Sadie Kinnersley (21 years of age) is one of them. But this ‘moot court’ is not her first. During her bachelor’s at the European Law School, the American had also participated in a moot court competition in the field of human rights, in the building of the European Court in Strasbourg. She was successful, her team won and was allowed to do a month-long work placement there. She wanted more, so the (by now) master’s student of Globalisation and Law is participating in the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. “It is a field that I don’t usually have much to do with. That makes it even more interesting.”
This time she is on the other side of the table, as a respondent. As a two-strong team they will be going against the applicant, which now consists of two fellow students. Both parties have collected a pile of preparatory paperwork. But there is hardly any sneaky consultation. Kinnersley: “We learn everything off by heart. A real court doesn’t even do that, but that is the best way for them to test our pleading skills. Besides, they ask all kinds of questions, also un-related to the case, so we have to be well-prepared.” Across from the students there are three members of staff from the Faculty of Law, the imaginary ‘International Court of Justice’ who fire questions at the students during the 45-minute proceedings. The latter, by the way, almost always have their answers ready. And what if they don’t immediately know what to say? Then they sometimes just bluff a little. “As long as you do it with confidence,” she says.
The real International Court of Law deals with disputes between countries, but in ‘the Jessup’ it is all about a fictitious dispute between fictitious countries. “The names always start with an A and an R, for applicant and respondent. This year the plaintiff is from the republic of Antrano and the defence is from the kingdom of Remisia” Kinnersley explains. That sounds more childish than it is. It concerns complicated legal problems: the case is described in about twenty pages. Core concepts include statelessness, consular protection and the binding power of decisions by the UN Security Council.
At the moment the four students from Maastricht oppose one another, but in the actual competition the opposing party will be from another university. During the national round in Amsterdam these were Dutch universities, now they will have international opponents.
With participants from more than seven hundred universities, this moot court competition is the largest worldwide. This is another reason for Kinnersley to participate. In the future, she wants to work abroad, preferably as a human rights lawyer. Now she gets to practice, especially to speak more slowly. Because even though her enthusiasm may be contagious, she does need to be understood, she was told afterwards. Is that nerves? “Not at the moment, I was nervous in Amsterdam, but also determined to win.” At the end of March, the students and their two coaches will fly to Washington for the competition. On 6 April they will know whether they have won that one too.