Team members must be enrolled in a Master of Laws (LL.M.) program. J.S.D. and S.J.D. students are also eligible to participate. However, a team can be composed of no more than one S.J.D. candidate. Â
Students from foreign law schools are eligible to participate as long as they have a law degree and are enrolled in postgraduate law studies.Â
Students who have completed their studies (through the completion of the required units necessary for the awarding of the LL.M. degree) by December 2019 are unable to be part of a team. Students must be enrolled in an LL.M. or postgraduate law studies at the moment of the competition.
Teams
Each participating law school may enter up to two teams. A team may be composed of two to four members who shall be the only individuals who can present arguments orally. One team member must argue both the claimant and respondent sides during the general round to avoid claimant/respondent specialization. Aside from this requirement, each registered team may serve any team member role, such as researcher, writer, oralist, or desk counsel and may serve multiple or all team member roles at any time during the competition. During each oral round, one additional team member in addition to the two oralists may sit at the table with the two oralists as "desk counsel." The person acting as desk counsel must be one of the registered team members. The person acting as desk counsel need not be the same person in each oral round.
While only four students may be registered to compete and participate in the oral rounds, additional students may contribute or help teams prepare in advance of the competition. For example, such students may conduct research for a team’s oral or written arguments or write any part of the team’s outline.