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Organizer: Adrien Foulatier (International Law PhD Student)

The challenges faced by teams in this year’s competition included the use of force in the South China Sea, a coup d’état and human rights crackdown, the arrest and abuse of diplomats, and cyber warfare. Teams had to produce 13 pieces of written advice and conduct two negotiations during the 24 hours. Teams represented the governments of People’s Republic of China, French Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of Turkey, Russian Federation, Republic of the Philippines, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the organisations of NATO, the European Union and UN. During the culmination of the event at the UN Security Council session, teams stated their positions, took questions from each other and from the jury in order to reach a resolution.

Jury : Mr Steven Hill, NATO Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of Legal Affairs (Chair of the Jury); Mr Etienne Kowalski, Partner, Simmons & Simmons Paris Office; Ms Juliet Reingold, Partner, Simmons & Simmons London Office; Dr Kirsten Roberts Lyer, Associate Professor at Central European University, Co-convenor of the 2017 Day of Crisis Competition; Professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin, Université Paris Nanterre, founder of the Day of Crisis Competition; Ms Michelle Valchero, National Security Team, FCO Legal Directorate; Mr Patrick Wallace, Partner, Simmons & Simmons London Office; Dr Philippa Webb, Associate Professor at King’s College London, Co-convenor of the 2017 Day of Crisis Competition

This year the team had to advise on a fictional outbreak of raccoon flu originating in China and spreading to Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. The crisis involved China using a US patent without permission, triggering a trade war. At the same time, the team was faced with a crisis in Syria, a cyber attack on India from a privately-owned weaponised satellite, and bombings in Qatar and Pakistan.

The Jury for the competition included Mr Gian Luca Burci, Director of the Legal Department of the World Health Organization, Mr Nicola Bonucci, Director of the Legal Department of the OECD, and Ms Caroline Sitbon, Director of the Legal Department of GlaxoSmithKline.

This year's competition posed issues arising from the crash of a Brazilian Satellite into the Taj Mahal, a territorial dispute between Russia, the USA and Canada over the Artic seabed, a terrorist hijacking of a Thai plane with French nationals aboard that landed in the UAE, the secession of Catalonia from Spain, and China's claim of sovereignty over the Moon.