2025 Day of Crisis Competition

The Hague Academy of International Law proudly launched the “Day of Crisis”, an annually held student competition, in 2021. Over the course of 24 hours, several teams of students, representing governments, international organizations, businesses or non-governmental organizations, face a series of major international crises. Participants are required to deal with a variety of legal issues by providing an opinion, advising a client, drafting documents, negotiating or elaborating diplomatic strategies. This competition challenges students’ knowledge of public international law and a variety of skills, such as collaborating in a team, drafting, negotiating and working under pressure.

History:
The Day of Crisis competition was created at Paris Nanterre University in 2012, with the support of Simmons and Simmons international law firm. Since then, it has been successfully held every year on a variety of topics, in either Paris or London. Since 2022, the competition is organized on the premises of The Hague Academy of International Law following the same concept.

Previous webpage of the Day of Crisis: https://sites.google.com/view/dayofcrisis/accueil

The Secretary-General would like to thank the competition’s co-creator, who has actively supported it for over ten years, and remains its generous sponsor, Simmons & Simmons LLP.
Simmons & Simmons LLP is an international business law firm encompassing the entire range of business law. It is composed of over 1,000 lawyers and jurists, including more than 320 partners worldwide. Its network of 21 offices spans across Europe and includes key growth markets such as Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Africa. Established in 1988, Simmons & Simmons Paris is a multi-specialised law firm with over 100 lawyers including 31 partners. Partner-led and multi-disciplinary teams are specifically formed according to client needs in order to cover the largest scope of matters. The firm is committed to delivering technical excellence, market awareness and first-class service levels. It assists its clients on all aspects of business law, including transactional, advisory and litigation matters.

Video impressions:

Any university, law school or college offering a law or international relations degree may register a team of four to five members for the competition  (NB: minimum education must be at Masters level). Due to limited spots, up to 12 teams will be invited to participate in the Day of Crisis at the Academy. Participation is free of charge. Teams and participants that particularly distinguish themselves during the contest will receive special certificates and prizes. A team member from the designated Best Team of the competition will be offered an internship at the Simmons&Simmons law firm in Paris.

The Hague Academy of International Law has concluded its 2024 edition of the Day of Crisis competition, held on 3^rd and 4^th May. This competition was made possible through the generous support of the Simmons & Simmons law firm and was co-hosted by The Hague University of Applied Sciences.

The Academy comgratulates the 12 participating teams and extends its sincere gratitude to the esteemed jury members for their invaluable contributions to thid fierce competition.
Congratulations are particularly due to the following teams for their outstanding achievements:
Georgetown University, King’s College London, Freie Universität Berlin and Universidad de La Sabana Colombia.

The Academy expresses its deepest appreciation to all involved in making this event yet another success and presents its warm thanks to Simmons & Simmons law firm and The Hague University of Applied Sciences for their outstanding support to the Day of Crisis competition.

One of the testimonials from teams sharing their thanks and impressions on social networks: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7192617124631097344/