Success! Hungarian ELTE University defeats Yale and Columbia

ELTE won one of the world’s most prestigious law contests, the 2019 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The students of the Hungarian university received many individual awards, too.

Elaborate English, deep knowledge

In fact, ELTE teams received many points and a lot of individual awards in the previous years, but this is the first time that a Hungarian team managed to get into the finals where they met the team of Columbia University. The team of ELTE consisted of Gábor Bazsó, Zolta Buda, Marcell Koncsik and Vanessza Szép who were helped and prepared by Gábor Kajtár, Katalin Sulyok and Dániel Pap – arsboni.hu reported.

The contestants had to

simulate fictive judicial combat

representing non-existent states in an ad hoc international court of justice.

The legal case they had to solve was complex and raised important questions related to the responsibilities of the states, environmental protection and human rights. Contestants had to take part in written and oral rounds until they got into the Washington finals.

There, the team of

ELTE was the Respondent

and had to convince an international court of justice (Hugh Adsett, S. James Anaya, Andrew B. Loewenstein). The Applicant was the winner in the United States, the team of Columbia University, so, they could take the first turn. Both teams had 45 minutes to present their four most important arguments, and in the case of the Hungarian team, Gábor Bazsó and Zolta Buda talked.

Knowledge, exceptional rhetorical skills and short reaction time

The

Hungarian team was very enthusiastic,

built up its presentation very well, and supported their standpoint with many arguments. It was clear that they prepared a lot and not only used fluent English but also spoke very eloquently. Therefore, it is not surprising that the jury elected Gábor Bazsó the best oralist. According to the members of the court, Gábor’s enthusiasm and Zota’s calmness would be successful in any court in the world.

The team of Columbia University was, of course, very elegant and self-confident.

The competition is organised annually by the International Law Students Association (ILSA), and the 2000 contestants come from 600 universities and 100 countries. It is self-evident that it is an important opportunity for every law student to prove their abilities.

The legal problem they have to work on is 23 pages long, and first, they have to write both the applicant and the respondent argumentation. This is followed by an oral round in which teams have to present their pleading during which they have to answer the questions of the judges modelling a real-life situation. To be successful, one must not only know the legal problem by heart but have exceptional rhetorical skills and react very quickly, too.

Featured image: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteCaseJessup

Source: arsboni.hu