Differences have arisen between the Republic of Antrano (in the following: Antrano) – the applicant – and the Kingdom of Remisia (in the following: Remisia) – the respondent. It is now for the ICJ to solve those issues between the parties. The multiple disagreements concern the deprivation of nationality of 40 students by Remisia which were labelled by the media as the “Sterren Fourty”, the denial of entry on the territory of Remisia for a citizen of Antrano as well as the absence of the possibility for Saki Shaw who was naturalized by Remisia to exercise her consular rights when she was being held in custody in Antrano.
The dispute follows the conclusion of a joint venture between Lithos Limited and the Ministry of Mines of Remisia, creating the Lithos-Remisia Cooperative (LRC). The head of Lithos Limited is Saki Shaw, who has close personal ties to the Queen Khasat of Remisia since her adolescence. Apart from creating LRC, Saki Shaw also contributed to the National Infrastructure Development Fund. As a result she fulfilled all conditions to be naturalized that are required by the domestic legislation of Remisia, the “Nationalization by Investment Act”. In 2016 Saki Shaw was then granted the nationality of Remisia leading to her having a dual citizenship as she did not loose her original nationality of Molvania. After being founded, the LRC started to operate mining sites after having required the necessary permits after a successful Environmental Impact Assessment. After the start of the operations the inhabitants of Remisia started to remark the degradation of the environment which lead to protests with the aim to end all cobalt mining operations. A group of students, the “Isidre League of Student Activists” (ILSA) even rendered a manifesto with the same demand. The protests did not cease but did even intensify after the Ministry of Mines granted LRC four new licenses for mining operations in the territory. More and more demonstrations took place and most of the student voiced their opinion that the grant of those licenses could only be put down by the fact that the Queen Khasat and Saki Shaw have close personal ties and are even childhood friends. Posters which read “Her Majesty is sacrificing our health on the altar of friendship” are prominent during those protests and some students even formed human chains or chained themselves on the streets to block the access to the mines. The police, trying to restore public order did not only use teargas but also arrested a big number of people throughout the whole country. Big media attention enjoyed the arrest of 40 students in front of the Sterren Palace, as a result of the number of people and place of arrest, they got labelled the “Sterren Fourty”. After formal charges were laid against them, the court pronounced guilty verdicts for each of the 40 students. The basis for this verdict was the “Disrespect to the Crown Act” which provides in the case of an insult of the crown the possibility of imprisonment and immediate deprivation of citizenship. The “Sterren Fourty” were sentenced to five-years imprisonment and their nationality was deprived which led them to being stateless.
The Republic of Antrano has always been committed to fighting statelessness and therefore was particularly interested in the situation in Remisia. After the unsuccessful attempt to enter into negotiations with Remisia concerning the situation of the “Starren Fourty”, Antrano referred the situation to the United Nations Security Council. At a meeting of the Security Council, Resolution 99997 established the “UN Inspection Mission to Remisia”, which was seen by Remisia as an affront and as an intervention into national affairs. When the leader of the mission wanted to enter Remisia and meet the “Starren Fourty”, Remisia denied him entry on the grounds of a missing visa – he therefore had to return. The Security Council has considered these developments and criticized the behavior of Remisia but has not been able to agree on a resolution.
In parallel with these developments, Saki Shaw was taken into custody during her visit to Antrano. She was to be extradited to Molvania on the basis of an arrest warrant and an existing contract of extradition between Antrano and Molvania. During her time in police custody, she repeatedly insisted on her consular rights in the form of a conversation with employees of the Consulate of Remisia. But Antrano denied her request as Antrano does not recognize purchased citizenship and therefore does not recognize her citizenship which was only granted as she had contributed to a fund in Remisia. She vehemently refused the opportunity to speak with an employee of the Molvania Consulate. Saki Shaw died of a heart attack while being in police custody before being extradited to Molvania.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 21 October 2023
Today, Adawa (Applicant) and Rasasa (Respondent) are neighbouring states in the Region of Crosinia. After a civil war, the emerging states of Rasasa and the Adawa-Zeitounia-Union agreed on the “Treaty of Botega” in 1929. The Union dissolved in 1939 into the independent states ofAdawa and Zeitounia. All states of the Region are dependent on the cultivation and export of the plant Helian hyacinth, which is why they formed the Crosinian Helian Community (CHC) to ban internal tariffs on trade with the plants.
In 2012, a hurricane destroyed large amounts of the plants as well as infrastructure in thearea, which led to an increase in gang-criminality. To combat this, Rasasa developed together with all other states of the Region and in cooperation with the privately held Rasasan Robotics Company (RRC) the “Weaponized Autonomous Limitation Line” (WALL).
The WALL is based on a system of turrets communicating with each other autonomously connected to a self-learning artificial intelligence which – with an error rate of 1:200.000.000 – can assess and combat sources of danger without any interference of humans. The WALL was implemented only by Rasasa at its border to Adawa, following the emerged militia from Adawa committing deadly attacks in Rasasa on villages and border police stations.
Rasasa also implemented tariffs to protect national security interests of 25% on the trade with CHC-relevant goods between Rasasa and Adawa, both of which are WTO-members.
WhileRasasa`sForeign Minister was attending a summitofthe CHC in Adawathe ICC issued a warrantofarrestfor her. Adawan‘s police therefore took Rasasa’s Foreign Minister – the founder and former CEO of the RRC – into custody after the summit. The warrantofarrestisbased on theallegedindirectinvolvementof her and her company in crimesagainsthumanitycommittedby a foreignregime. Unlike Adawa, Rasasa is not party to the Rome Statute.
The controversial questions are essentially whether Adawa is party to the Treaty of Botega, the deployment of the WALL violates international law, the tariffs were legally imposed and whether Adawa rightfully detained Rasasa’s Foreign Minister following its obligations under international law.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 14 October 2019
On 20 December, we had a first alumni-event with the international law firm Jones Day in Nuremburg.
Thanks to Jones Day’s organisation and sponsoring, our first meeting could already take place in the founding year of our association. For many years Jones Day has supported the Jessup Team of the University of Passau financially as well as by organizing trial pleadings in Munich. We are delighted that Jones Day supports the idea of our alumni association. We would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to once again express our sincere thanks for your commitment and support. About 20 members from all over Germany travelled to Nuremberg to attend this alumni event. The enriching evening was filled with interesting and varied conversations and in a relaxed atmosphere, ensured a reunion of old acquaintances, a first meeting with our new Jessupers, networking with colleagues and an exchange of legal and non-legal topics.
We are already looking forward to the next alumni event which will take place in April 2019.
If you are interested in becoming part of the Friends of the Jessup and would like to support the Jessup Team of the University of Passau, fill out this application form. We are very much looking forward to meeting you in April.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 14 January 2019
On 22 November 2018, our members Anna Kunz and Nicola Antretter competed in the Bavarian speech competition in Regensburg. After excellent speeches and a comprehensive and stimulating round of discussions, they ranked first (Anna Kunz) and third (Nicola Antretter). In addition, the Faculty of Law of the University of Passau was awarded the Faculty Prize for the best participating faculty.
In the speech competition at the University of Regensburg, the law faculties of Munich (LMU), Augsburg, Regensburg, Erlangen-Nuremberg and Passau competed. Sebastian Kasper supported the participants of the University of Passau through individual coaching.
The Friends of the Jessup Passau are proud of their members. We cordially congratulate Anna and Nicola to this great individual and common success! We are pleased that both will continue to support the Jessup teams of the University of Passau with their experience, feedback and knowledge.
For further information please contact us or follow the official press release.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 12 January 2019
The Jessup enters its 60th round this year – a jubilee!
The case cente rs around a conflict under public international law between the fictitious States "Aurok" and "Rakkab".
The States mainly dispute hunting and usage rights concerning majestic herds of migratory yaks, which frequently cross their borders.
Central topics are State responsibility for commercial activities, profit participation, the commercial appropriation of traditional knowledge as well as international species protection.
The text of the case is available under this link.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 10 Novembre 2018
The current Jessup Team started to work on this year’s case. The Jessup spirit is back!
We are starting with excellent conditions: Again, the University of Passau’s Jessup Team is international. We are very pleased to welcome an exchange student from Charls-University who adds lots of experience with mooting to the team. In the spirit of our international team, the working language is English. We expect, that this helps working on the case and all relevant literature.
This year’s team is characterised by its extraordinary interest in Public International Law. All team members obtained national and international experience with Public International Law: e.g. several months abroad to study Law in Israel, working for the Czech Ministry of Economics, internships at the European Parliament, in an international Law Firm, at the German Embassy in Warsaw for NGOs in Bolivia, Uganda or Czech Republic and further outstanding extracurricular experiences. Further, all team members focus their legal studies on the Rights of the European and international community of states.
What is more, two members are already pursuing their second degree. Beforehand, they finished their Bachelor Governance and Public Policy or Bachelor European Studies.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 20 October 2018
This year’s German National Rounds will take place in Hamburg and are jointly organised by the University of Hamburg and the Bucerius Law School. The competent National Administrators are Magdalena Goebel and Franziska Niehaus.
The International Rounds will, again, take place in Washington DC (United States of America) from 31st of March to 6th of April.
For more information about the Jessup Moot Court, its history and the temporal sequence of the competition, browse ILSA's homepage.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 16 October 2018
On 19th July 2018, former team members as well as former and current Coaches of the Jessup Team Passau founded the association Friends of the Jessup Passau.
We are pleased to offer a platform for communication and networking to all our Alumni. Moreover, we are happy to support our University’s Jessup Teams.
The general assembly elected Sebastian Kasper (chairman), Judith Hoffmann (deputy chairman) and Hannes Wolff (representative of the coaching team) to form the association’s founding board.
Friends of the Jessup Passau | 10 October 2018
