About Us
"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
— Benjamin Franklin
What is the
International Justice Olympiad?
The International Justice Olympiad is the only olympiad in the world that takes place entirely online and incorporates a case study competition as well as a debate for finalists. This approach challenges students to apply legal reasoning and ethical analysis across many facets of law and justice. Every participant is tested on how they view the world’s most urgent issues.
In the regional round, participants evaluate a case study of their choice through the lens of law and justice. Strong essays demonstrate:
Originality and clarity
Legal understanding
Moral reasoning
Strong research skills
Real-world application
(see our Guidelines and Rules for details).
Top students from each region advance to the international round for an online debate, where they take on roles of law professionals to defend and argue their assigned position.
Debates are judged on:
Argument structure
Legal accuracy
Historical and judicial precedent
Consideration for secondary and tertiary implications
See our Guidelines and Rules page for more information.
The Olympiad is entirely online and is an individual competition.
"Olympiads give students opportunities to show depth in their academic interest outside of the classroom and help admissions officers recognize the applicant’s passion for their area of study.
At highly selective universities, it is increasingly common for the top admitted applicants to boast multiple international and national honors which can be harder to find for humanities students. "
— Ria Jagasia, Former Johns Hopkins Admissions Officer
Judges Panel
It is with great pleasure that we introduce the panel of judges that will be scoring case study evaluations and overseeing the debate.
The Olympiad judges are some of the leading judicial and law professionals from around the world, collectively specializing in every form of law and justice.
Dr. Helena Meier-Baumgartner
PhD, International Law – Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
LLM, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law – University of Geneva
MLaw, Swiss Law – University of Zurich
BA, Political Science – University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Dr. Helena Meier-Baumgartner is a Swiss legal scholar whose work focuses on international humanitarian law, human rights, and comparative constitutional systems. She has held academic and advisory roles with the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Meier-Baumgartner currently holds the Chair of International Public Law at the University of Bern and is a visiting lecturer at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.