Jessup Moot Court
The 'Jessup' is the largest and oldest international moot court in the field of international law. It was founded in 1959 by students from Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Virginia and has been organized annually by the International Law Students Association (ILSA) ever since. Students from over 500 universities from around 100 countries currently take part.
The Jessup Moot Court is a simulated court hearing in English before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Teams represent both the plaintiff and defendant side of an international legal dispute between two states and must qualify for the International Rounds in Washington, D.C. with written memorials and an oral national elimination round - both in English - where the best teams from more than sixty states meet to compete in a further round of oral proceedings. The judges in the national and international qualifying rounds are professors or practitioners; in the international qualifying round, judges from the ICJ also take part in the negotiations.
In teams of four or five students, the briefs for both sides of the case are prepared from September until the deadline in January and then the oral hearings for the national preliminary decision in February and, if necessary, the international final in Washington, D.C. in March/April are rehearsed. The HU team will be supervised by coaches and the chair of Prof. Marxsen.
For a brief impression of the Jessup, you can find the trailer of “All Rise”, a documentary about six participants of the Jessup 2013/14, here.
Application for the 2026/27 Jessup Moot Court
Interested in solving an unprecedented global crisis instead of taking exams for a change? Then apply to join the HU’s 2026/27 Jessup Moot Court team!
Send your application, including a letter of motivation and resume, a current transcript, and any language certificates or proof of proficiency to jessup@humboldt-moot.de by June 21, 2026.
An info event will take place on June 8, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. sharp in room E23 (including a Q&A and a movie screening).
HU Jessup Team at the German National Rounds in Trier
- Noerr
- WilmerHale
- Dombert Rechtsanwälte
- Dentons
- Posser Spieth Wolfers & Partners
- GleissLutz
- White & Case LLP
- Redeker Sellner Dahs
- Jones Day
- John Faulk
HU Team among the top eight teams of the National Round of the 2024/25 Jessup Moot Court Competition in Leipzig
from left to right: Chiara Rimkus (Coach), Johanna Friedrich (Mootie), Anica Arntz (Mootie),
Philipp Rehm (Coach), Annika Maag (Mootie), Mette-Luise Hellerich (Mootie)
In the national competition organized by the University of Leipzig, the Humboldt University team—comprising Anica Arntz, Mette-Luise Hellerich, Annika Maag, and Johanna Friedrich—achieved an outstanding result, finishing among the top eight teams. In the quarterfinals, the team was narrowly defeated by the eventual national champion, the University of Heidelberg team.
For their excellent performance, the team was honored with several awards: Best Respondent Memorial, Third Best Applicant Memorial, and Second Best Memorial Overall.
The team and the Chair would like to thank all supporters, especially rhetoric coach John Faulk and the sponsors, without whom this success would not have been possible.
Humboldt University advances to the round of the top 32 teams at the International Rounds in Washington, D.C.
1. Photo – back row, from left to right: Julian Schramm (Coach), Bjørn Haubold (Mootie), Sophie Roth (Coach), Julia Nassl (Coach)
front row, from left to right: Jeanette Wald (Mootie), Dana Kwayeb (Mootie), Philipp Rehm (Mootie)
2. Photo – back row, from left to right: Julia Nassl (Coach), Sophie Roth (Coach), Julian Schramm (Coach)
front row, from left to right: Jeanette Wald (Mootie), Dana Kwayeb (Mootie), Bjørn Haubold (Mootie), Philipp Rehm (Mootie)
A fantastic Jessup season came to a close for the HU team with their advancement to the Round of 32 at the Global Rounds in Washington, D.C., which were held from March 30 to April 6, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill. As the German national champion, the team had the honor of presenting the German flag at the opening ceremony and spent seven days competing against the top 150 teams from 85 countries for the prestigious Jessup Cup, which was ultimately won by the University of the Philippines. After highly exciting preliminary round matches against teams from Bhutan, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong, the HU team achieved an outstanding 8th place, thereby advancing directly to the round of the top 32 teams. There, unfortunately, HU was defeated by NYU from the United States. In addition to this outstanding finish, team members Jeanette Wald and Philipp Rehm received individual awards as the 25th best female speaker and 6th best male speaker. Dana Kwayeb and Björn Haubold also achieved outstanding rankings. Participating in the International Rounds was a dream come true for the team. Particular highlights included the “Dress National Ball,” breakfast with the Compromis authors, and the closing gala. This unique season would not have been possible without a whole host of supporters.
The team and the Chair would like to thank rhetoric coach John Faulk and the sponsors who made this experience possible:
- Blomstein
- Checkpoint Charlie Stiftung
- Dentons
- Dombert Rechtsanwälte
- Humboldt European Law School
- Hengeler Mueller
- Jones Day
- Noerr
- PSWP
- Wagner Arbitration
- White & Case
- Wilmer Hale
HU Jessup Team is the 2024 German National Champion
back row, from left to right: Sophie Roth (HU), Julian Schramm (HU), Philipp Rehm (HU), Björn Haubold (HU), Christian Fulda (Judge), Sebastian Kasper (Judge), Tanguy Balcon (Hertie School), Joseph Finnerty (Hertie School), Brian Weatherby (Hertie School), Naomi Whitney-Hirschmann (Hertie School)
front row, from left to right: Jeanette Wald (HU), Julia Nassl (HU), Dana Kwayeb (HU), Theresa Richter (Judge), Anna Hankings-Evans (Judge), Georg Nolte (Judge), Nora Markard (Judge), Magdalena Göbel (Judge), Elise Alexander (Hertie School), Jenny Nguyen (Hertie School)
The HU Jessup Team achieved a spectacular victory in the national preliminary round of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court in Münster: the team prevailed over 17 other teams and will compete as the German National Champion in the International Rounds in Washington, D.C., in early April.
In addition to the overall victory—HU’s first since 2017—Philipp Rehm also won the “Best Oralist in the Championship Round” award. A heartfelt thank you also goes to the organizers of this year’s National Rounds at the University of Münster, who succeeded in bringing the Spirit of the Jessup to a German law school for a weekend.
Humboldt University's Jessup Team for the 2023–24 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
back row, from left to right: Julian Schramm (Coach), Philipp Rehm (Mootie), Björn Haubold (Mootie), Sophie Roth (Coach)
front row, from left to right: Julia Nase (Coach), Jeanette Wald (Mootie), Dana Kwayeb (Mootie)
The 2023–24 Jessup season has begun, and once again this year, a promising HU Jessup team has come together: It consists of Björn Haubold, Dana Kwayeb, Philipp Rehm, and Jeanette Wald, and is coached by Julia Nassl, Sophie Roth, and Julian Schramm. The team is currently in an intensive memo phase and is looking forward to the national rounds in February.
Jessup Moot Court 2022/23: Humboldt University Team Competes in the International Rounds of the Jessup Moot Court
Once again this year, the Humboldt University team participated in the Jessup Moot Court.
In the national rounds, the team—comprising Clara Schweinbach, Elisa Arslan, Mia Hanebeck, and Judith Scherer—already achieved great success: out of 17 teams, the HU team and the Bucerius Law School from Hamburg qualified for the finals, where the HU team was narrowly defeated. The team received the award for “Best Respondents,” Elisa Arslan was named “3rd Best Oralist,” and Judith Scherer was honored as “Best Oralist.”
As “National Champion Runner-Up,” the team qualified for the International Rounds in Washington, D.C., in early April. There, the Humboldt team narrowly missed advancing to the Advanced Rounds after thrilling matches against teams from Panama, Kosovo, India, and Sierra Leone. However, Judith Scherer and Elisa Arslan achieved a great success: among the more than 500 participants, they ranked 13th and 20th in the Best Oralist ranking. This year’s team was coached by Anton Kamke, Simon Ruhland, Nitya Grosser, and Jasper Kamradt.
back row, from left to right: Jasper Kamradt (Coach), Nitya Grosser (Coach), Anton Kamke (Coach), Simon Ruhland (Coach), Mia Hanebeck (Mootie)
front row, from left to right: Clara Schweinbach (Mootie), Judith Scherer (Mootie), Elisa Arslan (Mootie)
We would like to extend a special thank you to our sponsors for their support, which has been instrumental in making our participation possible: