Lachs Space Moot
The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition or Lachs Space Moot is a space law moot competition organised by the International Institute of Space Law. The competition is named after Manfred Lachs, a former judge of the International Court of Justice. It is not only the oldest international student competition on space law, but also one of the oldest international moots. As the class-leading moot in its field and given its scale, the Lachs Moot is considered one of the major or grand slam moots. 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, and has since become defunct.
In addition to national rounds for certain countries, five regional competitions have been held for the Lachs Moot to date—Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America—with the winners of each region proceeding to the world or international rounds at a venue that changes every year. At the international rounds, a preliminary round and two semi-finals are held before the world championship round, which is typically judged by three sitting ICJ judges. For a period of time, the regional and world rounds were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In each oral round of the moot 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. These memorials are re-evaluated during the world rounds.