Wolfgang Alschner, organiser from the Graduate Institute (left), Pascal Lamy, WTO Director-General (middle), with the Graduate Institute team (from left to right): Stephanie Cunningham (coach), Nicolas Zahn, Liesbeth Casier (coach), Marina Mittelbach, Natsumi Oka and Anastasia Smirnova.

From 30 April to 3 May the Graduate Institute welcomed students and World Trade Organization (WTO) experts from around the world for the 11th Edition of the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) WTO moot court competition. The moot court simulates a real life dispute settlement proceeding before a WTO panel. During the course of the competition, students draft written submissions that are reviewed by trade law professionals and prepare oral arguments which are subject to live questioning by distinguished WTO experts.

Over four days, teams from Asia, North and South America and Europe competed against each other on the Institute’s campus. This year’s case involved a fictional dispute over currency manipulation and regulation in the financial service sector in the wake of a financial crisis – both highly topical issues currently occupying the WTO. Benefiting from its proximity to the WTO, other international organisations and law firms, the Institute was able to welcome a wide range of experts in WTO law and practice acting as panelists. For the participating students, this year’s competition was thus not only an extraordinary opportunity to get an in-depth understanding of WTO law and to hone their legal and advocacy skills, but also a unique occasion to meet distinguished scholars and professionals in International Geneva.

Aside from hosting the Final Round of the WTO moot court, the Graduate Institute also participated with its own team in the competition. This year, the bar for the Institute’s team was particularly high as last year’s Institute team won the 10th Edition of the competition, edging out competitors from LSE, Harvard Law and Ottawa University on its way to victory.

The Institute’s team performed very well again this year, earning praise from the panelists. As the best and only European team, it progressed to the quarterfinals where it narrowly lost against a strong team from India. In general, this year’s competition was dominated by non-European teams. In the final pleading held at the WTO, a team from Colombia triumphed over a team from Hong-Kong winning the competition. The high-profile nature of the competition is underscored by the fact that Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of the WTO, personally handed out the award to the winning team this year.     

The event was organised by Centre for Trade and Economic Integration with the support of the Student Outreach Office and the International Law Department.