An-Najah’s Faculty of Law Qualified to the Jessup Competition Finals
The Faculty of Law at An-Najah National University has recently won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition which was organized by the American Consulate General Jerusalem.
The competition was over two days from February 11th to 12th, 2017 and included seven Palestinian universities out of which An-Najah has won. The An-Najah team is now qualified to participate in the international finals against the winners in other countries.
The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, also known as the Jessup, is the oldest and largest international moot competition in the world, attracting participants from almost 700 law schools in more than 90 countries in recent years.
The competition has been described as the most prestigious moot court competition in the world by a large number of organizations and universities internationally.
The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The competition is named after Philip Jessup, who once served on the ICJ and is organized by the International Law Students Association.
The Jessup moot started as a friendly advocacy competition between two teams from Harvard University in 1960. The first champions were declared in 1963 and the competition opened its doors to non-American teams in 1968. The current sponsor of the international rounds of the moot is White & Case.
This year's dispute was between the fictional countries, Rahhad and Atania, on three main themes; namely, shared ground water, the countries' right to preserve their cultural legacy and refugees’ rights.
In the final stage, the judges included five members; an American lawyer expert in the International Court of Justice, the US General Consul in Jerusalem, a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a member of the Palestinian Judicial Council.
The competition was also attended by Judge Emad Saleem, Head of the High Judicial Council; the Palestinian Justice Minister, Ali Au Diak and lawyer Hussein Shabaneh, Head of the Palestinian Bar Association as well as a number of representatives from the American Consulate General Jerusalem and the American Bar Association.
The winning team included students Nadeen Hafaysa, Ayoub Ayoub, Majed Abbadi, Bayan Ahmed and Enas AbdulJawad.
The team work was supervised by Dr. Moyad Hattab, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Dr. Raed Badawia, staff member at the faculty.
Student Hafaysa said that this experience has developed her competency in English legal terminology and allowed her to learn more about the international law and its applications. She added that the competition improved her skills in legal advocacy and in conducting scientific research.
