Applied project 2023-2024 “Preparation for the Willem C. Vis Moot Competition, season 2023-2024”

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 across the world.

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 London, Helsinki and Duesseldorf.

The project will result in enhanced legal drafting and oral performance in English. The quality of the skills can be assessed 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 teaminclude Vladimir Kostsov, Lecturer at the HSE School of International Law, and Anna Avdulova, graduate of the HSE. 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.