UC3M team wins Jessup national round in Spain

A team of students from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has won the national round of the 2024 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition after defeating representatives from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) in the final round. For the 14th consecutive year, Cuatrecasas hosted the national round of this prestigious competition—the world leader in moot courts—which was held at its Barcelona office from February 20 to 22.

Over 3 days, 35 students from 7 Spanish universities—UC3M, UAM, ESADE, IE University, Universidad de Deusto, Universidad de Murcia and Universitat Pompeu Fabra—organized into 7 teams, had an unforgettable experience and worked on important aspects of their profession such as oral skills, teamwork and legal research. This year, the competition revolved around “The Case Concerning the Sterren Forty,” a public international law dispute between two states, related to the right to political expression, the right to a nationality, border control and the interpretation of the relevant international treaties.

Once the final round was completed, and after analyzing the performance of the two finalist teams, the judging panel—comprising some of the firm’s lawyers among its members—decided that the UC3M team deserved to win this edition. Team members Gerardo Guijarro, María Ramos, Bente Scheepvaart, Eduardo Seemann and Marta Vázquez, together with coaches María de Arcos and Ana Mañá, will be traveling to Washington D.C. for the international round, which will be held held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel from March 30 to April 6.

Nicolette Butler, senior lecturer in law at the University of Manchester and a jury panel member for this year’s national round, highlighted: “It is a highly prestigious competition. The caliber of the participants was outstanding. Both I and the other judges were surprised at the level of the two teams. The winning team was just slightly better, but both teams were phenomenal. The organization and venue—everything—was marvelous; I really enjoyed it.”

Marta Vázquez, student representative of the winning team, emphasized: "We are very happy to have won the final. These past days have been very intense and emotion-packed. All the teams demonstrated an impressive level of skill, both legally and socially. Our gratitude goes to the judges and to Cuatrecasas for organizing the competition. It has been an amazing experience and truly an honor to have been part of this edition.”

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, held for the first time in 1960, is an international competition for law students that attracts participants from around 650 law schools in over 90 countries. The winning teams from each country will compete for first place in the international rounds that will be held in Washington D.C. from March 30 to April 6.