The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition or Lachs Space Moot is a

space law Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts ...

moot competition organised by the

International Institute of Space Law The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...

. The competition is named after

Manfred Lachs Manfred H. Lachs (April 21, 1914 in Stanislav, Austrian Galicia – January 14, 1993 in The Hague) was a Polish diplomat, Judge of the International Court of Justice, and jurist who greatly influenced the development of international law after Wo ...

, a former judge of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. It is the oldest student competition in the area of

, with the first edition of the moot taking place in 1993. In 2011, another space law moot came about, organised by the International Air & Space Law Academy. It is a different moot that is much smaller in scale. As the class-leading moot in its field and given its scale, the Lachs Moot is considered one of the major moots. To date, five regional competitions have been held—Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America—with the winners of each region proceeding to the international finals at a venue that changes every year; the championship round is typically judged by sitting ICJ judges. For the 2020 edition, the regional rounds were held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In each oral round there is an applicant and a respondent, and each side is represented by two counsel. Each team also has to submit written memorials for both sides.

References

{{International moot court competitions Moot court competitions