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Macquarie Law School students win Jessup moot

Undefeated throughout the entire competition, students from Macquarie University Law School have been crowned the winners of this year’s Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

user iconGrace Robbie 19 February 2024 Big Law
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For the second year in a row, Macquarie University Law School students have won the prestigious Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Macquarie’s team comprised Tendai Gezimati, Simeon Levine, Farrah Mikhail and Taylor McCoy, who spent months extensively researching, writing and orally preparing under the guidance of their coaches, Macquarie Law School academic Dr Shireen Daft and alumnus Fareed Qureshi.

The university competed against 12 teams while in Canberra and were “undefeated” and “drawing unanimous benches in every single round”, the university said in a statement.

The cases they presented discussed topics including “stripping nationality from citizens, the role of monarchy in society, compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions, and the role of the international community in addressing statelessness”.

Throughout the competition, the Macquarie students had the opportunity to appear before prestigious and admirable judges from the Attorney-General’s Department - Office for International Law, the Department of Defence, and former Judicial Fellows of the International Court of Justice, just to name a few.

Victories in those rounds allowed them to progress to the grand final, where they faced the University of Sydney and got the honour to present their case in front of High Court judge, the Honourable Robert Beech-Jones, ultimately, defeating the University of Sydney and being crowned the winners.

Macquarie Law School student, Simeon Levine, said: “Winning the Jessup competition and having the opportunity to advocate in the High Court of Australia is an experience I will never forget.

This journey commenced almost six months ago, and to see the countless hours of work and late nights spent on campus culminate in a national championship is incredible,” he stated.

Dean of Macquarie Law School, Professor Lise Barry, praised the commitment that not only the team and coaches had towards the competition, but from all involved.

“It is extremely rare for a university to win back-to-back championships at this competition. This is a testament to the team and their coaches, and to all the past Macquarie Law School Jessup team members and volunteer judges who come together every year to support our team and hone our skills,” she said.

Being part of the world’s largest moot court competition with “a record-breaking 674 teams from more than 100 countries and jurisdictions” competing has shown to be a vital opportunity. Past Macquarie students who competed have attained prestigious scholarships for advanced study in international law and secured highly regarded graduate positions.

However, the Macquarie Law School students’ journey doesn’t finish here, with the team set to compete in Washington DC later in April in the international rounds.

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