THE 2016 PHILIP C. JESSUP INTERNATIONAL LAW MOOT COURT MSAL TEAM
SELECTION
**SPECIAL AGREEMENT**
The Federal Republic of Agnostica v. the State of Reverentia
THE CASE CONCERNING
THE CYBERATTACK AGAINST AGNOSTICA
1. The States of Agnostica (pop. 1.8 million) and Reverentia (pop. 2 million) formed the
Federal State of Credera until that State underwent a negotiated dissolution known as the
“Velvet Divorce” in June 2005. Both resulting States were admitted into the United Nations
in November of that year. Although it is contiguous with Reveretia and separated from Agnostica
by a body of water, the region known as Pantos had been deemed a part of Agnostica by the prior
federal
government
of Credera.
The 2005 dissolution agreement confirms that the new
independent States would respect the prior federal borders and that the persons living within
them would have the citizenship of the State in whose territory they habitually reside. As such,
Agnostica continued to control the governing institutions in Pantos, including a 10,000-strong
military base known as Camp Agnost.
2. Reveretia and Agnostica are parties to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the
two Additional Protocols of 1977, as well as the Hague Convention of 1907.
3. Agnostica’s economy is based primarily on farming and fishing, and its main export is cobalt
(5,000 metric tonnes per annum) from mines in the Pantos region. Reveretia’s major exports are
timber (10 million cubic meters per annum) and coal (15 million tonnes per annum).
4. Agnostica and Reverentia have both been members of the United Nations since 1959, and both
ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in
1983. Both States also ratified the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States
in 1961.
5. Most of the roughly 400,000 inhabitants of Pantos originally migrated there from Reverentia,
and a majority of the Pantosian population speak Revere, the predominant language of
Reverentia, rather than Agnost, the predominant language of Agnostica.
6. With the encouragement of the government of Reverentia, on March 15, 2014, the population of
Pantos conducted a plebiscite in which sixty percent of the voting age men and women
supported severing sovereign ties with Agnostica and merging with Reverentia.
7. Consistent with the provisions of the Agnostican Constitution, the government of Agnostica
immediately announced that the secession plebiscite was not valid and that Pantos would
remain part of Agnostica unless and until a dissolution agreement was reached with the
Agnostica government and approved by the Agnostica’s Parliament. Negotiations for such an
agreement were commenced but stalled over the issue of legal rights to the lucrative cobalt
reserves within Pantos.
8. The week after the plebiscite Reverentian and Pantosian protesters started occupying Hugo Park in
the center of Pantos. The protests were non-violent, and the protesters were mostly ordinary
Pantosian people. They protested against Agnostica’s decision not to accept the results of the
plebiscite, even though it showed that a majority of the Pantosian people were in favor of a merge
with Reverentia. Although the protests were peaceful, the Agnosticaian Government decided
that the protests had to be ended, and so the protesters were warned to leave. When they refused,
Agnostica’s police cleared the area with water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas, resulting in
many injuries.
9. At 6:00 AM on April 20, 2014, all power went off and communications went down
throughout Pantos. Within hours, local paramilitary forces calling themselves the Pantosian
Vendetta Troop (PVT), citizens of both Agnostica and Reverentia, who were armed and funded
by the government of Reverentia, launched a coordinated attack on the government institutions
as a matter of revenge.
10. There was little resistance by the Agnostica’s forces, who were without communication,
rendering them confused and disorganized.
11. When the communications were restored in Pantos and PVT leaders were detained, Agnostica
alleged that Reverentia is responsible for this notorious incident which led to the enormous number
of victims.
12. According to later investigations, there was a cyberattack that disabled the whole communication
system in Pantos and as the result paralyzed Agnostica’s forces. It was also discovered that PVT
had an access to highly developed computers possessed by Reverentian intelligence services which
enabled them to turn off all the infrastructure in the region.
13. The total number of victims of the accident:

2 PVT members killed, 7 injured.

5 Agnostican police killed, 15 injured.

7,000 plus civilians killed, 3,000 injured due to food shortages and spoilage (1,503), water
scarcity and contamination (3,456), several train and airplane crashes (536), people trapped in
elevators (17), accidental deaths in the dark (911), and casualties at hospitals whose dialysis, neonatal care, and life support equipment depended on electricity from the power grid (523).. About
one-third of the casualties were under the age of 18.
14. At the request of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Agnostica and Reverentia sent their
Foreign Ministers to New York on 18 May 2014. Reverentia expressed willingness to submit the
dispute over accident in Pantos to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
15. The Federal Republic of Agnostica respectfully requests the Court to adjudge and declare that:
I. The cyber-attack committed against Agnostica represents use of force.
II. Reverentia shall be held responsible for the use of force against Agnostica.
16. The State of Reverentia respectfully requests the Court to adjudge and declare that:
I. The cyber-attack cannot be considered as use of force.
II. In any event, Reverentia is not responsible for the actions of the PVT.