About Willem C. Vis

The moot is named after Willem Cornelis Vis (1924–1993), an expert in international commercial transactions and dispute settlement procedures. Vis was born in Utrecht and graduated from Leiden University and Nijmegen University in the Netherlands.^[7] He also read law, economics and philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford. Vis began to work for European co-operation in 1957 as a member of the Council of Europe Secretariat, in its human rights and legal affairs directorates, and later, in 1965, became deputy secretary-general of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome. In 1968, he moved to the United Nations Secretariat in New York, where he became senior legal officer, then chief of the International Trade Law Branch of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, and secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).^[7] Vis served as executive secretary of the Vienna Diplomatic Conference that created the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). He helped craft the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and was Representative of the Netherlands to the UNCITRAL and served as chair of its Working Group on International Payments.^[7] He served on the faculty of Pace University School of Law from 1980 until his death in 1993.^[8] At Pace, he continued to participate in the development of international commercial law, and was founding director of the Pace Institute of International Commercial Law.^[9]

Organisers and sponsors

The moot is organised by the Association for the Organization and Promotion of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. The director was Pace Law School's professor emeritus Eric Bergsten,^[10] a former secretary of the UNCITRAL until his retirement in 2013 after the 20th annual moot. The current directors are Christopher Kee, Patrizia Netal, and Stefan Kroell.^[11]

The moot is sponsored by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution/American Arbitration Association, International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, CEPANI (Belgium), Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Chinese-European Arbitration Centre, German Institution of Arbitration, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, International Chamber of Commerce, Permanent Court of Arbitration, JAMS, London Court of International Arbitration, Moot Alumni Association, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Swiss Arbitration Association, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, Beijing International Arbitration Centre, Vienna International Arbitral Centre, and the University of Vienna Faculty of Law.^[12]

Vis East

Vis (East) Moot, Hong Kong

The Vis East Moot is the sister moot to the Vis Moot in Vienna. The Vis East takes place annually in Hong Kong.^[13] Founded in 2003 by Louise Barrington, a Canadian arbitrator based in Hong Kong, the Vis East was originally underwritten by the East Asia Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The Vis East uses the same moot problem and the rules are essentially the same as the Moot that takes place in Vienna. Nevertheless, they are two separate moots with separate registrations and fees, as well as separate winners – the Vis East is not a regional elimination moot for the Vienna competition. A law school can register for the Vis East, the Vienna moot, or both. While the same students can be on both teams, a student cannot present oral arguments in both the Hong Kong and the Vienna Moot in the same year even though both moots are held a week apart; further, students who have spoken in elimination rounds in previous editions (whether in Vienna or Hong Kong) cannot participate as an oralist in subsequent competitions. The first local host of the Vis East was the City University of Hong Kong; the 1st–3rd editions were held at City University's campus located in Kowloon Tong. The following two moots were hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong at its campus in Central. From the 6th edition to the 16th edition, the Vis East Moot moved back to City University of Hong Kong. The general rounds and elimination rounds are now held at Justice Place, in Central Hong Kong. The Directors of the Vis East Moot are Barrington and Sherlin Tung.

Online edition

In 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic, both Vis moots were conducted online during the originally scheduled dates,^[14] paving the way to the first editions of the Virtual Vis East and Virtual Vis respectively. Around 70 out of the original 140 teams that had signed up participated in the First Virtual Vis East, while the number for the virtual rounds for Vienna was around 250 out of 390.^[15] As air travel restrictions did not improve, it was decided that the 2021 and 2022 editions of both Vis moots would be online as well. The Vienna edition returned to the in-person format in 2023.

Moot problem

Danubia is a fictional country, which has enacted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration as well as the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention). It always features as the seat of arbitration. The arbitration clause in the contract in the problem always provides that the dispute is to be decided by arbitration in Danubia under the institutional arbitration rules of one of the various arbitration institutions which sponsors the moot. The substantive issue always entails the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Pre-moots

Pre-moot at Olomouc Faculty of Law courtroom

As popularity for the Vis moots has continually grown, many schools now participate in sessions to practice the presentation of their argument, before ultimately travelling to Vienna or Hong Kong for the actual moot. Examples of these pre-moots include:

• Belgrade Open held in Serbia. Organised since 2008, it has a turnout of around 60 teams a year
• Shanghai Moot held in Shanghai. Organised since 2010, it has a turnout of around 50 teams a year
• Asian International Arbitration Centre competition held in Kuala Lumpur. Organised since 2017, it has a turnout of around 80 teams a year
• CIArb Australia competition held in Melbourne. Organised since 2018, it has a turnout of around 20 teams a year
• Permanent Court of Arbitration's pre-moots hosted in various parts of the world
• International Centre for Dispute Resolution competition held in New York. Organised since 2008, it has a turnout of dozens of teams a year
• IAC Central Asia competition held in Kazakhstan. Organised since 2018
• Fox Williams/CIArb competition held in London. Organised since 2015, it has a turnout of around 30 teams per year

Awards

Various awards are given in both Vienna and Hong Kong for the written and oral arguments (individual and team). Honourable Mentions are given to teams that make the knockout stages for the oral phase, written submissions, and individual performances during the oral phase. Best Memoranda and Best Oralist prizes are also given to the top-3 in each category.

Venues

The different occasions during the oral phase of the Vienna Moot have not always been held at the venues they take place at today. As the Vis Moot grew over the years, the space needed grew with it, and required a number of venue changes from year to year. The opening reception, for example, was held at the UNCITRAL headquarters during the first three Moots (1994–96), and subsequently moved to the building of the old Vienna Stock Exchange (the "Börse"), the Ronacher Theatre (until 2005) and then the Konzerthaus (13th Moot, 2006). In 2007, the opening reception was held at the Stadthalle, but it returned to the Konzerthaus in 2008.

From the 1st until the 3rd Vis Moot (1994–96), the oral hearings proper were held at the International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wiedner Hauptstrasse 63 in Vienna's 4th district), thus taking place in the very rooms where ordinary arbitration hearings are held. Only from the 4th Moot (1997) onwards, the oral hearings took place at the Juridicum of the Faculty of Law, University of Vienna. During the more recent moots, some of the hearings have been held at the offices of nearby law firms (since the Juridicum alone could no longer accommodate the growing number of hearings), namely at the offices of Dorda Brugger Jordis (since the 11th Moot 2004), DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach (since the 16th Moot 2009) and Baker McKenzie: Diwok Hermann Petsche (since the 17th Moot 2010).

The location for the championship final remained at the Vienna International Arbitral Centre even longer; the last hearing of each year's moot was held there from the 1st until the 6th Moot (1994–99). From the 7th until the 10th Moot (2000–03), the final hearing took place at the Festsaal of the Vienna City Hall (the Rathaus), and since the 11th Moot (2004) it has moved to the Messen. The awards banquet following the championship final was held at the Piaristenkeller,^[17] a historic Viennese restaurant, during the 1st and 2nd Moots (1994–95), then at the Rathauskeller of the Vienna City Hall (at the 3rd Moot, 1996) and subsequently at the same building's Festsaal (4th until 10th Moot, 1997–2003). Since the 11th Moot (2004), it has been held at the Messe.

One location that has remained unchanged in its important role in the Moot (since the 4th Moot, when it was first used for moot purposes) is the "Dachgeschoss". The term "Dachgeschoss" (German for "top floor"; literally "roof floor" (Dach = roof, Geschoss = floor)), which has become part of the international moot vocabulary, refers to the top floor (7th floor) of the Juridicum in Vienna. It houses the moot administration (where teams and arbitrators register, the arbitrators pick up and hand in their score sheets, and tickets for the awards banquet are available), the MAA (Moot Alumni Association) desk, displays by various sponsoring law publishers (often offering special "moot deals") and - maybe most importantly - chairs, tables and lounge areas for the participants and arbitrators to meet and linger. The Dachgeschoss is where the hearing schedule for the day (listing the teams, the hearing room and the arbitrators) is posted every morning. During the elimination rounds, this is also the place where teams and arbitrators will gather after each round to learn with team will move on to the next round.