Three of our Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) students have made history by competing in the renowned Jean-Pictet Competition, one of the world’s biggest training events in international humanitarian law. This is the first time students from the University have qualified for the prestigious competition. To celebrate their success, we spoke with the team about the competition, their legal journey and much more.
Written by Grant Longstaff. Published 25 March 2025.
What is the Jean-Pictet Competition?
The competition, named after the celebrated international humanitarian law specialist Jean Pictet, enables postgraduate law students to become better acquainted with international humanitarian law.
Unlike many mooting contests, which focus solely on legal argument, the Jean-Pictet Competition also uses simulated events and roleplaying based on fictitious situations of armed conflict with the aim of bringing the intricacies of international humanitarian law to life. This challenges the participants to reflect and engage with the perspectives of multiple different actors and their respective interests and goals.
Meet our team
Catherine Greenacre
Catherine is currently studying part time, whilst also working full time as a paralegal at a recognised Legal 500 ‘Firm to Watch’ in London. She specialises in private client and medical negligence work, and chairs various charitable partnerships with local hospices as part of the firm’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and community engagement.
Catherine obtained a BSc in Demography and Geography from the University of Southampton, where she earned The Dean’s List Award and a Royal Geographical Society prize nomination for her dissertation on the Bosnian Genocide. She then completed a Masters in Conflict, Security and Development at the University of Exeter where she developed her passion for international humanitarian issues.
In parallel to her academic journey, she has also undertaken various research roles at human rights organisations with UN consultative status, contributing to UN discussions on human rights, and recently completed a one-month legal placement in the West Bank of The Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Here she gained firsthand insight into critical issues involving Occupation and the dynamic between facets of national and international law, and their lived social and political realities.
Speaking on the Jean-Pictet Competition, Catherine said, “I am so excited to further my understanding of international humanitarian law, particularly through the unique perspectives of other international teams and esteemed attendees. I also look forward to grounding this with an awareness of the practical challenges and limitations inherent in its application, compliance and enforcement. I hope this will enable me to meaningfully contribute within this field and to effectively advocate for its principles.”
Adrian Munoz
Adrian Munoz was born in Spain but moved to the UK when he was seven years old. He holds a physics degree from the University of Birmingham and has worked in finance and consulting roles. After choosing to move into law, Adrian changed his career direction to work full time as a paralegal at a London law firm, which specialises in human rights, immigration and property law.
“I am absolutely delighted to have been selected to participate in this prestigious international competition, especially having had no previous formal training on the subject,” Adrian said. “Jean-Pictet 2025 will provide an opportunity to explore an area of law which is outside the course curriculum, through simulations resembling real life conflict scenarios. My hope is that the competition will open the door to future work opportunities in the humanitarian field.”
Discussing the competition entry process, Adrian said, “the submission required us to answer various legal assignments on the topic of international humanitarian law. We carried out vast amounts of research as a team, reading the literature and going through public reports available from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). One particularly interesting question provoked a team discussion on whether social media companies can be liable under international humanitarian law for facilitating the posting of pictures of Prisoners of War (POWs).”
Mohammad Pechuho
Mohammad Pechuho was born in Pakistan and holds an MA in Classical Studies from the University of St Andrews. He went on to obtain an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia and Intensive Language (Japanese) from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and an MA in Museum Cultures from the University of London Birkbeck. He has worked part time as a legal assistant at a firm operating in areas of public law and immigration and has also undertaken mini-pupillage’s with a barrister in this field.
“I am looking forward to attending this competition and engaging with teams from all over the world to learn more about international law and its application,” Mohammad said. “I believe we can all learn a lot from this experience and come out of it with a much better understanding of, and appreciation for, the formation, application and development of international law. This enhanced knowledge will hopefully be a big boost for our future careers in law or elsewhere. As it’s a competition, we will also be doing our best to compete at a high level, representing the University as competent, prepared and intellectually astute competitors, and hopefully return with a good position too.”
Catherine, Adrian and Mohammad also hope to set a precedent at the University for future students who may wish to participate. They hope to create a Jean-Pictet Society in order to pass down their first hand, learned experience to students with similar humanitarian ambitions and to encourage and mentor future applicants, stating:
“We aspire not only to deepen our own understanding, but to inspire a passion for international humanitarian law amongst our peers, paving the way for future cohorts to explore this essential but neglected discipline and to have it integrated into future curricula.”
If you’re interested in discovering more about international humanitarian law then our LLM in International Human Rights Law is the perfect place to start.
