The Vismoot

Juridicum Dachgerchoss

Every year, since 1993, thousands of students from universities all over the world get together to participate in the most important college competition focused on international commercial arbitration, the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.

The competition offers an unique opportunity for students to participate in arbitral proceedings that faithfully simulates the reality of an international commercial arbitration, under the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the Arbitral Rules of the most prestigious arbitral institutions in the world.

The preparation to the Vismoot demands dedication and time. Initially, the teams must prepare Memoranda in English, both for the Claimant and the Respondent of a hypothetical case based on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Vienna - Parlament

In April, the teams face each other on oral arguments, where they are evaluated by prestigious professionals specialized in international commercial arbitration acting as arbitrators. At the end, the best teams may be awarded the following prizes: best memorandum for Claimant (Pieter Sanders Award) and Respondent (Werner Melis Award), best individual oralist (Martin Domke Award) and best team on the oral arguments (Frédéric Eisemann Award), beside honorable mentions for the runner ups on each category. 

The competition continues to grow. With the great number of competitors, we are also experiencing the creation of several simulations of the Vienna hearings, known as pre-moots.