Das Jenaer Team für den Telder Moot Court, umrahmt von den Coaches
Contest of the best arguments
Not all good things come from above: a satellite has crashed and left a trail of devastation in its wake. Cultural artefacts were damaged, there were deaths and injuries. How can the incident be dealt with legally, who has to pay compensation, who is entitled receive it? Experts in international space and environmental law are needed when the Republic of Jonam sues the Republic of Maleen. Who has the better arguments, how will the judges decide? – Students from Friedrich Schiller University Jena are representing the two fictitious republics in the legal dispute. The team of Maira Sophie Müller, Peter Robert Jacobs, Leia-Maria Lupu and Iollann McKeon will be taking part in the Telders Moot Court, a European competition for aspiring lawyers, which will be held from 6 to 11 June.
The chances for the Jena delegation are good
“At the Telders Moot Court, our team will be competing against around 40 other European universities,” says Maximilian Beyer. The research assistant is in charge of the Jena team together with his colleague Polina Kulish. The two have gained relevant experience themselves: Kulish and Beyer took part in the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court in 2017/18.
This is the first time that the Jena students are participating in the Telders Moot Court, says Maximilian Beyer. He estimates the chances of successful participation to be quite high, thanks to intensive preparation. The Jena team did extremely well in the ‘pre-moot’, the preliminary round within Germany. Competitors included the universities of Tübingen, Düsseldorf and Cologne.
Preparation includes drafting the written pleadings that will be presented during the trial. Maira Müller and Peter Jacobs will represent the applicant, the Republic of Jonam, while Leia Lupu and Iollann McKeon, representing the Republic of Maleen, will attempt to refute the allegations and reject claims for compensation. Both parties must also be prepared for questions from the team of judges. The entire hearing will be conducted in English, which emphasises the international nature of the dispute.
Participation in the final would be the icing on the cake
In addition to the two coaches Polina Kulish and Maximilian Beyer, there is also a broad-based support team from the University of Jena. This includes Dr Dana Schmalz, who currently holds the Chair for International Law, Prof Dr Christoph Ohler, Prof Dr Thomas Kleinlein and Dr Stephen Swann. They will all be keeping their fingers crossed when the pleadings, the oral presentations in court, begin. The students from Jena have to give four 80-minute pleadings each.
Due to the pandemic, the organisers have decided to hold the competition via Zoom this year. Even so, the competition will certainly be intense. Attractive prizes await. Prizes will be awarded not only to the overall winners of the competition but also for as the best written submissions by the applicants and their opponents, the best oral presentations by both parties, and the best speaker. After convincing performances at the “Premoot” in Tübingen in April, participation in the final would be the icing on the cake for the Jena team. This final will take place on 11 June.