Vis Moot

What is the "Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot"?

With more than 1.500 participants from over 60 countries and 250 universities, the Vis Moot is one of the biggest and most important Moots in the field of Commercial Law.

Every year, the participating Teams have to solve problems in a simulated arbitral proceeding.

The Moot involves a dispute arising out of a contract of sale between two countries that are party to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The contract provides that any dispute that might arise is to be settled by arbitration in Danubia, a country that has enacted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and is a party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention). The arbitral rules to be applied rotate yearly among the arbitration rules of co-sponsors of the Moot.

The problem is published at the beginning of October every year. Students now have around two months to complete a written memorandum to defend the interests of the Claimant. Afterwards, every team gets the memorandum of another participating university and has to reply in writing, now defending the Respondend of the proceeding. After the submission of the second memorandum in January, the teams can prepare for the oral hearings in Vienna for around another two months. The oral arguments take place in Vienna, beginning Saturday a week prior to Easter and closing on Thursday of Easter week. The general rounds of the oral arguments take place at the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna (Juridicum) from Saturday to Tuesday. Elimination rounds among the highest ranking teams take place on Wednesday and Thursday, culminating in the final argument. The Moot closes with an awards banquet following the final argument.

Since 1993, the Vis Moot has a sister Moot taking place in Hong Kong.The Vis Moot (East) uses the same Problem and the rules are essentially the same as for the Moot taking place in Vienna. Nevertheless, they are two separate moots with separate registration and separate winners.