The PAX Moot Court Competition
A premier European moot court devoted to private international law. Students from across the world meet to argue cross-border cases before leading academics, practitioners and judges — funded by the European Union.
in motion.
A laboratory for cross-border law.
The PAX Moot began in 2012 at Sciences Po Paris as an internal moot court activity initiated by Professor Horatia Muir Watt and Hélène van Lith. Today it draws teams from across Europe and beyond.
Participants argue jurisdictional, choice-of-law and recognition-and-enforcement issues — the questions where transnational disputes are decided. Successive EU programmes (JUDGTRUST, PAX, PAX 2.0) have continued to expand the moot's scope and reach.
Students, judges, practitioners and academics — convened around a single question of law.
Built in collaboration with Europe's leading law schools.
Funded by the European Union — past and present partners include the institutions below, supporting the moot's mission to advance private international law.
Two steps to compete.
Every team enters the same way: register your university, then upload your written memorials before the deadline. The oral rounds follow for teams that qualify.
Register
your team
Reserve your university's spot in the Vladimir Koutikov Round. One submission per university — your team coach will be the primary contact and receive credentials for the team space.
Submit your
memorials
After registration, your coach signs into the team space to upload the Applicant (red cover) and Respondent (blue cover) memorials — PDF only, anonymised under your alias, OSCOLA citation.
Qualifying teams advance to general oral rounds, then quarter-finals, semi-finals and the Grand Final.
Download brochure ↗From clarifications
to grand final.
A condensed timeline that takes teams from the case release to the closing ceremony. The memorial and clarification deadlines are fixed for 2026 — oral-round dates are confirmed closer to the event.
Exact dates of the schedule are updated each edition — always confirm against the latest timeline on the official PAX Moot website.
- 01 Available now
Case & rules released
The 2026 case and the rules for the Vladimir Koutikov Round are published online.
- 02 16 January 2026, 23:59 CET
Clarification questions due
Up to five questions per team via info@paxmoot.eu, subject line "Request for Clarification".
- 03 Late January 2026
Clarifications & corrections
A single consolidated document is released to all teams.
- 04 27 February 2026, 23:59 CET
Written memorials deadline
Applicant (red cover) and Respondent (blue cover) memorials in PDF — anonymised under your alias, OSCOLA-cited.
- 05 Spring 2026
General oral rounds
Each team pleads four sessions — twice as Applicant, twice as Respondent.
- 06 Spring 2026
Quarter-finals
Top eight teams paired by ranking — 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5.
- 07 Spring 2026
Semi-finals & Grand Final
Final round determines the Winning Team — included in the PAX Hall of Fame.