The 2025 ESMOAS IACHR Moot Court Competition
Team Composition:
Each IACHR Moot Court Team must consist of two (2) members: one representing the State side and the other representing the Petitioner side. Teams argue a hypothetical human rights case before a panel of judges (current attorneys or graduates with particular expertise who are program alumni) in a moot court format.
When and Where Is It?
The Preliminary Oral Rounds will be held online via Zoom conferencing on Saturday, April 19-20, 2025. Scoring from the two preliminary rounds and from the scored written work will be used to seed a double-elimination Tournament Round. This will be held in person on April 25-26th, 2025, at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.
What Does It Cost?
The registration fee is $150 per student ($300 per complete team)
Registration fees are paid upon initial registration and provide access to a secure webpage with all IACHR training materials, instructional documents, and enters the registered teams. The fee also covers the awards dinner, all materials, team evaluations, awards, photo, and participation letters and certificates, evaluation and judging provided by professional attorneys and other private sector affiliated professionals, as well as faculty access to the conference and competition in its entirety. Participating institutions are responsible for their own lodging, transportation, Friday dinner, and Saturday lunch.
When Should My University Register?
Consult the top of the page, where all deadlines are listed.
Who Can Register?
Teams can be formed as part of a class, official on-campus student organization, or even as an informal team of students with similar interests. Students must be currently enrolled in the university they represent at the competition, but do not require a class or a faculty sponsor to participate.
How Do We Register?
In order to be placed in the drawing for the Preliminary Oral Rounds and be assigned opponents and hearing times, all teams must register by the due date on the Program Calendar listed above. To register, please fill out the form below. You will be contacted with instructions on paying the initial team fee and with additional instructions.
What Are the Requirements for Participation?
Teams must submit both a state and a petitioner legal memorial (a written legal argument formatted according to provided instructions that outlines the team's case). Teams must also commit to attending both the Preliminary Oral Round online and the Tournament Round in person.
What Is the Process for Competition?
Approximately 6 weeks before the competition, the hypothetical case will be released. In the two weeks following the release the case, which will be modeled after a real human rights case heard or being heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, each university will have the chance to interview the author(s) of the case, one representing the state and the other the petitioner. Information gathered from these interviews may be used by the team in their arguments.
Teams then must create a written legal argument following a given template, outlining their case (one memorial for each side of the case). One week before the conference, teams argue against one another based on a random drawing. Each team argues twice (once per side) against a randomly drawn opponent. For example, University A State argues against University B Petitioner, and later in the day University A Petitioner may argue against University C State side, and so forth. The Preliminary Oral Rounds take place online, via Zoom conference, in front of a panel of judges who may stop the oral presentation, ask questions, or challenge statements. The oral rounds are scored by the IACHR Judging Committee (comprised of program alumni now working in the legal field, most of whom are J.D. recipients).
The combination of scores from both written memorials and both oral arguments is used to determine seeding for the double elimination Tournament Round, which takes place during the ESMOAS Conference, in person, in front of a panel of judges. Teams advance through the tournament in hopes of reaching the final round. Additional awards are also given to individual presenters by the Judging Committee and for written work by the Research Review Committee.
What Do I Bring?
Written research binders and/or electronic devices are allowed at the table during competition. You will receive instructions regarding the written paperwork to bring with you before the competition. Please, business dress for the entirety of the event.
Each IACHR Moot Court Team must consist of two (2) members: one representing the State side and the other representing the Petitioner side. Teams argue a hypothetical human rights case before a panel of judges (current attorneys or graduates with particular expertise who are program alumni) in a moot court format.
When and Where Is It?
The Preliminary Oral Rounds will be held online via Zoom conferencing on Saturday, April 19-20, 2025. Scoring from the two preliminary rounds and from the scored written work will be used to seed a double-elimination Tournament Round. This will be held in person on April 25-26th, 2025, at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.
What Does It Cost?
The registration fee is $150 per student ($300 per complete team)
Registration fees are paid upon initial registration and provide access to a secure webpage with all IACHR training materials, instructional documents, and enters the registered teams. The fee also covers the awards dinner, all materials, team evaluations, awards, photo, and participation letters and certificates, evaluation and judging provided by professional attorneys and other private sector affiliated professionals, as well as faculty access to the conference and competition in its entirety. Participating institutions are responsible for their own lodging, transportation, Friday dinner, and Saturday lunch.
When Should My University Register?
Consult the top of the page, where all deadlines are listed.
Who Can Register?
Teams can be formed as part of a class, official on-campus student organization, or even as an informal team of students with similar interests. Students must be currently enrolled in the university they represent at the competition, but do not require a class or a faculty sponsor to participate.
How Do We Register?
In order to be placed in the drawing for the Preliminary Oral Rounds and be assigned opponents and hearing times, all teams must register by the due date on the Program Calendar listed above. To register, please fill out the form below. You will be contacted with instructions on paying the initial team fee and with additional instructions.
What Are the Requirements for Participation?
Teams must submit both a state and a petitioner legal memorial (a written legal argument formatted according to provided instructions that outlines the team's case). Teams must also commit to attending both the Preliminary Oral Round online and the Tournament Round in person.
What Is the Process for Competition?
Approximately 6 weeks before the competition, the hypothetical case will be released. In the two weeks following the release the case, which will be modeled after a real human rights case heard or being heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, each university will have the chance to interview the author(s) of the case, one representing the state and the other the petitioner. Information gathered from these interviews may be used by the team in their arguments.
Teams then must create a written legal argument following a given template, outlining their case (one memorial for each side of the case). One week before the conference, teams argue against one another based on a random drawing. Each team argues twice (once per side) against a randomly drawn opponent. For example, University A State argues against University B Petitioner, and later in the day University A Petitioner may argue against University C State side, and so forth. The Preliminary Oral Rounds take place online, via Zoom conference, in front of a panel of judges who may stop the oral presentation, ask questions, or challenge statements. The oral rounds are scored by the IACHR Judging Committee (comprised of program alumni now working in the legal field, most of whom are J.D. recipients).
The combination of scores from both written memorials and both oral arguments is used to determine seeding for the double elimination Tournament Round, which takes place during the ESMOAS Conference, in person, in front of a panel of judges. Teams advance through the tournament in hopes of reaching the final round. Additional awards are also given to individual presenters by the Judging Committee and for written work by the Research Review Committee.
What Do I Bring?
Written research binders and/or electronic devices are allowed at the table during competition. You will receive instructions regarding the written paperwork to bring with you before the competition. Please, business dress for the entirety of the event.