YSU law students compete in prestigious Telders moot court

This is the second year that YSU has participated in this prestigious international law moot court competition, which brings together teams from different European universities. The competition offers students an exceptional opportunity to develop and demonstrate their knowledge of international law, while also testing their creativity, analytical abilities and advocacy skills in the written and oral rounds of the moot court.

The YSU team included students of the "International Courts and Arbitration" (ICA) master's program: Erik Manukyan, Lilit Paytyan, Svetlana Simonyan and Silva Vardazaryan. The team's coaches were the program's co-founders, Yeghishe Kirakosyan and Kristine Khanazadyan.

This year's competition problem concerned advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice and included complex legal issues related to the immunity of international organizations and the prohibition of racial discrimination within the framework of international treaties, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The competition consisted of written and oral rounds. In the written round, the YSU team submitted memoranda that received positive feedback from members of the International Board of Review (IBOR). Among other observations, they noted: "Demonstrating a good knowledge of the relevant legal instruments, the team has compiled a high-quality memorandum with genuinely strong arguments on issues 1 and 3. You clearly understand what Gravenwald's best arguments are."

The oral round of the competition took place in The Hague, the city of international law. The team's oral submissions were evaluated by leading specialists in international law and representatives of the academic community. During the competition, the YSU team presented its arguments against teams from universities in Estonia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy in the semifinal rounds. The students also had the opportunity to plead before the author of this year's case and received encouraging feedback from the judges involved in the rounds.

The YSU team was noted for its strong knowledge of the case law of the International Court of Justice and its ability to make clear references to the facts of the case and relevant judgments. At the same time, the judges provided valuable recommendations for further improvement.

The team returned from The Hague with valuable experience, improved advocacy skills and renewed motivation to apply the knowledge and skills gained both in future moot court competitions and in professional practice.