The ninth edition of the Nuremberg Moot Court ended on Saturday, 22 July 2023, in Nuremberg. The international competition organised by the International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the International Criminal Law Research Unit (ICLU) of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), welcomed around 120 law students of 32 universities this year. For the first time since the restrictions due to the pandemic, the students could meet in person in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
The students refined their advocacy skills by competing on a fictional case in international criminal law, presenting their arguments in the roles of Prosecution and Defence. This year’s case challenged the participants on the subject of intentional attacks against cultural heritage.
The international jury was made up of high-profile judges, including judges, prosecutors and academics. Judge Bertram Schmitt, Judge at the International Criminal Court, presided in the finals. For the list of all judges, see the website of the Nuremberg Moot Court.
In the finals, the winning team from Strathmore University from Kenya, consisting of Melissa Ikawa, Emmanuel Macharia and Fiona Mwaura, won against the team of Macquarie University from Australia.
The awards for the best overall speaker of the Nuremberg Moot Court 2023 went to Jacqueline Stark (Macquarie University, Australia) and for the second-best overall speaker went to Fiona Mwaura (Strathmore University, Kenya).
The awards for the best written memoranda were given to the team from Yerevan State University, Armenia, for the prosecution, and the team from Singapore-Management-University, Singapore, for the defence.
"It was a pleasure to hold the competition here in Nuremberg again and that the participants could struggle with each other in person rather than just online,” said Professor Dr Christoph Safferling, Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy who also holds the Chair of International Criminal Law at the FAU in Erlangen. “Especially in the current situation, it is particularly important that future lawyers are aware of the key importance of the Nuremberg Principles in international criminal law. The opportunity to practice at the historical site of the Nuremberg trials cannot be overestimated.”
Photos of the Nuremberg Moot Court 2023 and the video of the finals and the awards ceremony are available on the website of Nuremberg Moot Court.
The International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the International Criminal Law Research Unit aim to advance the international establishment and the acceptance of the most important principles of the Nuremberg trials. They support the worldwide enforcement of international criminal law, thus contributing to the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.