Team NALSAR, Hyderabad, will represent India at the finals of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world's largest and most prestigious moot court tourney in Washington D.C.
The team was selected after qualifying rounds which witnessed participation of more than 100 students in 36 teams from 31 law universities and colleges. Team NALSAR (National Academy of Legal Studies and Research), which beat National Law University, Odisha, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, and National Law University, Jodhpur, in the final round of a four-day tourney at Amity Law School Amity University, Noida, will now contest at the prestigious global final round which takes place every year in Washington D.C.
The four winners of the NALSAR team are Sadhika Gulati, Tanvir Apte, Poorvi Mehta and Abhishek Babbar.
Nearly 100 judges—law professors, practitioners, scholars, and Jessup alumni—judged the students in two days of preliminary and quarterfinal rounds, culminating in Sunday’s semi-final and final rounds. The final round was judged by Justice S.K. Kaul, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, Justices R.K. Gauba and Pratibha M. Singh, sitting judges of the Delhi High Court and other international delegates.
The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is administered by the International Law Students Association (ILSA), a non-profit association of students and lawyers who are dedicated to the promotion of international law. ILSA provides students with opportunity to study, research, and network in the international legal arena.
Marking the end of a 4-day long Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, 2019, Amity Law School organised a valedictory function on Monday at Amity University, Noida wherein the team from NALSAR, Hyderabad lifted the winners' trophy.
Dr Ashok Chauhan, founder-president, Amity, which hosted the qualifying rounds said: “We Indians have the best legal acumen because we have instincts and intuition. There is no comparison of Indian legal brains.”
The competition is held every year in memory of Philip Jessup, an American diplomat, scholar, and jurist notable for his accomplishments in the field of international law. Despite being hounded by the controversial Senator Joseph McCarthy, who managed to block his several civil service postings, Jessup served as ambassador-at-large and was elected to be a member of the International Court of Justice at the Hague, where he served as a judge from 1961 to 1970.
