The WTO welcomes students to 23rd John H. Jackson Moot Court Finals

The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition is a simulated hearing under the rules of the WTO dispute settlement system involving exchanges of written submissions and adversarial hearings before panelists on international trade law issues. The competition is organized by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA). The WTO has been a technical supporter of the competition since its inception in 2002.

This year, 65 student teams from 35 WTO members competed in the Regional Rounds, including South and West Asia, East Asia and Oceania, Africa, the Americas (North, South, and the Caribbean), and Europe. Nineteen teams competed in the South and West Asia Round, 12 teams were represented in the East Asia and Oceania Round, 11 teams participated in the African Round, eight teams competed in the All-American Round, and 18 teams took part in the two European Regional Rounds. From these 65 teams, 24 qualified for the Final Oral Round, representing a wide global participation from 15 WTO members: Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  

DDG Ellard opened the Final Oral Round and welcomed the students to the WTO on 10 June. In her opening remarks, DDG Ellard emphasized the importance of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition to capacity building by training students in international trade law, legal writing, and oral advocacy skills. DDG Ellard noted that her own experience participating in moot court as a law student showed her “the immense value of the experience you have embarked on in the development of knowledge, skills, and life-long friendships and connections.” DDG Ellard noted that Jackson Moot alumni can be found working in governments, academia, think tanks, law firms, and the WTO Secretariat.

DDG Ellard congratulated Mr Marios Tokas of the Geneva Graduate Institute and Mr Panagiotis Kyriakou of the law firm Archipel, authors of this year's moot problem. She noted that the topic of the case the students have been debating “demonstrates our challenge in addressing modern day problems — such as digital transfer of data, protection of consumer privacy, and regulation of competition (or anti-trust).” She drew the students' attention to the ongoing work in the WTO on digital technologies and trade and e-commerce-related issues. “These efforts underscore the vision that even as trade evolves the rules-based approach with the WTO at its centre must continue to be the way forward with the economic rule of law,” she said.

Noting that the international trade community supports the competition, DDG Ellard thanked all the sponsors and WTO staff members who contributed to the organization of the competition and wished teams the best of luck.

The students also had the opportunity to meet DG Okonjo-Iweala on 13 June and heard from her how much the WTO looks forward to welcoming the students each year not only to the competition, but to the community of international trade law.

During this week, teams are competing against each other before panels of WTO law experts. The grand final of the competition will take place on Saturday, 14 June, and will be livestreamed here.