Willem C. Vis Moot

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot or Vis Moot is an international moot competition. Since 1994, it has been held annually in Vienna, Austria, attracting approximately 400 law schools from all around the world and spurring the creation of more than 30 pre-moots each year before the actual rounds are held in Vienna. It is the largest arbitration moot competition, and second-largest moot overall, in the world; considered a grand slam or major moot. A sister moot, known as the Willem C. Vis (East) Moot, is held in Hong Kong just before the rounds in Vienna. It was established in 2003 and attracts around 150 teams every year, making it the second largest commercial arbitration moot and also a grand slam moot. It uses the same moot problem as the Vis Moot, as does the various pre-moot friendlies.

The objective of both Vis moots is to foster study in the area of international commercial arbitration and encourage the resolution of business disputes by arbitration. The problem for the moot is always based on an international sales transaction subjected to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (referred to commonly as the CISG) and also involves procedural issues of arbitration such as jurisdiction and powers of an arbitral tribunal. The moot consists of submitting written memoranda for both claimant and respondent before the oral phase of the competition, though the written arguments have no bearing on either the preliminary rounds or knockout stages in the oral phase.