Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot

  The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, held annually in Vienna since 1994, is a competition that encourages law students to study and apply international commercial sale and arbitration. Law students from all over the world can participate in the competition. The competition focuses on a dispute arising from a sales contract between two countries that are parties to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The dispute resolution clause in the sales contract provides that any disputes will be resolved through arbitration in a fictitious country, Danubia, which has adopted both the UNCITRAL Model Law and the New York Convention. The rules applied in the arbitration are chosen sequentially from the rules of the sponsoring arbitration centers of the competition.

  Our university has participated in the competition since the 2022-2023 academic year. A total of two coaches and four students can participate on behalf of our university.

  The preparation process for this competition, which requires intensive work, begins immediately after the team members are selected from the evaluated applications and lasts until mid-spring semester. For the event text provided in the competition, first a claimant's memorandum is written, then a response memorandum is prepared in response to the team’s assigned claimant's memorandum, which is distributed randomly among competitors. After completing the exchange of memorandums, preparations begin for the hearings that will take place in Vienna.

  Finally, usually at the end of March or early April, the oral hearings are held in Vienna, where teams are matched against each other irrespective of the memorandum exchanges. Depending on whether our team takes the role of claimant or respondent, oral arguments or defenses are presented. Throughout this process, students meet participants from all over the world and build cross-border bridges for their post-graduation lives. Additionally, they have the opportunity to freely explore the captivating city of Vienna during their free days or after a long hearing.

  The university covers the transportation and accommodation expenses for the competition, which is a highly intense yet rewarding event with participants from all over the world.

   Applications for team membership and the selection of candidates among applicants are carried out in accordance with the “Vis Moot Team Membership Directive,” which was adopted by the IEU Faculty of Law Faculty Board with its decision dated 19.09.2025 and numbered 259-A/5.

Accordingly, selections for membership in our university’s Willem C. Vis team are conducted—if there are open positions in the competition team—at the end of each spring semester, following the announcement made on our faculty’s website and social media accounts. The applications of candidates are evaluated by the Department of Private International Law of the IEU Faculty of Law in accordance with the provisions of the Directive. For this reason, it is of great importance that our students who wish to take part in the Willem C. Vis team of our university carefully read the relevant provisions of the Directive. The Directive can be accessed via the link below:

2025 - 2026 Academic Year Team

Res. Asst. Hasan Serat GÖKÇEK Team Coach
Arda ATAOĞUZ (4th Year Student) Team Leader
Ömer ATEŞ (4th Year Student) Team Member
Selin SARIKAYA (4th Year Student) Team Member
İrem ÖZCAN (3rd Year Student) Team Member

2022 - 2023 Academic Year Team

Asst. Prof. Dr. Ebru AKDUMAN Team Coach
Göktuğ ŞİRİN (4th Year Student) Team Captain
Arda ATAOĞUZ (3rd Year Student) Team Member
Ömer ATEŞ (3rd Year Student) Team Member