Historic Moment for Ukraine at the 2025 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

For the first time in history, a Ukrainian team has advanced to the World Final of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, and proudly became the Runner-Up Champion. This year’s champions of Ukraine are the team of law students from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

“We undisputedly secure the leader’s position in public international law moot courts in Ukraine and Europe.” — Masha Stolbovа, Team Coach.

Some fascinating facts:
– Top-4 globally after preliminaries (out of 152 teams) — the best result for any Ukrainian team to date.
– Undefeated in 8 matches until the final, beating Hungary (2019 Champion), India, Cambodia, Argentina, Austria, France, and Uzbekistan.
– Faced Singapore Management University in the final — a team with unmatched legacy and resources, now first-time Jessup champions.
– All speakers ranked among the Top-100 globally, with Vladyslav Levchuk named 20th Best Oralist out of 400+ participants.
– 3 out of 4 team members were also part of the 2024 Telders-winning team — making them, in the words of Coach, “undisputedly the most accomplished Ukrainian team.”

The team began preparing in July 2024, drafting two memorials of approx. 50 pages each and developing oral arguments for both sides of the case — representing fictional states before a simulated ICJ. At the Ukrainian National Rounds in February, they won the Best Memorial award and took all top 3 Best Oralist titles.

This year’s Jessup case covered four complex themes in public international law:
– Competing claims to legitimate presidency
– Immunity for officials accused of grave human rights violations
– Maritime zones affected by receding coastlines
– Treaty interpretation within a regional organization

“What does this result mean for Ukraine? Visibility among the best word law schools. Jessup is traditionally dominated by Australia, Singapore and the US. Recognition. Ability to recall that we still exist and can do amazing things.” — Masha Stolbova.

Team Members:
– Anastasiia Shashkevych, 4 LLB
– Bohdana Yaruta, 4 LLB
– Vladyslav Levchuk, 3 LLB
– Vladyslav Mykhalchenko, 1 LLM

Coaches:
– Masha Stolbovа, Lecturer at NaUKMA and KSE, Chief Legal Counsel with esports team
– Maksym Dvorovyi, Senior Legal Counsel, Digital Security Lab Ukraine; Member of Ukraine’s Negotiating Group on EU Accession in the spheres of Digital Transformation and Media; PhD Student, NaUKMA
– Ketevan Bezhanishvili, Former COI Main Researcher at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia; Co-coach of 2023 Ilia State University’s Telders team; Best Overall Applicant of 2024 Jessup International Moot Court Competition

This result means more than a title. It means global visibility for Ukrainian legal education, recognition from world experts, and empowered futures for our brightest students.

To more moments like this!