King’s Inns wins ICC Moot Court Competition 2022

Pictured above: ICC Judge Althea Violet Alexis–Windsor and Legal Officers Cynthia Chamberlain and Farhaan Ahmed with King’s Inns winning team

On Friday, May 27, 2022, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns won the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition – English edition. The final round was held in Courtroom I of the ICC in The Hague (the Netherlands). Due to current COVID–19 related restrictions, it was a hybrid hearing with judges present in the courtroom and students participating remotely by video–link. On the judge’s bench for this competition were ICC Judge Althea Violet Alexis–Windsor, presiding, and ICC Legal Officers Cynthia Chamberlain and Farhaan Ahmed.

China University of Political Science and Law (China) and Emory University School of Law (USA) won, respectively, second and third places. The award for the Best Speaker went to Sinead Murphy from King’s Inns.

Members of the winning team are students Sinéad Murphy, Áine Smyth, Patrick Flynn, Clíodhna Buckley and Barry Donovan with coaches Céile Varley BL and Gary Moloney BL. The teams competed on a fictitious case, presenting oral arguments in the roles of the Office of the Prosecutor, the Defence and the Legal Representatives of Victims, which were web–streamed live on the Court’s website and Facebook page. 

Watch a recording of the competition on YouTube below

Winners announced 

About ICC

This version of the ICC Moot Court Competition is organised by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies – Leiden University and the International Bar Association. Top students of 76 universities from 42 countries from all continents participated in the preliminary stage of this year’s ICC Moot Court Competition.

In the context of its Academic Programme, the ICC supports the organisation of ICC Moot Court Competitions in Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish and French, with a view to also support Arabic version in the future. These initiatives play a critical role in galvanising interest in the Court’s work with academic communities as well as in enhancing promotion and respect for international criminal law. 

Further information on the ICC Moot Court Competition can be found on their website here.