What is the eligibility for participation in the tournament?

The tournament is open to high-school level students.

Where is the tournament located?

The tournament is held in Phoenix, USA.

What is the format of the competition?

The competition involves students acting as attorneys and witnesses in a simulated courtroom setting.

2026 State Mock Trial Tournament

Mar 28–28, 2026Phoenix, United StatesIn-person

ConcludedRegistration closed

The State Mock Trial Tournament is an educational competition held in Phoenix, USA, designed for high-school students. This event provides a platform for young individuals to engage with the legal system in a practical, simulated environment. Participants take on various roles within a courtroom setting, including attorneys and witnesses, to argue a hypothetical case. The tournament emphasizes the development of critical thinking, public speaking, and analytical skills, all while fostering a deeper understanding of legal procedures and ethical considerations. It serves as a significant opportunity for students to explore potential careers in law and public service.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the dominant committee topic. Click through for the full country profile.

United States

The USA actively promotes mock trial programs as a cornerstone of legal education and civic engagement for young people.

Role in topic

The USA is the host country for this event, which is part of a broader national effort to engage high-school students in legal education. Mock trial competitions are widely supported across the country, aiming to foster an understanding of the judicial system and develop critical legal skills among youth. These programs are often run by state bar associations, legal foundations, and educational institutions, emphasizing the importance of civic literacy and preparing students for potential careers in law.

Topics & background

The history behind each committee topic and the states that shape it.

Eliminating the Production and Use of Anti-Personnel Landmines

Anti-personnel landmines emerged as a major humanitarian concern in the late 20th century, when conflicts in Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Afghanistan, and the former Yugoslavia left tens of millions of mines in the ground, killing and maiming civilians long after fighting ended. A coordinated civil society effort, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, helped catalyze the 1997 Ottawa Convention (Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention), which prohibits the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and requires destruction of stockpiles and clearance of contaminated land. Over 160 states have joined, and global production and trade have collapsed dramatically since the treaty entered into force in 1999. However, several militarily significant states — including the United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel — remain outside the treaty, and new use has been documented in conflicts in Ukraine, Myanmar, and elsewhere. In 2024–2025, the United States reversed a prior policy restricting landmine use and authorized the transfer of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, while several frontline NATO members in the Baltics and Poland announced intentions to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention citing the Russian threat. These developments have raised concerns that a hard-won norm is eroding. The current debate centers on how to reaffirm the universal humanitarian commitment against landmines while accommodating legitimate security concerns, how to fund continued demining in heavily contaminated states, and how to address improvised mines used by non-state armed groups. Victim assistance, stockpile destruction deadlines, and pressure on non-signatories remain core agenda items at the treaty's Review Conferences.

Key players

Prohibiting the Targeting of Civilians by Armed Drones in Military Conflict

Armed unmanned aerial vehicles moved from niche capability to ubiquitous battlefield tool over the past two decades. The United States pioneered targeted killing by drone after 2001, conducting strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq, often outside conventional battlefields. Civilian casualties from these operations, including documented strikes on weddings, funerals, and aid workers, generated sustained criticism from UN Special Rapporteurs and human rights organizations, who argued that loose targeting standards and 'signature strikes' violated international humanitarian law and human rights law. Proliferation has since transformed the landscape. Turkish Bayraktar TB2s, Iranian Shahed loitering munitions, Chinese Wing Loong and CH-series drones, and Israeli systems are now in service with dozens of states and non-state actors. Drones have been central to the wars in Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Yemen, with documented strikes hitting hospitals, displacement camps, marketplaces, and humanitarian convoys. Cheap commercial quadcopters repurposed as munitions have further blurred lines between combatants and civilians. The core legal questions are not new — distinction, proportionality, and precaution are bedrock IHL principles — but enforcement is weak and many operating states deny accountability for civilian harm. Debate centers on whether existing IHL needs new protocols specific to remote and autonomous strike platforms, how to regulate drone export and transfer, what transparency and post-strike investigation standards should apply, and how to address strikes by non-state armed groups.

Key players

Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Lowering Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

The post-Cold War liberal trading order, anchored by the 1995 founding of the World Trade Organization, drove a sustained decline in average tariffs and a dramatic expansion of global supply chains. That consensus has frayed since the mid-2010s. The 2018 U.S.–China tariff war marked an inflection point, and successive administrations in Washington have layered industrial-policy tariffs, export controls on advanced semiconductors, and investment screening on top of legacy WTO commitments. The WTO Appellate Body has been paralyzed since 2019 due to U.S. blocking of judicial appointments, leaving binding dispute settlement effectively suspended. In 2025, sweeping new U.S. tariffs — including broad 'reciprocal' tariffs and sectoral duties on steel, autos, and semiconductors — provoked retaliatory measures from China, the European Union, Canada, and others. The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, China's export restrictions on critical minerals such as gallium and germanium, and a proliferation of subsidy programs (the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan, China's Made in China 2025) have all intensified concerns about a global slide into managed trade and economic fragmentation. The IMF and WTO have warned that fragmentation could shave several percentage points off global GDP. The debate now is whether and how to reaffirm multilateral trade rules: restoring a functioning WTO dispute system, disciplining industrial subsidies, addressing legitimate concerns about overcapacity and forced technology transfer, and managing the tension between climate policy and trade non-discrimination. Developing countries press for special and differential treatment, agricultural market access, and protection from carbon-related border measures.

Key players

Mitigating Negative Consequences of Artificial Intelligence on the Global Workforce

The rapid commercialization of generative AI since 2022, combined with longer-running advances in robotics and algorithmic management, has revived long-standing debates about technology and employment. The IMF has estimated that roughly 40 percent of jobs globally — and 60 percent in advanced economies — are exposed to AI, with effects unevenly distributed across sectors, skills, and gender. The ILO's 2023 analysis suggested that clerical work, particularly tasks performed disproportionately by women, faces the greatest automation pressure, while many manual and care occupations remain less exposed. Beyond job displacement, AI has intensified concerns about labor exploitation. Investigations have documented low-wage data-labeling and content-moderation work outsourced to workers in Kenya, the Philippines, Venezuela, and elsewhere, often involving psychologically harmful content. Platform and gig workers face algorithmic management systems that set pay, allocate tasks, and impose discipline with limited transparency or appeal. In creative industries, the 2023 Hollywood strikes and ongoing copyright litigation reflect anxiety over training-data practices and synthetic replacements for human labor. The international policy response is still nascent. The EU AI Act (2024) sets risk-based obligations, the U.S. has issued executive guidance now partially rescinded, and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI provides soft-law principles. The ILO is exploring an international instrument on platform work. Debates focus on social protection, retraining and just transition, taxation of AI-driven productivity gains, supply-chain due diligence for data work, and ensuring developing countries are not locked into low-value 'ghost work' roles in the global AI economy.

Key players

Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict

International humanitarian law, codified principally in the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, establishes obligations to protect civilians, the wounded, prisoners of war, humanitarian workers, and medical personnel during armed conflict. The Conventions enjoy near-universal ratification and are complemented by customary IHL, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and specialized treaties on weapons and cultural property. The International Committee of the Red Cross serves as guardian of these rules. Recent conflicts have placed IHL under severe strain. The war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks has produced an unprecedented death toll among aid workers — including the deaths of World Central Kitchen staff and over 300 UN personnel — and systematic damage to hospitals, with ICJ proceedings on genocide allegations and ICC arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders. In Sudan, the war between the SAF and RSF since April 2023 has produced the world's largest displacement crisis, mass atrocities in Darfur, and persistent obstruction of humanitarian access. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has involved documented strikes on hospitals, energy infrastructure, and civilian areas, prompting ICC warrants. Conflicts in Myanmar, Yemen, Ethiopia, and the eastern DRC show similar patterns. The debate now is less about new rules than about compliance, accountability, and political will. Member states are considering measures to protect humanitarian and medical personnel under Security Council Resolution 2286, strengthen reporting on IHL violations, support universal jurisdiction and the ICC, and address obstacles to humanitarian access, including bureaucratic impediments, sieges, and attacks on aid convoys.

Key players

Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries

The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol prohibit penalizing refugees for irregular entry and bar refoulement to persecution. The 1990 Migrant Workers Convention extends additional protections, though it has been ratified almost exclusively by countries of origin. In recent decades, however, many developed states have moved toward criminalization and deterrence: mandatory detention, criminal penalties for irregular entry, externalization of asylum processing, and restrictions on rescue at sea and on humanitarian assistance to migrants. The European Union adopted a new Pact on Migration and Asylum in 2024, expanding border procedures and detention while creating a solidarity mechanism. The United Kingdom pursued a Rwanda offshoring scheme before its cancellation in 2024, while Italy has opened processing centers in Albania. In the United States, asylum access at the southern border was sharply curtailed in 2024–2025, and large-scale interior enforcement and detention have expanded. Australia maintains offshore processing in Nauru. Mediterranean and Channel crossings continue to produce mass casualties, and humanitarian responders — including ship captains and volunteers — have faced criminal prosecution in several European states. The debate involves tensions between state sovereignty over borders and international protection obligations. Key issues include alternatives to detention, decriminalization of irregular entry and humanitarian assistance, expansion of legal pathways and resettlement, responsibility-sharing with frontline and host states (which host the vast majority of the world's refugees), and the compatibility of externalization arrangements with non-refoulement.

Key players

Renewing International Commitments to Halt the Spread of Nuclear Weapons

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), opened for signature in 1968 and indefinitely extended in 1995, is the cornerstone of the nonproliferation regime. It rests on three pillars: nonproliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and disarmament. The five recognized nuclear-weapon states (the U.S., Russia, U.K., France, and China) committed to pursue disarmament in good faith, while non-nuclear states forswore weapons in exchange for access to peaceful nuclear technology under IAEA safeguards. India, Pakistan, and Israel never joined; North Korea withdrew in 2003 and has since conducted six nuclear tests. The regime is under multiple pressures. The 2022 NPT Review Conference failed to adopt a consensus document, blocked by Russia over Ukraine-related language. New START, the last major U.S.–Russia strategic arms limitation treaty, has been suspended by Russia and expires in February 2026 with no successor in sight. Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent and curtailed IAEA monitoring following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 and the collapse of negotiations to revive it. North Korea continues to expand its arsenal and delivery systems and has deepened military cooperation with Russia. China is undertaking a significant nuclear buildup. The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), opposed by all nuclear-armed states, has added a parallel disarmament track. Debate centers on how to preserve the NPT bargain: reviving arms control between Washington and Moscow, addressing Iran and DPRK proliferation risks, strengthening IAEA safeguards and export controls, managing the nuclear-energy renaissance, and bridging the growing divide between TPNW supporters and nuclear-armed states and their allies.

Key players

Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Five nuclear-weapon-free zones already cover Latin America and the Caribbean (Tlatelolco, 1967), the South Pacific (Rarotonga, 1985), Southeast Asia (Bangkok, 1995), Africa (Pelindaba, 1996), and Central Asia (Semipalatinsk, 2006), together encompassing most of the Southern Hemisphere. Mongolia has a single-state nuclear-weapon-free status recognized by the UN. These treaties prohibit the development, deployment, and testing of nuclear weapons within zone territory and are paired with negative security assurances from nuclear-weapon states. A Middle East zone has been on the UN agenda since a 1974 Iranian-Egyptian proposal. The 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference adopted a resolution on the Middle East as part of the deal for indefinite extension, but a 2012 Helsinki conference to operationalize it never convened. Since 2019, an annual UN Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction has met, but Israel — the region's sole undeclared nuclear-armed state — does not participate, and the United States has generally declined to attend. Iran's advanced enrichment program, Saudi statements about matching Iranian capabilities, and ongoing regional conflicts complicate progress. Other regions also face zone-related questions: proposals for a Northeast Asia zone (involving the Korean Peninsula and Japan) and longstanding debates over a South Asia zone have been blocked by regional rivalries. Debate focuses on confidence-building measures, verification arrangements suitable for a region with both declared and undeclared programs, the relationship between such a zone and the NPT and CWC, and how to address delivery systems and other WMD categories.

Key players

Key terms & resources

The concepts worth knowing before 2026 State Mock Trial Tournament, plus lessons and profiles to go deeper.

Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention Anti-Personnel Mines anti-dumping duties Asylum Asylum and Migration Pact (EU)Asylum Cooperative Agreements

In the news

Recent reporting to ground your prep

China's New Strategy for Taiwan and Japan

Story

North Korea's Nuclear Navy Developments

Story

North Korea's Nuclear Navy Ambitions

Story

Raghav Chadha's Defection Exposes Law Flaws

Story

Frequently asked questions

Related conferences

2026 State Mock Trial Tournament

Mar 28–28, 2026Phoenix, United StatesIn-person

ConcludedRegistration closed

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the dominant committee topic. Click through for the full country profile.

United States

The USA actively promotes mock trial programs as a cornerstone of legal education and civic engagement for young people.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The history behind each committee topic and the states that shape it.

Eliminating the Production and Use of Anti-Personnel Landmines

Key players

Prohibiting the Targeting of Civilians by Armed Drones in Military Conflict

Key players

Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Lowering Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

Key players

Mitigating Negative Consequences of Artificial Intelligence on the Global Workforce

Key players

Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict

Key players

Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries

Key players

Renewing International Commitments to Halt the Spread of Nuclear Weapons

Key players

Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Key players

Key terms & resources

The concepts worth knowing before 2026 State Mock Trial Tournament, plus lessons and profiles to go deeper.

Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention Anti-Personnel Mines anti-dumping duties Asylum Asylum and Migration Pact (EU)Asylum Cooperative Agreements

In the news

Recent reporting to ground your prep

China's New Strategy for Taiwan and Japan

Story

North Korea's Nuclear Navy Developments

Story

North Korea's Nuclear Navy Ambitions

Story

Raghav Chadha's Defection Exposes Law Flaws

Story

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Key terms & resources

Frequently asked questions

Related conferences

2025-2026 Santa Clara County Mock Trial Invitational

16th Annual University of Cincinnati High School Mock Trial Invitational

University of Denver Denver Duels Invitational 2026

Montgomery County High School Mock Trial Competition 2026

Great Chicago Fire Invitational XII

21st Annual Ramblin' Wreck Invitational Tournament

Related conferences

2025-2026 Santa Clara County Mock Trial Invitational

16th Annual University of Cincinnati High School Mock Trial Invitational

University of Denver Denver Duels Invitational 2026

Montgomery County High School Mock Trial Competition 2026

Great Chicago Fire Invitational XII

21st Annual Ramblin' Wreck Invitational Tournament

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Key terms & resources

Frequently asked questions

Related conferences

2025-2026 Santa Clara County Mock Trial Invitational

16th Annual University of Cincinnati High School Mock Trial Invitational

University of Denver Denver Duels Invitational 2026

Montgomery County High School Mock Trial Competition 2026

Great Chicago Fire Invitational XII

21st Annual Ramblin' Wreck Invitational Tournament

Related conferences

2025-2026 Santa Clara County Mock Trial Invitational

16th Annual University of Cincinnati High School Mock Trial Invitational

University of Denver Denver Duels Invitational 2026

Montgomery County High School Mock Trial Competition 2026

Great Chicago Fire Invitational XII

21st Annual Ramblin' Wreck Invitational Tournament