National University of Singapore wins Jessup World Championship in year marked by first hybrid International Rounds

Global law firm White & Case LLP is pleased to share that the National University of Singapore has won the White & Case Jessup Cup, the top prize of the 2026 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Following a week of competitive matches, the National University of Singapore and Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) advanced to the World Championship Round, rising above 164 other teams from 89 jurisdictions.

The winning team members from the National University of Singapore include Phoebe Chan, Lee Dawn Gene, Tan Kai Han, Natalie Koh and Caleb Tan. The university has a record 13 appearances in the World Championship Round, including five wins. The school last appeared in the Finals in 2021 and last won the World Cup in 2001. This year marks its 53rd Jessup Competition, having first participated in 1973. This is also the second consecutive win by a team from Singapore, following Singapore Management University's victory in 2025. The best oralist in the final round was Tan Kai Han.

Runner-up Ateneo de Manila University last won the World Cup in 2004, defeating the National University of Singapore, in its only appearance in the Finals. This is their 41st Jessup Competition, having first competed in 1985. The Philippines last took home the World Cup in 2024, with a win by the University of the Philippines.

This year marks the first hybrid International Rounds in the competition's 67-year history. The International Law Students Association (ILSA), the organization that administers the Jessup, integrated a hybrid component to work around certain geopolitical challenges. This allowed 22 teams affected by these circumstances to participate.

"Year after year, the Jessup International Rounds remind us why this competition is so special," said Dipen Sabharwal, London partner, member of the Firm's Executive Committee and former Jessup World Champion. "The caliber of advocacy, the depth of legal analysis and the genuine commitment to the rule of law we see from these students are truly inspiring, and a powerful sign of the strength and promise of the next generation of international lawyers."

The teams in the Final Round argued before Dapo Akande, the Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford and member of the UN International Law Commission; Soledad García Muñoz, who served as the first Special Rapporteur on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and James Anaya, a professor and former dean at the University of Colorado Law School and previous UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Leading up to the final round, more than 170 practitioners, professors and judges from 53 countries adjudicated the preliminary rounds, with more than 50 percent coming from outside the US, demonstrating the global reach and varied expertise in the Jessup judge pool.

To celebrate and promote the Jessup, and inspire the students who participate, in 2021 White & Case created an award to recognize distinguished alumni. White & Case partner Aditya Singh, based in Singapore, presented the 2026 White & Case Distinguished Jessup Alumni Award to Professor Ximena Fuentes, former Chilean Ambassador to the United Kingdom, international lawyer, government official and professor. Previous recipients include Brad Smith of Microsoft, Judge Hilary Charlesworth and Judge Georg Nolte of the International Court of Justice, Judge Florence Mumba of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon of Singapore.

The Firm became a Global Partner of the Jessup in 2007 and has sponsored the White & Case International Rounds since 2010.

For complete results of the 2026 White & Case International Rounds, please go to ILSA's website (www.ilsa.org).

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