The UP College of Law (UP Law) has brought pride to the University as it took the world champion title at the 2024 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held on April 6 in Washington, DC.
According to a post on the college’s Facebook page, “This remarkable victory comes nearly three decades after their [UP Law Jessup Team] last triumph in the same competition, reaffirming UP Law’s unparalleled excellence in the global stage.”
As stated on the International Law Students Association’s website, “The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is an advocacy competition for law students. Teams of law students compete against one another through the presentation of oral and written pleadings to address timely issues of public international law in the context of a hypothetical legal dispute between nations.”
In the article UP Law Prevailed as World Champions of 2024 Jessup Moot Court Competition published on the college’s website, the UP Law Jessup Team bested 642 teams from more than 100 countries.
The article also stated that this year’s moot court competition problem “The Case Concerning the Sterren Forty simulated a fictional dispute between nations before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations [UN], tackled pressing issues of political expression, statelessness, nationality rights, and the authority of the UN Security Council in dispute resolution.”
The UP Law Jessup Team is composed of Mary Regine Dadole, Pauline De Leon, Pauline Samantha Sagayo, Chinzen Viernes, and Ignacio Lorenzo Villareal. Their coach is Marianne Crielle G. Vitug, a senior lecturer at the college, and their faculty adviser is Rommel J. Casis, an associate professor at the college.
At the final round of the competition, Villareal received the Schwebel Award for Best Oralist.
A post on the UP Law Facebook page stated, “The entire UP community joins in celebrating this historic triumph, which not only underscores UP Law’s legacy of excellence but also inspires future generations of legal scholars and practitioners worldwide.”