Description:
The Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court (https://www.investmentmoot.org/) is the oldest and most prestigious student competition in the area of investment protection law. The participants will have the chance to deal with one of the fastest developing areas of international law, by both studying and practicing it. The moot consists in a simulated arbitration proceedings, where each university team pleads during oral hearings before Arbitration Tribunals composed by the most eminent arbitrators (academics, professionals and judges) worldwide.
The Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court consists of a simulated arbitration procedure, entirely in English, which involves dozens of Universities worldwide, in the field of International Investment Law and International Investment Arbitration (“Foreign Direct Investment or FDI”). This sector represents one of the most significant economic and legal phenomena of the last decades, including significant transactions in the corporate, energy, telecommunications, procurement, transport and similar fields. It essentially concerns investment contracts and related disputes between, on the one hand, States and public entities and, on the other, private investors (natural or legal persons). Although the means of resolving disputes in the investment sector may be the most varied (state court proceedings, mediation, diplomatic protection), arbitration is by far the most widely used mechanism.
The competition officially begins each year in November, with the publication of a “Case-Study”, the same for all teams, and is divided into two phases: a) a written phase, with the preparation of skeleton arguments, in English, both for the Claimant and for the Respondent, which must be sent to the organization within the following month of February; b) an oral phase, which takes place over a few days in Frankfurt, at the beginning of March, in which the participating teams will have to defend the positions of both the Claimant and the Respondent, before tribunals composed of eminent sector specialists.
In preparation of the final stage in Frankfurt, each year, during January and February, several pre-moots are organized by different Institutions all around the world, where a limited number of teams meet to train in view of the final stage.
The week in Frankfurt, in addition to the oral hearings, offers an exciting program of conferences, seminars, workshops and social events.
Educational Value:
Participation in the competition gives the students the possibility to develop 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).