International law competitions: what value do they provide in legal education?

International competitions are open to Bachelor of Laws (double degree) and Juris Doctor students who have completed all (or the majority of) the core courses and have met the course prerequisites.

LSJ spoke to past winners and asked them what value the competition gave them as job-seeking graduates, and more importantly, the real-world skills and experiences these global competitions gave them as lawyers.

Dean at UNSW Law & Justice, Andrew Lynch says the career opportunities and professional qualities gained are invaluable.

“International competitions equip our students with practical skills and experiences that make them ready to tackle the challenges they will face in legal practice. The rigorous preparation and high-level competition foster qualities such as leadership, teamwork, and adaptability – all of which will add value to their practices post-uni,” he says.

But it’s not only the skills they develop individually. The international scope of competitions enables friendships and professional networking between competition alumni.

Lynch tells LSJ, “[p]articipating in these international competitions gets our students started on building a network of peers around the globe. These connections can prove invaluable over time – offering support, collaboration opportunities, and insights into legal systems outside of Australia.”

UNSW wins 45^th Jean-Pictet competition

Founded in 1989, the Jean-Pictet competition is named after the international humanitarian lawyer Jean Pictet, who died in 2002. The competition, which runs annually, has amassed nearly 3000 alumni in its “Directory of Picteists” since 2018. The committee behind the competition represents its worldwide reach, with members from the US, Argentina, Portugal, France, Iran, Switzerland, Greece, Canada, and Georgia. This year, the winning team was coached by UNSW Professor Sarah Williams, School of Global & Public Law.

Williams tells LSJ that she started coaching students for competitions around 2002 when working in the UK, early in her career, “just because I enjoy it.”

“It’s a different way of learning and requires different skills. I particularly like Pictet. There are different types of competitions. Jessup and International Criminal Court are more traditional moot competitions. … I find Pictet is about taking the law out of the books,” she says.

The competition is organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Williams says, “The idea is that you need to know as much law as you possibly can, and then it’s more role playing. So it’s a lot more about ‘soft’ law skills. I had a photo from years ago of our students blindfolded, sitting in a classroom, but they were doing a field scenario, and they’d been blindfolded because in that role play, they were taken to meet some commanders of a non-state armed group and had to negotiate over access to prisoners, or something like that… Other days you’re trying to negotiate a treaty. It’s a very different type of competition, which is why I enjoy it.”

Williams explains that UNSW tries to pick students who’ve already studied humanitarian law or international criminal law then preparation begins with months of studying law, then role plays to prepare for a selection exercise for the international rounds, which usually takes place in November or December.

Williams also coached the winning UNSW team in 2020. She reflects, “I’ve found that it’s the interpersonal dynamic between a team, along with those soft skills that are important. Traditional competitions might lead you to think ‘I need the people who’ve got the highest marks in every course, or the ones who’ve done the most oral advocacy experience’. But, I tend to look for more of a mix across the team. I’ll usually go for someone who’s done something different, like a Model UN or maybe one who’s had some mooting experience.”

The UNSW teams have advantages, she concedes. “We’re a well-resourced university and we take the competition and its values seriously. Our students might be up against teams that don’t have coaches, or they’ve only just managed to cobble together enough money to get them to the competition, and they’re all self-funding. It’s quite an equal, egalitarian competition and I don’t travel with the team. They don’t have coaches there. They give them a tutor so that at least while they’re there, they’re all on a level playing field, and they’re kind of mentored through it.”

As for the qualities of students who thrive at Pictet, Williams says “I think they have to be intellectually curious, adaptable and flexible. Often you go in expecting one thing, and the scenario is something completely different. Plus, they obviously need to be committed. There’s a lot of time and effort, and I think, a degree of empathy because the competition is about restoring humanity to conflict, so the teams that do best seem to have that ability to empathise. If they’re interviewing a victim of sexual violence, or a child that has become a refugee, and they’re trying to find them their families, having empathy while remaining professional is important.”

A member of the winning UNSW team this year, Kate Darby tells LSJ, “[c]ompeting alongside students from around the world, we had the chance not only to deepen our understanding of international humanitarian law but also to learn from individuals with firsthand experience of conflict. Pictet is incredibly unique in that one day you may be negotiating access to a prisoner of war camp and the next you may be taken hostage by a non-state armed group. It truly takes law out of the books … .”

Experiential learning complements clinical learning

Bond University Professor and Associate Dean Louise Parsons has investigated whether genuine benefits can be drawn from “an unreal experience” in the clinical legal education environment. In her 2017 feature for the Australian Journal of Clinical Education, Parson focused particularly on competitive mooting. Her own background included coaching more than 20 moot teams for national and international competitions. As she points out, “Australian law schools are enthusiastic participants in both domestic and international moot competitions, and Australian universities perform exceptionally well in international moot competitions.”

In recognition of fast-paced disruptions and developments within the legal profession and broader industry, Parsons praises competitions for instilling qualities in students that complement theoretical knowledge, ultimately providing “an ideal training ground”.

She wrote, “[i]t is suggested that the challenges of the intense experience of competitive mooting which build confidence and resilience in law students present educational outcomes that align well with the potential changes in the legal profession.  Many students sign up to a big unknown when accepting a position on a moot team. Nothing prepares students for the intensity of the challenges that lie ahead.”

Parsons concludes, “[t]he educational benefits for students are advantageous in the legal profession that is described as currently being in a state of disruption, and also transferable to other professions. Even to those students taking law as a companion degree, as part of a double degree, the educational benefits of experiential learning in an intense and challenging simulation exercise are undeniable. The investments that universities make in mooting activities are therefore worthwhile.”

Pictet is an intellectual and emotional challenge

Whereas most law competitions mimic court scenarios, the Pictet competition is immersive. Competitors are placed in scenarios based upon past (or present) real-life conflicts and situations and this inevitably challenges the emotional resilience of students faced with victims, trauma, danger, and high-stakes outcomes. Numerous academic papers have investigated the role of emotions in international law, arguing that beyond rationality and intellectual facts, emotions ultimately play a role in the formulating, application, and translation of international law.

Students with comprehensive experience of mooting in court and in field scenarios are not only more intellectually and emotionally prepared for a future career in law, but also in other professions.

Professor Anne Saab of the Geneva Graduate Institute focused her PhD research, and her 2019 book, on the role of international law in framing hunger and food insecurity resulting from, and influenced by, climate change. She had been inspired to look into this area after noticing the regular use of fear-based language around climate change, including within international law debates. She told an interviewer, “[t]he main objective in emerging scholarship on law and emotions in domestic legal settings, most prominently in the US, is to challenge this rationalist assumption and to demonstrate that emotions influence all areas of the law.”

Winning students reflect

Easha Madappa said the Pictet competition was “nothing short of inspiring and life-changing”. In an interview with UNSW, she added, “[c]oming from Australia, where armed conflict is a distant reality, participating in the Pictet competition was a stark reminder of the obligation to champion humanitarian law and seek justice for those affected by conflict. The role-playing elements of the competition allowed us to develop not only our legal skills but also our humanity, empathy, and compassion.”