In Praise of “A Safe and T 34
his is a wonderful occasion, whose suc- cess brings credit to those who partici- pate, those who coach, and those who organise. 605 law school teams from
87 countries participated in the Jessup world- wide. Switzerland, Kuwait and Tanzania held their first national competitions. In this week’s In- ternational Rounds, there are 137 teams from 78 countries including teams from Iraq, Pal- estine, Georgia and Chile. The Bahamas, The Gambia and Lux- embourg are here in the finals for the first time. It is the larg- est Jessup competition in 53 years.
Honourable Dispute” Address to Jessup Competitors by Ian Forrester at the White & Case Jessup Cup World Championship Round
Delivered March 31, 2012
orously challenged. Honour to the teams and to the coaches. And honour to the three authors who have created a problem which tormented the teams for months.
I also want to recognise the sponsors who helped teams get to Washington: for example, the Armenian Young Lawyers’ Association, the First Baptist Church in Freeport (Bahamas), the Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education, St Mary’s University College in Addis Ababa, and the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Company. We have 56 supporters from Canada, 28 from India, 20 from Russia, and 18 from Croatia. I cannot name them all, but it is clear that considerable advocacy was deployed to persuade sponsors to pay. So honour to the supporters, and honour to those who eloquently pled for their support. This room holds nearly 700 people, all drawn by the spectacle of seeing excellent advocacy rig-
Not just to win, but to guide. Not just to defend, but to inform. Not just to clarify, but to warn. These are the duties of the legal profes- sion. Belief in the cause by the lawyer is useless without clarity ... Rigour in exposition assists clarity, and is consistent with an edge of passion. That is true in every court. The professional opportunities you have opened up for yourselves by participating in this competition are likely to offer you great things.
It is unfortunate that in litigations and other rituals of combat a winner is declared. Only one team will take this trophy home today. We do not award marks for the quality of the spectacle. But as one of the judges, let me say that the margins of difference this week to de- cide who would advance have been very very fine. The qual- ity of the argument yesterday was far higher than the norm in the international courts I know in Europe. And those who argued had to make argu- ments that were very unlikely to win in light of the judgment of the ICJ in Germany v Italy
in February 2012. That’s not just a kind word of consolation, it is a truth which reflects the reali- ties of litigation.
In big litigations, both sides believe they can win. Sometimes the margin between winning and losing may be very fine. In some cases, even big and celebrated cases, it is only well after- wards, with the benefit of the slope of history, that it is evident that the outcome would have been unchanged regardless of the arguments of the advocate. Being on the losing side of a big
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 4 » May 2012
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