UCL Laws team win Jessup UK national championships for second year in a row

Over three gruelling days, from 21–23 February, LLB and LLM students representing UCL Laws in the UK National Rounds of the prestigious Jessup Moot Court Competition emerged from a strong field as UK national champions. This builds on the UCL’s national championship performance last year, and will see the UCL team proceed to international rounds in Washington DC.

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world's largest moot court competition. This year around 800 law schools are participating globally, with teams from around 100 countries presenting oral and written pleadings to simulate a dispute between states before the International Court of Justice. 

UCL’s team—Nandini Bulchandani (LLM), Sophie Doucette (LLB), Erika Kaperonis (LLB), Marko Stankovic (LLM) and Gavin Teo (LLB) —won four national preliminary rounds against teams from across the UK over two days, and were then victorious in quarter-, semi- and grand final rounds held in quick succession on Sunday 23 February. Each of the seven moots were judged by expert benches of three drawn from international legal practice and academia. Sir Michael Wood, former principal Legal Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and member of the International Law Commission, presided over the final round.

In addition to being crowned national champions, the team won (jointly) the award for the best-written Memorial, and received two out of the top five awards for oralists in the preliminary rounds (Nandini Bulchandani and Erika Kaperonis). 

The team’s success so far is testament to an immense amount of work. It marks the culmination of months of research and drafting while mastering both international law and the substance of a complex problem. It also reflects the outstanding contribution of UCL’s coaches Madhavi Gerbitz (LLB) and Athena Kam (LLM), and of a wider community supporting the team. Alumna Draga Petrovic (LLM International Law 2023), who coached UCL’s national championship team last year, offered advice on oral advocacy. PhD candidates Céline Chausse and Gal Cohen led seminars in the undergraduate International Mooting module which supported the Jessup moot. Professor Kimberley Trapp and Dr Megan Donaldson served as faculty advisers to the team, and colleagues from both faculty and our research student community heard practice pleadings.

Professor Eloise Scotford said: “We are hugely proud of the Jessup team for this back-to-back national championship performance. UCL’s success in the Jessup competition demonstrates the calibre of public international law teaching in the Faculty. It also highlights the Faculty’s commitment to supporting the kinds of intensive training opportunities in research, advocacy and collaborative work which shape careers and lives. We’re immensely grateful to the coaches, seminar leaders, and academic leads who make this possible, and look forward to supporting the UCL Laws team as they prepare for international rounds!”

Many congratulations to the UCL Laws team on their much-deserved victory!