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Internationaler Moot Court 2013: International Criminal Law in Teaching and Practice

Students from Marburg and Gießen jointly participated at the historic venue in the first Nuremberg Moot Court in International Criminal Law.

Das Marburg-Gießener Moot-Court-Team mit Professor Safferling im "Memorium Nürnberger Prozesse" (v.l.n.r. Alexander Koll, Prof. Dr. Safferling, Jessica Pfeifer, Simon Sträter, Matthias Cromm, Matthias Hahn.

On July 29, 2013, an international Moot Court in International Criminal Law was held in Nuremberg. Matthias Hahn, Jessica Pfeifer, and Simon Sträter, together with their colleagues from Gießen, Matthias Cromm and Alexander Koll, formed the team representing the victims. The law students successfully competed against the prosecution and defense teams, as well as the representatives of the state of “Equatoriana.”

After several weeks of preparation, supported by Marie Scheffler and Nina Uecker from Philipps University as well as Dr. Ignaz Stegmiller from Justus Liebig University Gießen, the participants from Germany, Kenya, and the USA met in the historic Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court, where the International Military Tribunal of the “Nuremberg Trials” convened in 1945–1946.

Die Marburger und Gießener Teilnehmer/innen des Moot Courts mit dem ehemaligen IStGH-Chefankläger Luis Moreno Ocampo im geschichtsträchtigen Nürnberger Schwurgerichtssaal (vorne v.l.n.r. Jessica Pfeifer, Alexander Koll, Matthias Hahn, Matthias Cromm, Simon Sträter, hinten v.l.n.r. Nina Uecker, Marie Scheffler und Luis Moreno Ocampo).

Here, based on the previously submitted written briefs, the individual oral pleadings were presented in English. The simulated criminal proceedings were presided over by former appellate judge at the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, Geoffrey Robertson. The bench was also composed of Fiona MacKay, Chief of the Victims Participation and Reparations Section at the ICC, Markus Krajewski, Professor of International Law at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, and Marburg criminal law lecturer Professor Dr. Christoph Safferling. Safferling welcomed the participation of the Marburg and Gießen students: “Alongside the Trial Monitoring Programme of the Research and Documentation Centre on War Crimes Trials at Philipps University Marburg (ICWC), this provides students with another very special form of practical academic learning in an international context.”

Through the presentation of a fictional case, the students not only learned about the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) theoretically but also experienced it actively during a simulated trial. The oral proceedings were accompanied by the former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, who later discussed his observations with the participants.

The Nuremberg Moot Court in International Criminal Law was held for the first time in 2013 as part of the annual Summer School “From Nuremberg to The Hague” organized by the Creighton University School of Law. In addition to the Research and Documentation Centre for War Crimes Trials at Philipps University, other cooperation partners include Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg and the founding office of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy.