Victory of HSE Faculty of Law Team at the Philip C. Jessup Competition
This year, the team of the Higher School of Economics was unanimously declared the winner of the Russian national rounds, having defeated the team of Lomonosov Moscow State University in the semi‑final and the team of MGIMO in the final.
The 2026 team included Maria Bessonova (3rd‑year Bachelor’s programme Jurisprudence), Aylana Yeguzekova (2nd‑year Master’s student of the programme “International Trade Law and Dispute Resolution”), Varvara Nedzelnitskaya (4th‑year Bachelor’s programme Jurisprudence), and Alexandra Filipyeva (3rd‑year Bachelor’s programme Jurisprudence).
The coaches of the team were PhD student of the Doctorate School of Law Anastasia Burnakina, the graduates of the Master’s student of the programme “International Trade Law and Dispute Resolution” Alena Ilchenko and Viktoria Polshakova, and a lawyer of ‘Musayev and Partners’ Polina Matsapey.
In addition to the main award, the team members took first place in two individual categories: Varvara Nedzelnitskaya was recognised as the best oralist of the Russian championship, and Maria Bessonova as the best oralist of the final round. The HSE team also received the award for the 2nd place in the “Best Memorial” category.
The judges of the final round were M. V. Musikhin, Head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, K. D. Shestakova, Academic Supervisor of the Master’s Programme in Public International Law at St. Petersburg State University, and M. S. Miranda, Legal Officer of the Legal Affairs Division of the WTO in Geneva.
The Philip C. Jessup Competition has been held since 1959 and is considered the largest and most prestigious moot court competition in the field of public international law. The winning team from HSE, as well as the runner‑up teams from MGIMO and MSU, will represent Russia at the international rounds of the Philip C. Jessup Competition, which will take place in Washington, D.C., in March this year.