Moot court

Posted 7 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT·By lanbuk.com

A moot is a mock appeal: students argue a fictional case on both sides, in writing and orally, before judges. Every rule and figure below comes from the competition's own official document, linked beside it. Rules change each year, so always work from the current edition.

Open moots and competitions

Two leading moots

• Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

  International Law Students Association (ILSA) · A dispute between States before the International Court of Justice

  • Held every year since 1960. Teams of law students present oral and written pleadings on public international law in a hypothetical dispute between nations, set out in the Compromis (the Problem). (Source)
  • Each team prepares one Applicant and one Respondent Memorial, and argues both sides orally. (Source)
  Official site Past Jessup editions (problems and rules)

• Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition

  Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria · A hypothetical human rights case

  • The 35th edition (Abidjan, 26 July – 2 August 2026) brought together 61 universities from 22 African countries. (Source)
  • In the preliminary rounds every team argued the hypothetical case four times, twice as Applicant and twice as Respondent, before panels of academics, judges and practitioners. (Source)
  • Participants were assessed on their knowledge of the facts, understanding of international and regional human rights law, analytical ability, persuasiveness, organisation and responsiveness to judicial questioning. (Source)
  • Teams bring two hard-copy memorials (one Applicant, one Respondent); the organisers do not provide printing during the competition. (Source)
  Official site

The written pleading (memorial)

In the Jessup, a memorial must have these parts, in this order. Any other part, such as Questions Presented, is not allowed.

1. 1

   Cover Page

   Team number with A or R, the court, the year, the name of the case and the title of the document (Rule 5.6).

2. 2

   Table of Contents

   Each enumerated section and its page number (Rule 5.7).

3. 3

   Index of Authorities

   Every authority cited, with the pages on which it is cited (Rule 5.8).

4. 4

   Statement of Jurisdiction

5. 5

   Statement of Factsmax 1,200 words

   Limited to the stipulated facts and necessary inferences; no argument or legal conclusions (Rule 5.9).

6. 6

   Summary of Pleadingsmax 700 words

   A substantive summary, not a list of the headings (Rule 5.10).

7. 7

   Pleadingsmax 9,500 words

   The only place for affirmative legal argument (Rule 5.11). Footnotes count towards the limit (Rule 5.13).

8. 8

   Prayer for Relief (or Conclusion)max 200 words

Source: Jessup 2027 Official Rules, Rules 5.5–5.13. Other moots set their own limits; check their rules.

The oral round

• A Moot is 90 minutes of oral pleadings: 45 minutes for the Applicant and 45 for the Respondent.
• Two, and only two, members of each team speak. Before the Moot each team tells the bailiff who is first and second oralist and how its 45 minutes are split.
• No oralist may be given more than 25 minutes, including rebuttal or surrebuttal. Time one oralist does not use cannot pass to the other or be saved.
• Each team may reserve up to five minutes for rebuttal (Applicant) or surrebuttal (Respondent), delivered by one of its two oralists.

Source: Jessup 2027 Official Rules, Rules 6.4–6.5.

Practise on Lanbuk

• Work the problem questions in a timed mock exam, choosing "Problem questions", and compare your argument with the model answer.
• Build your authorities with the case notes in each LLB module, the African Charter and ECOWAS Court judgments, and flashcards.