Leiden University bags the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition 2023

The Leiden University team won the 46th edition of the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition. Besides winning the final round, the team was also awarded the prize for Best Memorial on Behalf of the Respondent.

After three years of online mooting due to the pandemic, the 46th edition of the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition took place in person again. This year’s Telders case, written by Dr Brian McGarry (Leiden University) and titled ‘Brackfish is Served’, touched upon the jurisdiction of international courts, the nullity of arbitral awards, the law of treaties, state responsibility, food security, and the law of the sea.

Over two days, Thursday 15 June and Friday 16 June, all 26 participating teams delivered four rounds of oral pleadings at the Campus The Hague of Leiden University. The finals took place on Saturday 17 June at the Peace Palace in The Hague, between Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and Leiden University. This final round was judged by a distinguished bench: Hilary Charlesworth (Judge at the International Court of Justice), Margaret deGuzman (Judge at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals) and Martin Doe (Deputy Secretary-General and Principal Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration). After the deliberation by the judges, the Leiden University team was declared the winner of the competition.

The Leiden University team was composed of: Sophia Mashadi, Sarah Dent Cullen, Hannah Dorigny, John Mehaffy, all of whom are currently studying the Regular LL.M. in Public International Law. The team was coached by Annick Vossebelt, part of the teaching and research staff at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, and Anh Nguyen, student of the Regular LL.M. in Public International Law.