The ELTE team once again ranked among the world’s top universities at the Jessup International Moot Court Competition held in Washington, D.C., in April 2026, winning six prestigious awards.

In terms of the preliminary rounds for the world championship in Washington, ELTE achieved the best result in its history by finishing in 3rd place among the 164 universities that advanced to the finals and moving on to the single-elimination stage. The ELTE team made it into the prestigious top 32, representing the top 4% of the universities competing in the tournament. In terms of written briefs, they placed 7th in the competition for the best combined plaintiff and defendant briefs among all competitors and teams participating in national qualifiers (M. Cherif Bassiouni Award), and 24th place among the qualifying teams in the combined plaintiff and defendant brief competition (Alona E. Evans Award).

Our law students also achieved outstanding results in individual oral performances this year: Lili Nagy (defendant) placed 9th, Zsuzsanna Nagy (defendant) placed 11th, while Kinga Kovács-Toperczer (plaintiff) finished in the top 40, and Anna Szabó finished among the top 70 law students. 

Teams from more than 800 universities in over 100 countries participated in this year’s Jessup competition, bringing the total number of participants to over 4,000. A total of 164 teams, comprising more than 600 law students, qualified for the World Championship held in Washington, D.C.

The 2026 Jessup case addressed four issues of international law. The respondent state planned to mine rare earth metals at a sacred pilgrimage site of an indigenous group, which led to a dispute with the applicant. The dispute covered the indigenous people’s decision-making rights, the potential state immunity of a state-owned enterprise, whether the general legal principle of ne bis in idem could prevent the extradition of a citizen, and finally, whether a third state could intervene in proceedings before the International Court of Justice. 

The members of the 2026 team were Anna Szabó, Kinga Kovács-Toperczer, Lili Nagy, Zsuzsanna Nagy, and Jázmin Gondos. The coaching faculty consisted of Dr. Ágnes Farkas Luca, assistant professor; Dr. Dávid Pusztai, assistant professor; and Dr. Gábor Kajtár, professor.

We would like to thank our sponsors once again this year for their support; without them, we would not have been able to achieve this international success. Our primary sponsor: Fehérváry Horányi Kovács Baker & McKenzie Law Firm. Our sponsors: Nagy és Trócsányi Law Firm, National Talent Program, Frank Ignác Foundation, ELTE Talent Development Council.