Editor's note: The author of the article, Mariana Antonovych, also was one of the coaches of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy team.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the opening ceremony started at this year's Jessup moot court competition, law students from Institute of International Relations by Kyiv Shevchenko University and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy drew the loudest and lengthiest applause on April 5.
Although the
mock trials hadn’t started yet, the rousing welcome symbolized the abundance of
international support that Ukraine now draws.
Once the ovation
subsided, the Ukrainian law students had to provide legal arguments on events
they actually witnessed in slow motion: the annexation of territories and the
right to self-determination.
As the national
champion and runner-up in the Ukraine competition, Institute of International Relations and
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, respectively, earned the right to separately represent each
side of a territorial dispute.
East Agnostica,
a federal unit of the state of Agnostica had opted to secede based on an
unconstitutional referendum – think Crimea – and immediately integrate with
neighboring Reverentia – think Russia.
In contrast to
Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Reverentia hadn’t intervened
militarily and used force. However, Reverentia’s parliament passed a resolution
to accept East Agnostica if its residents vote in favor of secession. It also
had placed several hundred troops near the border prior to the referendum.
The referendum
passed and East Agnostica joined Reverentia.
Each of the 127
competing teams in January submitted their written arguments for both sides of
the dispute. They then orally argued before a panel of three judges in April in
America’s capital.
They were
similar to ones heard by the U.N.’s International Court of Justice on such
matters, including Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in 2008.
The most
vulnerable issue at stake for the debaters to consider was how many new states
would emerge if the International Court of Justice grants broad exemption of
territorial integrity to a state if people are allowed to pursue self-determination
without the consent of the parent state.
In this case,
Agnostica was relying on principles of territorial integrity and
non-intervention, while Reverentia insisted on its obligation to support
self-determination.
Thus, the teams
had to examine under what conditions a part of a territory may secede from a
state.
Institute of International Relations ended up placing ninth in the run-off round against Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana. Two of three judges favored its position that
outside interference shouldn’t be imposed on a state’s domestic affairs. The Institute of International Relations team maintained that self-determination is justified exclusively under the consent
of a parent state or when a state gravely violates the human rights of its
people.
However, the written
arguments of the Slovenian ranked higher, giving them the overall superior
score.
Had the
Ukrainian team advanced, it would’ve competed against the Moscow State
Institute of International Relations, a truly legendary and much awaited moment
of the moot competition.
Students from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy at the preliminary round with University of San Carlos (Philippines) on April 8.
© Courtesy of Ennio Rizzi and ILSA
For its part, Kyiv-Mohyla
Academy lost to Bulgaria’s Sofia University and St. Louis’ Washington
University, both of which made it to the final 16 of the competition. Kyiv-Mohyla
eventually placed 59th in the oral component and 20th in written one.
The Jessup is the
largest annual international mock-trial competition between law students from universities
around the world and organized by the International Law Students Association. This
year 127 universities took part from 85 countries.
Each year, the
mock event centers on a specific dispute between fictitious countries, though clearly
based on real and pressing issues that could be taken up by the International
Court of Justice.
“As for this
year’s Jessup results, I have mixed feelings,” says Yaroslav Lepko, a member of
the Institute of International Relations team. “On one hand, our team became a national champion
and qualified to the advanced rounds. On the other hand, we definitely felt
like proceeding to the octo-finals (1/8) and even further. In any case, we are
looking forward to improving our results next year.”
Apart from imparting useful skills, the
Jessup moot court competition provides students with a unique opportunity to
have a closer, first-hand look at the American legal system. The two Ukraine teams
were invited to visit the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the
U.S. Department of States in Washington D.C.
“The purpose of
a meeting at the U.S. Department of States was to discuss legal education in
Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and the importance of the moot court competitions
for young professionals and the functioning of legal clinics within our
universities,” Maksym Maksymov, a member of Kyiv-Mohyla team, says. “We were
asked about the problems we encountered during the moot court competition and
how the States Department can be of support,” he added.
The teams and their
trip to the U.S. were financed by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the Ukrainian American Bar
Association, Ukrainian Institute of America, Chopivsky Family Foundation, as
well as the following law firms: Baker & McKenzie, Avellum Partners, Vasil
Kisil & Partners, Aequo, Asters, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners,
and Orlov Mikhailenko & Partners.
Ukrainian national rounds were administered by Marchenko Danevych law firm.
Kyiv Post legal affairs reporter Mariana Antonovych
can be reached at [email protected].
