From February 25 to 28, 2025, the 24th Chinese National Round for JESSUP International Law Moot Court was held at the Haidian Campus of China University of Political Science and Law. As an English-only competition, this year's event brought together outstanding students from 68 top domestic law schools, including Peking University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, China University of Political Science and Law, and East China University of Political Science and Law.
After four days of intense competition, STL team won the National Runner-Up and First Prize in the Chinese National Round, successfully advancing to the Global Finals to be held in Washington, D.C., USA, in April 2026. This marks another significant achievement for STL, following its first championship in 2013 and its most recent victory at the Chinese National Round in 2025, fully demonstrating STL's profound expertise and continuous progress in the field of international law.
STL Team wins the National Runner-Up
This year's team was guided by Senior Lecturer of Law Christian Pangilinan as Faculty Coach, with student coaches Tang Luyang, Lin Keyu, and Li Zhiyao from the Class of 2023. The team members included Luo Xiao, Peng Jiansu, and Qiu Yiran from the Class of 2024. During the preparation period, the team also received strong support from Qiu Xiaoya, Director of the Office of International Cooperation, Lin Hongwei from the Class of 2023 (a former team member), and alumna Chen Liang.
During the preliminary rounds, STL team advanced to the elimination rounds with an impressive second-place ranking, achieved through a clean sweep of victories in all four rounds of the round-robin competition. In the elimination rounds, the team members demonstrated solid expertise in international law, mature and steady courtroom advocacy skills, and highly synchronized teamwork, winning three consecutive critical battles. In the final round, they showcased rigorous logical reasoning and persuasive legal arguments, ultimately securing the National Runner-Up and the First Prize in the Chinese National Round.
STL Team Members：Qiu Yiran, Luo Xiao, Peng Jiansu
Since the release of the competition problem in September, the team members have been juggling multiple tasks, coordinating between heavy academic workloads and intensive preparation. They systematically conducted case research, reviewed state practice, and carried out comparative legal analysis, repeatedly refining their argument structure and written submissions. The memorandum writing phase not only embodied the three members' around-the-clock in-depth research and repeated deliberation but also benefited from the meticulous guidance and continuous inspiration of Faculty Coach Christian Pangilinan. Ultimately, the team's written submissions won the Best Memorial of Applicant, Third Place.
Following the submission of the memorials, the team members entered an intensive and structured phase of oral advocacy training. During the Spring Festival holiday, Faculty Coach Christian Pangilinan remained on campus to train alongside the team members. Other faculty members, student coaches, and alumni also continued to provide guidance and practice support throughout the holiday, laying a solid foundation for this achievement. In terms of individual awards, Qiu Yiran ranked seventh in the "Best Oralist" standings, and Luo Xiao ranked thirteenth.
The competition problem for this year centered on core issues in public international law that embody both contemporary tensions and theoretical depth. These included: the legal status and applicable standards of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of indigenous peoples; the interplay between bilateral treaty obligations and customary international law; whether the principle of non bis in idem constitutes a general principle of law within the framework of extradition treaties; and the application boundaries of state immunity in the context of conduct by state-owned enterprises and cross-border torts. These topics encompassed critical theoretical questions such as the rules of treaty interpretation, the methodology for identifying general principles of law, and argumentative approaches in national practice and case law. They posed extremely high demands on the team members' capacity for systematic thinking, comparative legal analysis, and argumentation in international law.
In the Eight of Finals, the STL Team Competes against the Team from Southeast University
The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, renowned as the "Olympics" of international law, is organized by the International Law Students Association (ILSA). As the world's largest and longest-running moot court competition, it sees participation from over 900 universities across more than 100 countries each year, all vying for glory in the Global Finals. This competition not only advances the study and research of public international law but has also become a key indicator for measuring the quality of legal education, academic reputation, and international influence of law schools. For law students, participation and achievement in the Jessup Competition serve as a significant credential for applications to prestigious law schools worldwide or for securing positions in top-tier international law firms, making it a highly esteemed accomplishment.
In the Quarterfinal, the STL Team Competes against the Team from Zhejiang University
Achieving the National Runner-Up in this year's Chinese National Round marks another significant milestone for STL, following its championship at the 23rd Chinese National Round in 2025 and its Third Place at the 21st Chinese National Round in 2023. This achievement underscores STL's educational philosophy of "rooted in China, oriented to the world" and its distinctive teaching approach that emphasizes the integration of theory and practice.
In the Semifinal, the STL Team competes against the Team from Fudan University
In the Final, the STL Team competes against the Team from Peking University
In recent years, STL has been continuously building a comprehensive education system for training foreign-related legal professionals through initiatives such as the development of a full English common law curriculum, systematic training for international moot court competitions, and a series of lectures by world-leading scholars. This achievement is a vivid manifestation of this strategic approach—from memorial writing to courtroom advocacy, and from international law theory to cross-cultural communication, the professional competence and international perspective demonstrated by the team members in the competition fully reflect the fruitful outcomes of the School's internationalized legal education.
