The HNC Excels in Jessup International Law Moot Court National Rounds

HNC Team

Considered the gold standard, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competition is the world’s largest and most competitive. Participants from over 550 law schools, hailing from 80 countries, compete in a realistic fictional dispute before the International Court of Justice. The Court is composed of internationally renowned legal scholars and experts, many of who are judges and lawyers from around the globe. Each year, participants spend 6 months or more conducting in-depth legal research and preparing not only oral but also written pleadings arguing on behalf of the applicant and respondent positions before the Court.

Coached by Professors Thomas Simon and Roda Mushkat, the HNC team (Wu Nan, Chen Yi, Shi Mengjie, Gayoung Park, and Clarise Brown) have worked with great passion and perseverance since September. Despite heavy course loads in their target language, the HNC team worked arduously and devoted significant time to the Jessup Moot Court competition. Moreover, during winter break, they made significant sacrifices in order to rent an apartment in Shanghai and forego the holiday with their families in order to devote their time to practice for the competition

In February, their efforts paid off. Their arguments on the issues of foreign surveillance and cyber-attacks in international law not only provided them a unique opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the role of international law in international relations, but also earned them outstanding recognition as 3rd place in China’s national rounds among over 40 other teams from law schools throughout China. Moreover, their representation of the HNC in the competition reflects not only their hard work, but also the advantage of the HNC’s unique Chinese-English language and international law program.

The HNC has competed in this internationally recognized competition since Professor Simon began the program in 2011. The teams almost always have ranked near the top in the Chinese national round. 2016 marks the second time that the HNC has qualified for the White & Case International Rounds. However, this team achieved the highest ranking ever of any past HNC team. The team looks forward to representing the Hopkins-Nanjing Center once more as finalists in Washington, D.C. March 27-April 2 of this year, competing for the coveted Jessup International Moot Court Cup and worldwide recognition of their skills and efforts.