Ateneo Law bags 2nd place, student wins Best Speaker at ICC Moot Competition

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MANILA, Philippines — The Ateneo de Manila University School of Law's student team clinched second place at the International Criminal Court's Moot Court Competition, with one of its students winning Best Speaker.   

At the June 18 finals of the ICC Moot Court’s English edition in The Hague, Netherlands, Nikita Alyanna Cordova was awarded Best Speaker.

The ICC Moot Court Competition is held annually as part of the ICC’s Academic Programme, offering top law students from around the world an opportunity to deepen their understanding of international criminal law.

Separate competitions are held based on the participating teams’ working languages. Cordova competed in the English edition, while other versions were conducted in Spanish, French and Chinese. 

In each competition, student teams argue a fictional case from the perspectives of the defense counsel, the prosecution, and the legal representative of the victims.

Legal experts, including judges and legal officers from the ICC and other international tribunals such as the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), evaluate the students’ written memorials and oral pleadings.

ICC Judge Bertram Schmitt served as the competition’s presiding judge. 

The moot court case featured a fictional national from the State of Pentos, a made-up Rome Statute member, who was alleged to have assisted the imaginary Baleran Regime of Northeros in committing crimes against humanity, particularly “gender apartheid” or discriminatory practices based on sex.

According to the rules of procedure, each team is composed of three speakers. They may also have two researchers and two coaches. 

In the final round, Ateneo represented the victims as their common legal counsel, with Cordova serving as the team’s speaker.

Singapore Management University clinched first place in the competition, while Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn from Germany placed third.

The Ateneo School of Law not only placed second, but it also bested 83 of 84 other universities that participated in the preliminary rounds, which drew around 500 students from 45 countries.

The English edition of the ICC Moot Court Competition was organized by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University and the International Bar Association.