Applied project 2025-2026 “Preparation for the Willem C. Vis Moot Competition, season 2025-2026”

The goal of the project is to train HSE Law Faculty’s students to participate in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition.

The Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is modelled after an international commercial arbitration case and is one of the most prominent international legal competitions. The arbitration case normally involves issues of the 1980 Convention on the International Sale of Goods, questions of international law as well as procedural matters. The language of the competition is English. The competition is comprised of written and oral parts and takes place in Vienna and Hong Kong. More than 350 and 120 universities take part in the competition in each venue respectively. Additional preliminary rounds (pre-moots) are held in connection with the competition at various venues across the world, such as Shanghai, Kuala-Lumpur, Dubai, Istanbul and Moscow.

The HSE has participated in the Vis Moot Competition for over 10 years. In 2018, the HSE won the competition in Vienna, ranked first out of 362 teams. The HSE faced the University of Cambridge (the UK) in the final rounds. This is the first and, so far, the only first place held by a Russian team in the history of the competition. In 2020-2021 the team also became one of the sixteen best universities in the world and obtained oralist awards with regard to its individual students. Other achievements held by the team include various awards at the most prestigious pre-moots including Kuala-Lumpur, Alexandria, London, Helsinki and Duesseldorf, including recognition as one of the top teams and best oralist awards granted to individual students.

In 2023, the HSE University Faculty of Law team was represented by fourth-year students Yaroslava Branovskaya, Maria Eremenko, and Anna Zaikina, and third-year students Kamilla Makhmudova and Alexey Tolstykh. Following their participation in the preliminary rounds (pre-moots), Alexey Tolstykh, Maria Eremenko, and Yaroslava Branovskaya placed 2nd through 4th among the best participants at the 9th Annual Pre-Moot Lazareff Le Bars (Dubai, UAE). At the AlexU-CRCICA Vis Pre-Moot IV (Alexandria, Egypt), Kamilla Makhmudova and Alexey Tolstykh were recognized as one of the best oralists for the claimant, and Maria Eremenko was recognized as one of the best oralists for both the claimant and the respondent.

In 2024, a team consisting of first-year master’s students from the “Lawyer in Business” and “International Trade Law and Dispute Resolution” programs – Maria Eremenko, Anna Zaikina, and Ekaterina Svetlichnaya – as well as fourth-year bachelor’s students from the “Jurisprudence” program – Dilzhan Baktybekova, Sabina Geydarova, Kamilla Makhmudova, and Yulia Chepurnova – reached the semifinals of the Istanbul pre-moot (12th İstanbul Pre-Moot), losing the decisive round to the University of Zurich, and the semifinals of the Moscow pre-moot (14th Moscow Pre-Moot), where they faced the National Law School of India. The team also placed among the top 15 teams (alongside teams from China, Brazil, the Netherlands, the United States, and Singapore) at the Shanghai pre-moot in China, and among the top 32 teams at the Malaysia pre-moot (AIAC APAC Pre-Moot), which brought together more than 150 teams from around the world. Maria Eremenko received an individual award as Best Speaker at a pre-moot organized by Nikolskaya Consulting and the Young International Arbitration (YIMA) Council, which featured leading universities from Russia and Belarus.

In 2025, the HSE University team included Abdulkadir Gadzhiyemenov (Master’s program “International Trade Law and Dispute Resolution,” first year of studies), Veronika Gorenitsa (Master’s program “Lawyer in Business,” first year of studies), Maria Semaeva (Bachelor’s program “Jurisprudence,” fifth year of studies), as well as Danila Eroshin and Artyom Gritsyuk (Bachelor’s program “Jurisprudence,” fourth year of studies). The team became one of the top teams (reaching the Round of 16) in the preliminary rounds in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and also received an Honourable Mention for Best Memorandum on behalf of the claimant, which is awarded in recognition of the advanced level of legal analysis demonstrated in the written part of the competition.

Students’ participation in the project traditionally results in an enhanced level of legal drafting and oral advocacy in English. These skills are assessed during the competition through written Memorials for the applicant and the respondent, and oral presentations. Grades given by the arbitrators are communicated to each team individually.

Primary coaches of the team include Vladimir Kostsov, Associate Professor at the HSE University’s School of International Law, and Anna Avdulova, HSE University’s alumna. The team’s work is also supervised by professor of at the HSE School of International Law  Mikhail Galperin. Traditionally, the team’s former participants and alumni of the HSE Faculty of Law participate in the coaching team’s work.