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More than 90 students from 13 countries took part in the second International Legal Case Championship, International Legathon MaxUP 2026. The large-scale competition was held at Maqsut Narikbayev University (MNU).
The event was organized within the framework of the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, declared by the Head of State. The competition, themed “Law of the Future,” brought together 23 university teams from Azerbaijan, Germany, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Russia, Romania, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka. During the contest, students explored the impact of new technologies on legal systems, legal principles, ethics, and human rights.
“At MNU, we believe that the future belongs to those who are not afraid to create, to ask questions, and to take on leadership. Over the two days of Legathon MaxUP, participants demonstrated that the future of law is being shaped today—by their ideas, solutions, and willingness to think outside the box. We live in an era where law and technology evolve together. In this new reality, it is no longer enough to simply know the law—you must be ready to rethink it,” said Talgat Narikbayev, Chairman of the Board of MNU.
The first stage of the competition, held in the format of debates titled “Lex Fantastica,” took place at the Court of the Astana International Financial Centre. During the discussions, students presented arguments on issues such as the liability of metaverse owners and whether it can be considered an analogue of real states, regulation of virtual assets, protection of property rights of virtual entities, recusal of AI judges, and the legality of limiting time spent in virtual reality. The second stage and the Grand Final were held at MNU.
The finalists proposed ideas for developing regulations governing the use of autonomous transport, synthetic content, and artificial intelligence in the economy. To ensure impartial judging, participants did not disclose their country or university during presentations. The teams were evaluated by vice ministers of justice, science and higher education, a Supreme Court judge, partners of leading law firms, as well as representatives of international companies, development institutions, and diplomatic and academic communities.
“MNU is the first university to raise the issue of a regulatory framework for the legalization of artificial intelligence. It was particularly interesting to see so many international teams addressing these challenges. As you know, Kazakhstan has adopted a law on artificial intelligence. Through such events, we can reassess our current legislation and draw new ideas to improve or refine our subordinate legal acts,” noted Dinara Shcheglova, Vice Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The organizers also emphasized that all proposals collected during the competition will be formalized by university professors into regulatory policy documents for use in the national law-making process. According to the results, the top teams in the Russian league were from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Kazakhstan), Maqsut Narikbayev University (Kazakhstan), and Ural State Law University named after V.F. Yakovlev (Russia). In the English league, the best results were shown by students from the University of Malaya (Malaysia), the Romanian-American University (Romania), and McGill University (Canada). The overall winner of the competition was the team from the University of Malaya, the oldest and most prestigious university in Malaysia.
“We really enjoyed the competition theme and the preparation process. It is a great honor for us to become champions. We worked very hard, and our efforts paid off. We also believe that all other teams worked just as hard, and we would like to express our appreciation and support to them,” shared Koh Shi An, a student from the University of Malaya.
It is worth noting that the total prize fund of the competition exceeded 5 million tenge. The event was supported by the AIFC Court, the Kazakhstan Bar Association, and the international law firm Baker McKenzie. Additional support was provided by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, law firms Unicase, KP Disputes, Turkenov Consulting, and attorney Rena Kerimova.
It should be recalled that the first International Legathon MaxUP was held in 2025.
