Hertie School students are most successful EU team in this year's Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.
The Hertie School moot court team reached the octofinals of the 2021 Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in April, placing it as the most successful EU team in a field of nearly 600 teams from all over the world. The Hertie School also won the German national championship for the second time in February.
The team was made up of students Ana Benevides, Mareike Fürst, Marit von Graeve, Hashem Krayem and Dunja Nofal. It was coached by professors Mark Dawson and Pierre Thielbörger as well as postdoctoral researcher Ana Bobic and research associate Kristina Hatas.
"Hertie has built up a great Jessup tradition over the last years, and these five exceptional students have made us coaches very proud", says Pierre Thielbörger.
The Jessup Moot Court is the biggest and most prestigious moot court competition in the world, dealing every year with a fictional dispute between two states under international law. This year’s case concerned a global pandemic, the protection of whistleblowers and the shooting down of a civil airplane on the suspicion of terrorism.
In the German national rounds, organised by the Universität Nürnberg-Erlangen and conducted online, Ana Benevides was honored as best oralist in the final. As Ana said in her acceptance speech: "My advice is simply for everyone to have fun. That is the most important thing."
In the international rounds, the Hertie School competed against teams from the United States, Mexico, Moldova, Sri Lanka, India, Australia and the UK. Despite a very difficult draw (including against the UK and Indian champions), the Hertie School team advanced to beat one of the most successful Jessup teams of all time, the University of Queensland, before being ousted in the Octofinals by the National Law University, Odisha - NLUO (India).
In the final award ceremony, the Hertie School team was also honored as one of the top 10 teams for their performance both as applicant and respondent and for their written submissions ("memorials").
Students interested in joining the Hertie School team next year should look out for the call for application in May or June 2021. The team is open to all students.
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