THE House of Representatives has adopted a resolution commending and congratulating the University of the Philippines College of Law for winning the prestigious 2024 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held in Washington, D.C. last April 6.
House Resolution No. 1683 was introduced by Speaker Martin Romualdez along with Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga, Deputy Speaker David Suarez of Quezon, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan and Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos of Ilocos Norte, among others.
“The UP College of Law, my alma mater, again brings honor to our country by bagging the much-coveted Jessup trophy. It is the oldest and largest world competition that tests the aptitude of students in their knowledge of international law. We are so proud of this achievement,” said Romualdez.
The Jessup is a simulation of fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations, where teams of law students compete against one another through the presentation of oral and written pleadings.
“After days of grueling rounds and eliminations, the UP Law Jessup Team emerged as the lone team from the Asia-Pacific Region in the prestigious stage, whose remarkable journey culminated in a showdown against Universidad Torcuato Di Tella of Argentina,” the resolution read.
“During the gold medal round, this year’s problem, ‘The Case Concerning the Sterren Forty’ simulated a fictional dispute between nations, and tackled pressing issues of political expression, statelessness, nationality rights, and the authority of the United Nations Security Council in dispute resolution,” the resolution said.
The UP Law Jessup team defeated the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella of Argentina. The team is composed of law students Mary Regine Dadole, Pauline De Leon, Pauline Samantha Sagayo, Chinzen Viernes and Ignacio Lorenzo Villareal, with coach Professor Marianne Vitug and faculty advisor Professor Rommel Casis.
Villareal of the UP Law Jessup Team also clinched the Schwebel Award for Best Oralist in the championship round.
“UP Law made history in 1995 when it won the Jessup Cup and earned the Philippines its first-ever championship since the tournament’s inception in 1960, followed by the Ateneo Law School when it bagged the crown in 2004,” the resolution said.
The Jessup Competition is named after Philip C. Jessup, the United States representative to the International Court of Justice, who was elected by the United Nations to serve a nine-year term in 1961, who had a long and distinguished academic, judicial and diplomatic career and played a key role in the formation of the International Law Commission.