Model CJ ’12
First session of the Model Courts of Justice was held in Faculty of Law, Ankara University in February 2012 as the very first court simulation conference of Turkey. Under the leadership of founding Secretary-General Ms. Şeyma OLGUN and Director-General Ms. Dicle Su HAN, Model CJ 2012 hosted International Court of Justice with a maritime delimitation case, for the first time in Turkey with the participation of law students from different universities. A dual structure was followed with two different study guides specific for judges and advocates.
Model CJ ’13
As the one and only court simulation conference giving the law students chance to have a better understanding about the working process of international Courts, second session of the Model Courts of Justice was held in Faculty of Law, Ankara University, in February 2013 under the leadership of Ms. Selcen CAN, Secretary-General and Mr. Çağrı YILMAZ, Director-General. In addition to International Court of Justice with its case concerning the Kuril Islands Dispute between Japan and Russia, International Criminal Court was simulated for the first time in the Turkey with the case Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo and Criminal Law welcomed as the second traditional law branch of Model CJ beside International Public Law.
Model CJ ’14
Spreading its wings to a wider vision, third simulation of Model Courts of Justice 2014 held in Litai Hotel of Turkish Bar Association, in February 2014, under the leadership of Ms. Fatma Betül BODUR, Secretary-General and Ms. Arzum KOCA, Director-General, in February 2014 with participants from different countries. While International Crimal Court dealt with case Prosecutor v. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, two jurisdictions of International Court of Justice took place at the same time. The Northwest (North-western) Passage Disputewas brought before the Contentious Jurisdiction of ICJ while the first simulation of the Advisory Jurisdiction of Turkey went deeper in the doctrine and examined the lawfulness of armed intervention to protect human rights. Students who are not studying law were welcomed under the roof of Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, in its very first simulation for the country, agenda item being Promotion of an Equitable International Order in the Light of Cultural Relativism.
Model CJ ’15
With three brand-new courts, Model Courts of Justice reached her widest extend in the fourth session held in Litai Hotel, in February 2015, under the leadership of Mr. Arif Erkut ÖZKAN, Secretary-General and Mr. Barışcan ERDEMİR, Director-General. While International Court of Justice Advisory Jurisdiction answered one of most discussed questions of international community at that time: Is the Outcome of the Crimean Referendum of 16th of March 2014 in Accordance with International Law?, Human Rights Council Advisory Committee issued Stateless People:Citizenship Rights in the Context of Natural Law and Civil Law Dichotomy agenda item. In their very first simulations in Turkey; European Court of Human Rightsadjudicated over the case of Ponte and Fabozzi v. Italy regarding the Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Couples and Same-Sex Marriage, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea solved the Svalbard Islands Dispute between United Kingdom and Norway while lastly the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Appeal Chamber evaluated the appeal cases of Dusko Tadic and Drogoljub Kunarac.
Model CJ ’16
Keeping its boutique structure, fifth session of Model Courts of Justice held in Litai Hotel, in February 2016, under the leadership of Ms. Kevser Neşe GÜNAL, Secretary-General and Mr. Özkan Emre ÖZAĞAR, Director-General. A new approach was taken for Criminal Law by simulating not a Criminal Law court but Office of the Prosecutor of International Criminal Court, for the first time in Turkey, where participants decided whether the crimes committed during the Gaza Conflict should be brought before ICC thus analyzed the main principles of crime. In their first simulations in the country, Supreme Court of United States issued an important deadlock of Human Rights Law, Legality of Euthanasia within the perspective of common law while the Ad Hoc Committee on International Terrorism discussed a very well-known agenda item; International Terrorism in a new legal context, within the doctrinal debates of scope of implementing state responsibility. In addition to them, as the most traditional court of Model CJ,International Court of Justice Contentious Jurisdiction opened its door once again for the participants for the decision of Legal Status of the Caspian Sea while the European Court of Human Rights, after showing how suitable it is to simulations addressed a dilemma under its Convention in its second year; Freedom of Expression vs. Right to Reputation.
Model CJ ’17
Reaching a whole new level in the history of Model CJ conferences, the sixth session was held in Litai Hotel, in February 2017, under the leadership of two beautiful and amazing ladies, Ms. Saide Esra AKDOĞAN, Secretary General and Ms. Kübra KÜÇÜK, Director General. While the participants in World Intellectual Property Organization reached a solution about Domain Name Dispute between Harvey Richtermann and Janette Jayle Mirren; International Court of Justice, the oldest court we have, issued the Security in Aircraft Incident and the ZIKA Spread with the Aircrafts Case: Australia vs. Chile. As the tradition continiues, the sixth session of Model CJ had a new committee, International Chamber of Commerce – Mediation. In this committee, participants solved two different cases with lots of challenges, Land Usage Dispute: Puerto Mauricio and Development and City Planning: Billboards in Wyetville. The participants were not law students but with their relentless efforts and knowledge they made wonders. In its second year, Office of the Prosecutor discussed a very sensitive topic: Preliminary Examination into the Situation in Afghanistan. Led by our hardworking academic team, the legal analysts determined the way out of the demolition in the country, while our human rights enthusiasts, brought a solution to Fair Trial in CAS System, Validity of the the Mandotory Arbitration Clause: Pechstein v. Germany in European Court of Human Rights. ModelCJ’17 was the first time we had Career Fair and Keynote Speakers. ModelCJ set a new academic level and created oppurtunities for its participants.
Model CJ ’18
Keeping up with the tradition of perfection, Model Courts of Justice 2018, the seventh annual session of our beloved court simulation conference, was held in February 2018 in Litai Hotel, Ankara. The Academic and Organization teams were once again led by two incredibly talented ladies; Secretary General Ms. Banu Eylül YALÇIN and Director General Ms. Merve KANBİR.
While our indispensable court, the International Court of Justice, took a fresh breath with a case of Environmental Law for the first time in Turkey, the case of Nuclear Accident and Sovereign Debt Case: Durmstein v. Velancy; the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on one of the most controversial cases of American legal history: the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Case. Slowly becoming a staple of our conference, the International Chamber of Commerce – Mediation was once again featured with two different cases. This committee was open to all participants, which opened up the CJ experience to legal enthusiasts that are not law students. United Kingdom Intellectual Property Enterprise Court ruled on a trademark dispute between two
cosmetic companies on the case of Rosso Mila Beauty, Ltd. v. Rasa Stores Ltd. while United States Criminal Court decided on the mysterious case of The State of Oregon v. Robert Miller as a new look into criminal law, featuring both a board of judges made out of law student participants and a jury which consisted of participants from many other branches and careers.
In Model Courts of Justice 2018, we once again welcomed Keynote Speakers, who enlightened our participants on many legal questions.
Model CJ ’19
Lastly on MCJ, the eighth annual sessions of our beloved court simulation conference was held in February 2019 in Litai Hotel, Ankara. The Academic and Organization teams were led by two incredibly dedicated gentlemen; Secretary-General Mr. Aziz Can CENGİZ and Director General Mr. Selman AKMEŞE.
While our irreplaceable court, the International Court of Justice, took a fresh breath with a case of Space Law, Space Accident and Political Asylum Case (Felicé v. Rosslia); the European Court of Human Rights issued on one of the most controversial interstate cases in the European History: Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea). The International Chamber of Commerce – Mediation was once again featured with two different cases. This committee was open to all participants, which opened up the CJ experience to legal enthusiasts that are not law students. Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on a design dispute between an employee and a company on the case of Reid v. European Union Intellectual Property Organization. The United States Senate hold a Senate Hearing on a fictional case about data privacy in order to simulate the aspects of politics over the legal system of the United States.
In Model Courts of Justice 2019, we once again welcomed Keynote Speakers, who informed our legal enthusiasts participants on many aspects regarding the legal matters.
Model CJ ’20
Led by Secretary-General Deniz Yontuk and Director-General İrem Özdamar, Model Courts of Justice 2020 marked many firsts in gathering an unprecedented number of sponsors and debuting a variety of never-before-seen international courts. Alongside familiar faces such as the International Court Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the European Court of Human Rights, the 9th year of the conference was home to simulations of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the African Court of Human Rights, and the US Court of Federal Claims.
Model CJ ’21
Previously on Model Courts of Justice,
To commemorate the 10th annual session of Model Courts of Justice, Secretary-General Mr. Faik Yetgin and Director-General Ms. Simay Demir poured their blood sweat tears into this edition of the conference. Despite the unfortunate events of the global pandemic, the team provided us with the best conference possible.
Model Courts of Justice went back to basics by simulating the first-ever case brought to its namesake Court, the Corfu Channel Case in the 10th annual session. The developing concept of the right of innocent passage and the general principles of the law of the sea was discussed.
Moving onto our second court, the modern version of the sea law was examined by practicing articles from UNCLOS on a fictional case in the International Chamber of Commerce. World Trade Organization was stimulated for the first time by studying the intellectual property rights and the controversial national security exception between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In the European Court of Justice, the Court heard two cases with a common legal issue and decided whether online platforms were responsible for copyright infringement by user uploads. Finally, throughout the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, we encountered the historic norms of the law of war and principles of international humanitarian law and discussed the legal, political, and military roots of international criminal law.
Model CJ ’22
Model Courts of Justice 2022 was surely one of the most memorable editions of our 11-year-old conference. With the leadership of our Secretary-General Ms. Zeynep Güler and our Director-General Ms. Başak Göksu, we as the Model Courts of Justice team managed to put an amazing 11th session in front of our participants.
At the International Court of Justice, we went back in time to resolve a landmark case of international law which is the case of Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua. While we were simulating the World Trade Organization, we yet again studied one of the most famous cases of the court, which is the Beef Hormones Dispute between the United States and European Communities for being the very first case of issues such as non-discrimination, risk assessment, non-tariff barriers, or precautionary principle has arisen.
Following our next court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, our prosecutors have reached a judgment on whether the president of Serbia in the 90s was responsible for the genocide and many more crimes in the area with the Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milošević case.
European Courts of Human Rights sank into the topics of internet surveillance and intelligence sharing with the Big Brother Watch v. The United Kingdom case, and lastly, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, we discussed whether Microsoft had violated or not violated the related provisions of the Sherman Act with one of the landmark cases in antitrust law ‘Microsoft Corporation v. the United States of America’.