International Criminal Court Moot
The International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition or ICCMCC is an annual international moot court competition on international criminal law that is held at The Hague and organised by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University, The Hague Campus, with the institutional support of the International Criminal Court and International Bar Association. Pace Law School had conceived of the moot as an in-class exercise in 2004, and it was in 2005 that a domestic competition was started. The competition became international the following year, with the finals being held in 2007. With more than 100 teams from 50 countries taking part annually, the ICCMCC is the world's largest competition on international criminal law and is considered one of the grand slam or major moots.
Judges of the competition include ICC judges and officers, and teams have to present arguments based on a fictitious problem via the roles of prosecution counsel, defence counsel, government counsel, or victim's representative. The arguments made usually relate to pre-trial or appeal proceedings. Each team is given 20 minutes for the main submissions and 10 minutes for rebuttal/surebuttal. For the English edition of the moot, each country can only send two to three teams to participate; where necessary, regional rounds and national are organised to select the teams that will compete in the international rounds. As of 2020, such rounds have been held for the Americas and Caribbean, Brazil, China, Georgia, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, and the Netherlands. In 2013, semi-final rounds were introduced for the top nine teams, with the top three teams proceeding to the championship final. In 2015, the number of preliminary rounds were increased from three to six, and in 2016 quarter-final rounds were introduced for the top 27 teams. In 2020, the oral rounds were cancelled due to Covid-19.
Singapore Management University and Leiden University, which debuted in 2015 and 2010 respectively, have the best track record in this competition, each having reached the international championship final four times and winning it thrice.
Competition records (English rounds)
| Year | Total number of teams | Champion | 1st and 2nd runners-up | Best Finals Speaker | Best Speaker | Best Memorial | Best Prosecution Team | Best Defence Team | Best Government Counsel Team | Best Victim's Representative Team | Best Non-Native English Speaking Team | International debut |
| 2020 – cancelled due to Covid-19 | 100+ | NA | NA | NA | NA | * P: University of Tartu * * G: Temple University | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 2019 | 100+ | Leiden University | * Honorable Society of the King's Inns and Chinese University of Hong Kong | Leiden University | Chinese University of Hong Kong | * P: Escola de Direito de São Paulo * D: National Law University Delhi * G: University of New South Wales | Chinese University of Hong Kong | * Universitas Gadjah Mada * National Law University, Delhi | University of Ottawa | NA | Universitas Gadjah Mada | University of Dhaka |
| 2018 | 100+ | Singapore Management University | * West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences *Honorable Society of the King's Inns | West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences | University of Ottawa | * P: Chinese University of Hong Kong * D: Gujarat National Law University * V: University of Macau | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Gujarat National Law University | NA | University of the Philippines | University of Freiburg | * Beijing Normal University * Centro Universitário Curitiba * Gujarat National Law University * Honorable Society of the King's Inns * Johns Hopkins University * Temple University * Universidade Federal da Bahia * University of Gdańsk * University of Ottawa * West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences * Wuhan University |
| 2017 | 100+ | Leiden University | * Singapore Management University * Queensland University of Technology | University of the Philippines | University of Aberdeen | Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn | * Queensland University of Technology * Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn * University of Aberdeen * University of the Philippines | |||||
| 2016 | 112 | Singapore Management University | * University of Cologne * National Law School of India University | University of Cologne | University of New South Wales | National Law School of India University | National University of Singapore | * Bangor University * BPP University * Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration * Moi University * Palacky University, Olomouc * Sokhumi State University * University of Gondar * University of Malaya * University of Windsor * University of Zenica * VU Amsterdam | ||||
| 2015 | 100+ | Singapore Management University | * Leiden University * National Law University, Jodhpur | Singapore Management University | University of Macau | Chinese University of Hong Kong | NA | Bond University | Singapore Management University | University of Freiburg | * Escola de Direito de São Paulo * Singapore Management University | |
| 2014 | 80+ | National Law University, Delhi | * Hebrew University * China Foreign Affairs University | University of New South Wales | National Law University, Delhi | Roma Tre University | National Law University, Delhi | NA | University of Freiburg | * University of Gadjah Mada | ||
| 2013 | 50+ | Leiden University | * Osgoode Hall Law School * Bond University | Osgoode Hall Law School | University of New South Wales | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | NA | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | * National University of Singapore | |||
| 2012 | 40+ | City University of Hong Kong | * Kaplan Law School * Osgoode Hall Law School | City University of Hong Kong | NA | * City University of Hong Kong * Hebrew University * La Trobe University | ||||||
| 2011 | 21 | Bond University | * Nalsar University of Law * Osgoode Hall Law School | Nalsar University of Law | National Law School of India University | Bond University | NA | * University of the Pacific * William & Mary Law School | ||||
| 2010 | 18 | Osgoode Hall Law School | * University of Miami * Yale University | Bond University | Osgoode Hall Law School | Osgoode Hall Law School | NA | National Law University, Jodhpur | Amsterdam University | * Ambrose Alli University * Leiden University * Makerere University * Mari State University * National Law School of India University * Queen's University Belfast * University of Cologne * University of Miami * University of Nairobi | ||
| 2009 | 20 | Bond University | * Yale University * Utrecht University | Bond University | Yale University | Yale University | Yale University | NA | Bond University | Utrecht University | * Bangalore University * Bond University * Graz University * Kyiv University * London School of Economics * National Law University, Jodhpur * Santa Clara University * Trinity College * Tsinghua University * University of Hong Kong * Universidade Brazil * Yale University | |
| 2008 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | - |
| 2007 | 12 | University of Pretoria | * Nalsar University of Law * Osgoode Hall Law School | Amsterdam University | Osgoode Hall Law School | Nalsar University of Law | NA | NA | * Amsterdam University * Belgrade University * Cairo University * China Foreign Affairs University * China University of Political Science and Law * Moscow State University * Nalsar University of Law * Osgoode Hall Law School * University of Chile * University of Freiburg * University of Pretoria * Utrecht University |