On 6th of October the 23rd edition of Martens Competition came to the end. This year teams had to resolve a fictional case based on “How to train a dragon” cartoon. Using the cartoon as a part of competition’s entourage organizers raised many actual IHL problems like: classification of conflicts, protection of cultural property, military application of artificial intelligence, autonomous weapon systems, urbanization of wars, cyber operations, protection of civilian population and treatment of prisoners of war. In parallel with the the competition itself a seminar program for university teachers was organized. After the rounds all participants were able to discuss IHL with judges and experienced ICRC delegates.
In total 21 teams from seven states took part in the contest. Two teams representing Turkmenistan and Armenia got into the final round namely: International University of Humanities and Development (Turkmenistan) and Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (Armenia). The team from Turkmenistan won the competition. Traditionally for the Martens Competition all other teams are considered to be awarded the third place. Results of the competition will be included into the next Nica.team ranking update shortly.
We sincerely congratulate all the competing teams with success.
Martens Competition is traditionally organized by the ICRC Regional Delegation in Moscow and has an aim to contribute to dissemination of IHL among students and university teachers of the region. It also aims to flag the actuality of IHL teaching and to support universities on their way to teach IHL. Despite it is an annual event because of the covid pandemic the competition was on pause since 2019. Martens Competition is not a typical moot court as it is mainly based on role playing model and teaches how to apply law rather then how to theorize it.
Photo credit: Unsplash