UCL Vis Moot Court Team success at the 2025 CIETAC Cup Moot in Beijing

The UCL Vis Team has delivered an outstanding performance in the CIETAC Cup Moot in Beijing, reaching the semi-finals and placing in the top four of 103 international teams competing. One of the team members, Eleonora Keller Rodriguez (LLM), was awarded Best Individual Oralist of the semi-final, while Juliette Groothaert (LLM) received the same award in a previous round. The mooting competition is a platform for law students to participate in simulated arbitration cases, and develop experience in international dispute resolution.  

The 23rd China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Cup International Commercial Arbitration Moot was held from 28 November to 5 December and featured 221 rounds of intense competition. This consisted of a written phase, in which all teams had to prepare two memoranda on behalf of Claimant and Respondent, and the oral phase, which was divided into virtual general rounds followed by in-person elimination rounds. Only the best 16 teams of the general rounds moved through to the elimination rounds, including UCL. The team flew to Beijing within 24 hours of the announcement of the general round results, and jumped straight into the in-person elimination rounds after a long-haul flight. The UCL team was the first from the UK to ever participate in this stage of the competition in person. 

The elimination rounds and finals in Beijing attracted more than 1 million views online. Over 1,000 contestants competed, and the event was supported by 23 international arbitration institutions, with more than 270 professionals from 27 countries and regions serving as judges. UCL’s performance was a team effort that involved tireless preparation, extensive oral practice rounds, and long feedback sessions with coaches. 

LLM student and team coach, Peter Horstkotte, said: “It was and is a great honour to represent UCL at an international level. We are incredibly grateful for all the support we receive from the entire UCL Laws Faculty and Staff, especially our incredible Vis Team Supervisor Myrto Tachia. Everybody has worked tirelessly to make this competition happen – an aspect that gave us additional motivation for the competition. In China itself, it was incredibly enriching to see how highly UCL is regarded. Not only did we meet several alumni from the Faculty, but many other participants approached us to express their admiration for having made it to UCL and to tell us that their greatest wish was to be able to study at UCL one day.”

Travelling to Beijing proved to be an incredible experience for the team, and in the few spare moments they had in between competing they embraced the Chinese culture by enjoying local cuisine and visiting significant sites including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China. 

“Competing in Beijing truly made you understand why China is titled the ‘Middle Kingdom’," said Alexander Pitlarge (LLM; Oralist). "Seeing the scale of the city, and meeting competitors from incredibly varied regions of the country made you feel at the centre of another world. This was a testament to CIETAC and all the other teams, who we’re grateful to for creating the most amazing atmosphere!”.

Following their impressive result, the team enjoyed an “unforgettable” awards banquet where they were able to celebrate with everyone else who had competed in Beijing. There were also honoured to meet leading arbitrator Professor Dr Stefan Kröll – Chairman of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) and one of the Directors of the prestigious Willem C. Vis Arbitration Moot (Vis Moot) – and also Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, Wang Chengjie, who personally welcomed the UCL team in his speech.

Now that they are back from competing in Beijing, the UCL Vis Team is continuing to prepare heavily for the 33rd Vis Moot competition in Vienna next year.

"Beijing was an incredibly enriching experience for the team," explained Rahul James (LLM; Coach). "The team worked incredibly hard in a very short period of time. It has put us in a good position going into 2026!"

Congratulations to the whole team, and good luck with preparations for next year's Vis Moot!

UCL Vis Moot Court Team 

• Eleonora Keller Rodriguez (LLM) – Oralist
• Juliette Groothaert (LLM) – Oralist
• Alexander Pitlarge (LLM) – Oralist
• Rahul James (LLM) – Coach
• Peter Horstkotte (LLM) – Coach
• Kai Min Hii (LLB, third year) – Coach
• Jackson Eaton Parfitt (LLB, second year) – Researcher
• Owen Johnson (LLB, third year) – Researcher
• Ferdinand Prostmeier (LLM) – Researcher

Those in bold are the team members who were sent to Beijing.