From February15 to 18, 2025, the 23rd Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot CourtCompetition – China National Round was successfully held at the HaidianCampus of China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). The event washosted by CUPL’s School of International Law and attracted participation fromnumerous top universities across the country. After a series of intense andhigh-level rounds, the South China University of Technology (SCUT) teamdelivered an outstanding performance, finishing 5th overall in total score andwinning a First Prize (National Level). The team was ranked among the Top 8 inChina and successfully advanced to the International Rounds to be held inWashington, D.C., USA—becoming one of only nine teams from Mainland China to qualifyfor the global stage. In addition to the team’s collective achievement, Deng Zicheng and LiaoXiangrong, who appeared in the oral rounds, were awarded Best Oralist honors.The SCUT team also received the award for Best Memorial on Behalf of theApplicant.
The university’s team for this year’s JessupCompetition was supervised by Teacher Hu Henan from the Law School. Liao Xiang,an undergraduate student of the Class of 2022, served as the team captain. Theoralists included Chen Xingyu (Class of 2021), Liao Xiang and Deng Zicheng(Class of 2022), as well as Han Yueqi and Zhao Yuhang (Class of 2023). Theresearch advisors were Chen Xiyang and Zhang Wenkai (Class of 2022), Hu Shimanand Xu Jingting (Class of 2023), and Guo Xin, a Master of Laws candidate of theClass of 2024.
In the preliminary round, thefour oralists—Liao Xiang, Deng Zicheng, HanYueqi and Zhao Yuhang—respondedcalmly, confidently and fearlessly in court. With outstanding performances inthe round-robin stage, they successively defeated strong opponents such asFudan University and Shantou University, emerging as the only undefeated teamwith 4 wins out of 4 matches among 66 participating teams and ranking fifth inthe national overall standings. In the knockout round, the university’s team defeated Shandong University but narrowly lost to the winnerof the 2025 Jessup China Round—theSchool of International Law at Peking University. Despite the narrow loss, theteam advanced to the national top 8 and secured a spot in the internationalround, once again winning remarkable achievements for the university in majorinternational legal competitions.
The competition problem ofthis year focused on several cutting-edge areas of international law, includingthe interpretation of dispute settlement clauses, the exercise of universaljurisdiction, the criminal immunity of state officials in foreign courts, theapplication of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea against thebackdrop of climate change and sea-level rise, legitimate governments, and theimmunity of foreign state property. Under the meticulous guidance of Teacher HuHenan, the team members rose to the challenges, fully devoted themselves to thepreparation work, and conducted detailed and comprehensive thematic researchand literature retrieval on a vast number of cutting-edge international lawissues. Meanwhile, alumni team members including Liu Dengwei, Pan Lei, ZhouQianchen, Zhang Geyang, Lin Jingyu, Liang Meiqi, Hong Ziwei, Yang Yang and WangXiaoyue provided strong support and assistance to the current team. This fullydemonstrates the excellent academic literacy of the students from the university’s Law School, and serves as a vivid example of the remarkableeffectiveness of the university’straining model for international legal talents.
The outstanding achievementstems from the team members’round-the-clock dedication and in-depth research, as well as the professionalguidance of the advisor and the team’s tacitcooperation. At the same time, the Law School’s highattention and full support for international moot court competitions have laida solid foundation for the team’ssuccess.
The university’s team will depart for Washington, D.C., USA at the end of March2025 to participate in the international round. Taking this achievement as anew starting point, this young team will thoroughly summarize the experiencegained from the selection round, further polish their legal argumentation andcourtroom advocacy skills, strive to achieve greater success on theinternational stage, and showcase the outcomes and demeanor of China’s training for international legal talents to the world.
It is worth noting that thePhilip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is hailed as theOlympics of International Law. Sponsored by the International LawStudents Association (ILSA), it is the world’slargest and longest-running moot court competition. Every year, more than 900universities from over 100 countries around the world participate in thecompetition, vying for the glory of the global finals. This competition notonly promotes the study and research of public international law, but alsoserves as a key indicator for measuring the quality of legal education,academic reputation and international influence of universities.
