Mexico City, April 25, 2023.- Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is an international advocacy competition for law students that not only brings together more than 700 universities from approximately 100 countries, but is also considered one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind . It is precisely in this competition where students from the Law School of Universidad Panamericana have once again excelled .
They are Ana Mireya Ramírez Suárez, Luis Alberto López Escalante, Sofía del Hierro Haro, all three 10th semester students, who together with 8th semester students Carlos Emiliano García Alfonso, Ricardo Andrés Lozano Cázares, Francisco Antonio Estrada Pérez, Ana Irene Prados Cacep and Emilia Silva Cruz, consolidated a team and put the name of our school on high.
About Philip C. Jessup
The Philip C. Jessup, also simply called "Jessup", consists of a competition that simulates a trial before the International Court of Justice between two fictitious states.
In each edition of the competition, the case refers to issues of great relevance in the field of public international law. This year, the case dealt with issues relating to the interpretation of a peace treaty, deadly attacks in allegedly occupied territory, unilateral economic sanctions and the legal consequences of failing to properly dispose of hazardous waste.
"In general, what motivated us to participate in the Jessup was our interest in public international law. All the members of the team had already taken the subject at university and our professors awakened our interest in the subject and made us wonder how it is applied in practice," says Ricardo Lozano, on behalf of his team.
Outstanding results
In the national rounds of this competition, the team emerged triumphant, which gave them a direct pass to the international rounds. At this stage, other recognitions they reaped were:
- Ricardo Lozano - Best speaker in final round.
- Emilia Silva Cruz - Best speaker in preliminary rounds.
- Ana Irene Prados - 2nd Best speaker in preliminary rounds.
"Having obtained favorable results in national rounds meant a lot to us because these represented all the months of dedication, effort, sacrifices and commitments made by all team members," states Ricardo.
"At the end of the day, the awards obtained were the materialization of a joint effort that, even with all the challenges and setbacks, was completely worth it," he adds.
The international round
Although they were not winners in the international round, the young people see the fact of having participated as a more than positive experience, for several reasons that Ricardo points out: "First, we had the opportunity to surround ourselves and meet law students from all over the world who share the same passion for public international law and who seek to develop in this field with the aim of being agents of change".
Secondly, he speaks of the opportunity to have been evaluated by judges who occupy important positions at the international level, which "(...) gave us the opportunity to learn from each of their questions; to have a more practical vision of public international law and to continue preparing ourselves to be better lawyers in this practice," he states.
Another great benefit, he says, was the possibility of connecting with students and academics from all over the world, "a situation that will most likely have a profound impact on the job and academic opportunities that all team members may have in the future".
A rewarding experience
The team recognizes that they owe a large part of the results obtained to their coaches, Arturo López Gómez and Ana María Zamora Loaiza, "(...) since in addition to serving as teachers specialized in public international law, they also served as coaches who on many occasions pushed us to our limits with the purpose of always doing things in the best possible way," says Ricardo.
They also know that this experience has paid off on another level: "We are happy to say that in the coaches and team members we not only found fellow competitors, but great friends with whom we will share this great experience for the rest of our lives".
"In sum, the Philip C. Jessup was the most rewarding academic experience for each and every member of the team and we are deeply grateful to all the people and institutions that made this possible, especially to our coaches, Ana Zamora and Arturo Lopez, and to the Universidad Panamericana for their support and for promoting this type of project," concludes Ricardo.
