Willem C. Vis Moot

Willem C. Vis Moot Court

The Willem C. Vis Moot Court on International Commercial Arbitration (“Vis Moot”) is an annual international moot court competition held in Vienna, Austria. The Vis Moot was organized for the first time in 1994. Since 2004, a second competition is held in Hong Kong, known as the Vis Moot East. The object of the initiators of the Vis Moot is to stimulate study in the areas of international commercial and arbitration laws and, thus enthusing the lawyers of the future, to encourage the resolution of business disputes by arbitration. At the same time, the use of the Vienna Sales Convention as a legal basis for international trade is stimulated. The problem for the moot is always based on an international sales transaction subjected to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, 1980 (also referred to as the United Nations or the Vienna Sales Convention, or CISG) and also involves procedural issues of arbitration.

 

The Vis Moot consists of two parts. Firstly, two written memoranda are prepared, in support of the claimant’s and subsequently the respondent’s position. The second phase consists of the oral hearings in Vienna, Austria. 

 

The written phase of the Vis Moot commences on the first Friday in October with the publication of the Moot Problem. This file contains initial statements of claim and defence by the parties’ attorneys as well as motions regarding procedural questions and exhibits. Both parties have to prepare a memorandum concerning factual and procedural issues.

 

First, the students adopt the role of attorneys representing the claimant. The memorandum supporting the position of the claimant is due early in December. Subsequently, each team is sent a copy of the memorandum for claimant of one of the other teams in the Moot. The memorandum for respondent is prepared in response to the memorandum received, and is due in mid-January.

 

With the submission of the memorandum for respondent, the written phase of the Vis Moot is closed. After the last pleading in Vienna, awards for the best memoranda in the competition are presented to the teams with the best written submissions. As opposed to other international mooting competition, there is no selection of the teams who can proceed to the oral arguments based on the quality of their memoranda - every team that is participating in the Vis Moot gets to go to Vienna.

 

As popularity for the Vis Moot has continually grown, a number of schools now participate in sessions that provide Vis Moot competitors the opportunity to practice the presentation of their argument, before ultimately travelling to Vienna for the actual Willem C. Vis Moot. 

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De Willem C. Vis Moot Court on International Commercial Arbitration (“Vis Moot”) is een internationale moot court, een simulatie van een international arbitrageprocedure. De Vis Moot wordt sinds 1994 jaarlijks georganiseerd in Wenen. Sinds 2004 bestaat een tweede competitie aangaande dezelfde casus in Hong Kong, bekend als de Vis Moot East. Het doel van de initiatiefnemers van de Vis Moot is het stimuleren van de studie naar international handelsrecht en arbitragerecht, en uiteindelijk, door het enthousiasmeren van toekomstige advocaten, de keuze voor arbitrage als mechanisme voor geschilbeslechting aan te moedigen. Daarnaast stimuleert de Vis Moot het gebruik van het Weens Koopverdrag als toepasselijk recht in de internationale handel. De casus voor de Vis Moot is altijd gebaseerd op een internationale koopovereenkomst, onderworpen aan het Weens Koopverdrag (United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods 1980, ook wel kortweg Vienna Sales Convention of CISG) en bestrijkt ook procedurele vragen van arbitragerecht. 

 

De Vis Moot bestaat uit twee delen. Ten eerste dienen twee memoranda geschreven te worden, voor zowel de kant van de eiser in het geding (claimant) als voor de kant van de verweerder (respondent). De tweede fase bestaat uit de mondelinge pleidooien, die in Wenen plaatsvinden. De schriftelijke ronde vangt ieder jaar aan op de eerste vrijdag van oktober, als de casus gepubliceerd wordt op de website van Pace University in New York, de organiserende law school. Het dossier bestaat uit initiële verklaringen van eiser en verweerder, correspondentie ten aanzien van procedurele kwesties en bewijsstukken. Beide partijen dienen aan de hand van dit document hun memoranda voor te bereiden ten aanzien van de procedurele en de juridisch inhoudelijke aspecten van de casus.

 

Het eerste memorandum, waarin de positie van de eiser wordt bepleit, wordt begin december ingeleverd. Na ontvangst van het memorandum van een andere universiteit veranderen de studenten van rol en schrijven zij, in respons op het ontvangen memorandum van eiser, een memorandum van verweerder. Nadat dit memorandum half januari is ingediend, wordt begonnen met de voorbereiding van de mondelinge pleidooien. Verschillende universiteiten organiseren in aanloop naar de Vis Moot oefencompetities, zogenaamde pre-moots. 

 

Op de laatste avond van de Vis Moot worden prijzen uitgereikt voor de beste memoranda en de beste sprekers.

Irene Brits, 21 February 2011

After celebrating the successful submission of the Memorandum for Claimant, the deadline for the Memorandum for Respondent was instantly ticking away. We had exactly six weeks to turn our mindset in favour of the other side of the dispute. Our wake-up mantra ‘the delivered squid is too small so reimburse us!’ had to change to ‘the squid is perfect and you need to pay us damages!’. Deadline: January 20^th. 

And this was not all we had on our minds! All four of us had to take some serious examinations for our Master of Laws at the University of Amsterdam. And of course, celebrate Christmas and New Years Eve. Busy times, busy schedules, but the UvA-team was ready for the second round! 

At Simmons&Simmons we got prepared for writing the second Memorandum with a very helpful Legal English class. Jan Willem Bitter and Rogier van den Heuvel taught us about arbitration in practice which helped us finding the right tone for our oral pleadings as well as some original input for the second Memorandum. 

Now let the games begin: From the 10^th of January, 10 days before the final deadline, we worked non-stop on the Memorandum. The four of us met up almost every day to discuss new findings, new theories and original manners to make Respondent logically the one who is right in this dispute. With the arguments we made for Claimant in the first Memorandum in our minds, we worked more efficient and expeditious this time. And we had too, since the deadline was approaching rapidly. It proved that the teamwork went more smoothly this time, because we know each other better. At exactly 5-to-12 on the 20^th of January, we submitted our Memorandum to Prof. Mr. Eric Bergsten. I think I can speak for all of us that we can be really proud of the final version of the Memorandum for Respondent.

 

After writing two Memorandums, it was time to bring our written work into practice. Of course, the two first rounds were important and very instructive but the real deal are the finals in Vienna in April. The upcoming months are planned with several practice sessions and Pre-Moots to prepare for the oral pleadings. Our pleadings need to be flawless and very convincing. We know there are many teams working on the Willem C. Vis Moot Court full time and to keep up with their progression the UvA team will have to work one step harder. 

Luckily, Greenberg Traurig offered us the chance for a first time pleading session with the experienced Allard Huizing as the presiding arbitrator. We were fried! In a good way, that is. Questions were asked of what we had not even thought about when writing both Memorandums. The session was a very welcome wake up call. But how are we going to proceed from this point? 

That is were Hogan Lovells stepped in. Commercial Litigation advocate Carlijn van Rest gave some tips and tricks on how to present your arguments but also yourself in an oral pleading. We got to be the arbitrators for our own team which was very helpful. 

 

The practice sessions were not without reason. On Friday February 4^th, we had our very first official pre-moot scheduled. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek had organised a practice moot court for all national teams that had enrolled in the Willem C. Vis Moot Court. Andrew and I formed the UvA Team 1 and had to take it up against Rotterdam and Maastricht. Both teams were very well prepared. Of course, the arbitrators did not want to let us off easily and asked some piercing questions. I have to admit that we actually appreciate that since being exposed now is exactly what will prepare us in the best possible way for the Moot Court in Vienna. 

With some more pleading sessions coming up and practice with our coaches and the team we still have some exciting times ahead of us before the big finals. Important events coming up are the Berlin Pre-moot on the 25^th and 26^th of March and the Pre-moot at the Peace Palace in The Hague on the 11^th of April. 

 

We would like to thank our coaches and sponsors Greenberg Traurig, Hogan Lovells and Simmons&Simmons for the very helpful training sessions and input of the past few months. Every meeting is a step closer for making it in the top 3 in Vienna!

Kevin Beukeveld, 15 December 2010

The Memorandum for Claimant was submitted last week. This was the first mile stone for the Amsterdam team of this years Willem C. Vis Moot Court. But let me first tell you what happened the weeks before we submitted the Memorandum.

It started the last week of September, when Andrew, Irene, Frank and I were selected for this years moot team. As happy and excited as we were, we started with utmost confidence on tackling issues of this years problem. The first week we divided tasks as to who was getting which part. Irene and I took the procedural issue, Frank and Andrew the merits. We decided to meet every week and catch up with everyone’s progress. Also this meeting had the advantage that we did not just make separate parts, but that the memorandum was a piece of us all. Everybody shined his light over every part, this with the result that our memorandum would be coherent and consistent.

The weeks before the deadline we worked every Friday and the workload gradually increased. The last week before the deadline our team worked on the Memorandum nearly 24/7. It was hectic and we had many discussions. This however meant that everyone really put his (or her) most effort into the memorandum. Just before the deadline we managed to submit the memorandum! I think I can speak for all if I say that we have a good team. The discussions and small fights, the weeks of dedication and the useful resources resulted in a good memorandum.

The week of rest is over. We just found out we have to write the Memorandum for Respondent against the Woman’s University of Seoul, South Korea. I am really looking forward in reading and tackling their memorandum. 

However, first I need to study for my exams!