Vis Moot

Competition Structure

Each participating university may enter a single team, which can be composed of two or more students. Each team prepares two "Memoranda," which are similar to appellate briefs, one for the Claimant and for the Respondent. The Respondent' Memorandum is prepared in response to a Claimant' Memorandum prepared by another team.

Separate awards are given for the Memoranda and for the oral presentations. The oral portion of the competition is divided into two parts – the preliminary round and the elimination round. The general round takes four days with each team competing once per day. The elimination round includes the top thirty-two teams and lasts two full days. Loyola has advanced to the elimination round in each of the past five years.

Teams from common law countries are generally paired against teams from civil law countries in the preliminary rounds. In recent years, Loyola has met several teams from Germany (Bonn, Humboldt & Freiburg), Japan (Meiji Gakuin & Kyushu) and Hungary (Miskolc & Eotvos Lorand) as well as teams from Denmark (Aahrus), Switzerland (Basel), Mexico (Iberoamericana Leon), Lithuania (Vilnius), Croatia (Zagreb), Spain (Cadiz), Greece (Athens), Moldova (Moldova State), The Netherlands (Erasmus), Argentina (Buenos Aires) Belgium (Leuven), China (Temple-Beijing) and the Russian Federation (Mari State) in the preliminary rounds.