Subject: Invitation to Serve as a Judge for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court
Competition
When was the last time you wore a judge’s robe and were addressed as “Your Excellency?”
The International Law Students Association (ILSA) needs volunteer judges for the United States
South Regional Round of the Jessup Competition, which will be held Feb. 24-26, at the University of
Houston Law Center.
Now in its 53rd year, the Jessup Competition is the world’s largest moot court competition, with
participants from more than 500 law schools in over 80 countries. The competition is a simulation
of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations. Representing both sides of the argument, each team of
students is evaluated based on oral and written pleadings.
This year’s Jessup problem addresses the destruction of a cultural site, the international standing of
a state immediately following a coup d’état, and international responsibility for the use of force by a
state while taking part in a regional operation to bring about democracy.
We are in desperate need of volunteer judges for oral arguments on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday,
Feb. 25. Each oral round is approximately two hours long. Volunteers can judge as few as one or as
many as six oral matches. Overall preparation time to serve as a judge is about two hours.
We need 38 more judges for the following oral rounds:
Friday, Feb. 24
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
9:30 am – 11:30 am
12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Saturday, Feb. 25
Round 4:
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Round 5:
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Quarter Final:
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
If you would like to volunteer to judge memorials and/or oral rounds for the Jessup Competition,
please contact, Juan Amado, the South Regional Administrator at south@ilsa.org, Joe Terrenzio,
ILSA’s Jessup Competition Coordinator at jterrenzio@ilsa.org or Brooke Newman at
banewman@Central.UH.EDU, (713)-743-2071.