The Pax Moot Competition – The Hague

The PAX Moot – Inter-University Moot Competition in Private International Law is a moot court competition between teams of students from universities around the world, that focuses on transnational civil and commercial litigation and on issues of private and procedural international law. Transnational civil and commercial litigation presents significantly greater complexities than domestic litigation, due to the differences in the legal traditions, political systems, social and cultural values ​​of the various jurisdictions involved. As part of the Pax Moot, the participating teams will learn the principles, rules and techniques of this particular legal sector, with a particular focus on the problems of identifying the competent courts and the applicable law, as well as of the recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions. The competition is organized by Science Po University of Paris, in cooperation with the partners in the JUDGTRUST project, funded by the European Commission. This project is coordinated by the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, research institute for International Law, European Law, and Private International Law.

The competition officially begins every year, in November, with the publication of “The Case”, the same for all teams, and is divided into two phases:
a) a written phase, aimed at the drafting of two memorials in English, both for the Claimant and for the Respondent, which must be sent to the organization within the following month of April;
b) an oral phase, which takes place over a few days in May(between Belgium and The Netherlands), in which the participating teams will be involved in oral hearings before courts composed by distinguished and eminent experts of the field, where they will defend the positions of both the Claimant and the Respondent.

Participation in the competition allows the development of a series of valuable and highly appreciated skills in international professional contexts (knowledge of legal English; techniques of written and oral legal advocacy; in-depth expertise of subject-matters of strategic relevance in transnational dispute settlement; use of paper and electronic legal resources; ability to work in a team).

For general information about the competition, please visit the official website of the Pax Moot: https://paxmoot.com/