The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition

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][6] 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)[7]

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:

  • Best Complainant Written Submission Awards, for the Complainant, the Respondent and Overall;
  • Best Orator Awards, for the Preliminaries, the Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals and the Final;
  • Runner up of the round;
  • Winner of the round.

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[8] or Universities:

  • First and Second European Regional Rounds (including all the countries where an ELSA group is present);
  • East Asia & Oceania Regional Round;
  • West & South Asia Regional Round;
  • All American Regional Round;
  • African Regional Round.

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,[9] 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[10]

Winners of the previous editions
Edition Year Winning Team
20th 2021-22 University of Zurich, Switzerland[11]
19th 2020-21 University of Colombo, Sri Lanka[12]
18th 2019-20 Government Law College, Mumbai, India[13][14]
17th 2018-19 Strathmore University, Kenya
16th 2017-18 Graduate Institute for International Studies, Switzerland
15th 2016-17 Harvard Law School, USA[15]
14th 2015-16 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
13th 2014-15 National University of Juridical Sciences, India
12th 2013-14 University of Athens, Greece
11th 2012-13 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
10th 2011-12 Graduate Institute for International Studies, Switzerland
9th 2010-11 University of Melbourne, Australia
8th 2009-10 National University of Juridical Sciences, India
7th 2008-09 University of Melbourne, Australia
6th 2007-08 University of Los Andes, Colombia
5th 2006-07 University of Melbourne, Australia
4th 2005-06 University of Sydney, Australia
3rd 2004-05 City University London, United Kingdom
2nd 2003-04 London School of Economics, United Kingdom
1st 2002-03 University College London, United Kingdom

Cases of the previous editions
Edition Case Case Authors
19th Budica - Measures relating to the importation and marketing of nutrition food bars Gustavo Guarín-Duque;

Julián Becerra-Sánchez;

Sara Lucía Dangón-Novoa

18th Taikon– Requirements on the Importation of Prepared Foods and Live Animals from Astor Geraldo Vidigal
17th Zycron – Certain Measures Related to Electric Vehicles Charging Points and Infrastructure Maria Anna Corvaglia;

Rodrigo Polanco Lazo

16th Borginia– Measures Affecting Trade in Textile Products Prof. James J. Nedumpara
15th The CHIMEHA FTA between Chilo, Meco and Haito Dr. Gabrielle Marceau
14th Eriador – Measures affecting the electricity sector Andrew Lang
13th Viridium – Measures Affecting the Agricultural Sector Nicolas Lamp
12th Aquitania – Measures Affecting Water Distribution and Sewage Collection Services Markus Krajewski
11th Fixitania – Certain Measures affecting Financial Services and Influencing the Exchange-rate Prof. Dr. Christoph Herrmann
10th
9th Russelia – Measures Affecting the Importation of Sheep and Sheep Products from Aldousia Dr Tomer Broude;

Dr Lukasz Gruszczynski

8th Ipland Certain Measures Affecting the Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Prof. Bryan Mercurio
7th Ecoland – Measures Relating to Biofuels Made from Pine Cones Prof. Bradly Condon
6th Teleland – Measures Affecting Telecommunications Services Prof. Shin-yi Peng
5th Factoril – Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceutical Patent Dr Tania Voon
4th Subsidia – Agricultural Subsidies on Sweet Biscuits, Wheat & Pork Prof. Jacques Bourgeois;

Prof. David A. Gantz;

Dr. Laura Nielsen

3rd Dispute concerning Paradise – Differential Tariff Restrictions on Food Imports from Developing Countries Prof. Robert Howse
2nd Dispute Concerning Mullavia - Measures Undertaken for the Establishment of the CUMCURIA Arrangement Dr James Mathis
1st Bohemian Union – Import Restrictions on Tuna from the Empire of Avalon.

References
  1. "johnhjacksonmoot". Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  2. "John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition". www.law.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  3. "ELSA MOOT COURT COMPETITION, WTO Dispute Settlement System". Advocacy. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  4. "WTO Moot Court 2016/2017". www.ivr.uzh.ch (in German). Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  5. "WTO - Elsa Moot Court". www.wto.org. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  6. General Session on participating in the John H. Jackson Moot Court on WTO Law, retrieved 2021-05-24
  7. "Moot Court". American University Washington College of Law. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  8. "Asian Law Students' Association | Always be One!". Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  9. "WTO Moot Court Competition | IHEID". www.graduateinstitute.ch. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  10. "johnhjacksonmoot | Former Editions". Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  11. "WTO Hosts 20th Edition of John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition". www.wto.org. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  12. "WTO announces winners of John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition". www.wto.org. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  13. "WTO awards winners of John H. Jackson Moot Court competition's final round". www.wto.org. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  14. "WTO awards winners of John H. Jackson Moot Court competition's final round". Global NGO Impact News. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  15. "WTO". Harvard Law School Moot Court. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
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