International Moot Court Competition in Iraq

January 10, 2013

U.S. Embassy Baghdad

Office of the Spokesman

For Immediate Release                         

The U.S. Mission in Iraq, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), hosted the national 2013 Moot Court Competition, a simulated dispute before the International Court of Justice, at the Saad Conference Center in Erbil from January 6 to 8.  This unique event was managed by the USAID/Access to Justice Project and Iraqi law schools.  

This three-day National Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition was part of a larger international competition which enables the best law students from around the world to gain experience and improve their knowledge and skills while competing with one another. This year’s competition brought together nineteen Iraqi law school teams consisting of five members each: a total of 95 Iraqi law students and 40 professors.  The professors acted as judges and team mentors. 

During his opening remarks, keynote speaker David Harden, USAID Deputy Mission Director in Iraq, said “I am really pleased to see that USAID’s Access to Justice Project is supporting Iraq’s next generation of lawyers and that there is such a large interest among law schools and students in this year’s competition.”

This is the third year that Iraqi students have participated in the competition.  The two best Iraqi teams will participate in the 54th International Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in the United States, organized by the International Law Students Association (ILSA). This is the world's largest law student competition, and Iraq’s winning teams will compete with participants from over 550 law schools from more than 80 countries.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is committed to continuing its support of the Iraqi judicial system through bilateral professional development programs on Judicial Cooperation, as outlined by the Strategic Framework Agreement.