The national selection round of the ICC Moot Court Competition was held in Georgia on February 19, 2017.
The selection round, which was organized and supported by Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF), was hosted by Georgia for the first time and its goal is to popularize international criminal law among students.
The teams from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Sokhumi State University and Georgian Technical University participated in the selection round.
For several months the participants worked on written applications and oral arguments revolving around a hypothetical case, dealing with the issues of recognition of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court by a transitional government, genocide and juvenile fighters.
According to the results of written and oral rounds, the Tbilisi State University got the highest score, followed by the Sokhumi State University. Both teams will participate in international rounds of the ICC Moot Court competition planned in The Hague (Netherlands) in May 2017.
“We suppose that in view of the investigation launched on Georgia’s case at the International Criminal Court, the interest of law students towards international criminal law is utterly important. Therefore, the foundation will continue to support moot court in future,” Giorgi Burjanadze, OSGF’s human rights program manager, said.