice, by identifying the legal issues and their connection to political contexts that are central to a factually and legally complex case
• the student is able to prepare a written legal brief, thereby demonstrating their competence in acquiring in-depth knowledge and understanding of public international law and the application of international law in practice, particularly in the settlement of a particular interstate dispute;
• by defending the argumentation of that brief orally from the perspective of a particular party’s interests (advocacy), or from that of a judge, the student demonstrates his/her ability to orally communicate in English knowledge, ideas, solutions and conclusions, as well as the arguments, motives and considerations underlying them, to a public of specialists and non-specialists in an understandable, structured, correct and convincing manner;
• the student demonstrates the ability to independently and critically analyse and value written or verbal arguments of their opponents, by examining the opponent’s arguments in relation to the generally accepted knowledge and understanding of the issue in question;
• the student can reflect on their own (professional) performance by taking into account feedback provided by the instructor on a first draft of their memorial, and feedback provided by the instructor and fellow-students on their performance at the oral pleadings practice sessions;
• the student is able to conduct research in a small team, and critically reflect on their own contribution to the team (teamwork).

Content

The Moot Court course offers students who have a solid basic knowledge of public international law the opportunity to deepen their knowledge through the active study of a specific area, problem or current development in public international law.
In this course, all students will have the opportunity to actively participate. Students will improve both their knowledge and their legal skills in public international law by preparing written memorials, and presenting and defending these orally, as well as by discussing and questioning the memorials and pleadings of their colleagues.
The teaching method used in this course consists of a combination of introductory lectures and several seminar sessions for discussions, preparing the written memorials, and the oral pleadings.

As a replacement of this course, a limited number of selected students can participate in, and draft memorials for an international moot court competition (such as Jessup International Law Moot Court, the European Human Rights Moot Court Competition, Manfred Lachs competition and the Helga Pedersen Competition). They will receive coaching from UU staff.


Place of this course within the curriculum:
•         Compulsory course in master Public International Law