A national qualifying tournament must be held if two or more schools in the same country register for the Jessup Competition. The winner of a qualifying tournament (called the "National Rounds") earns the right to advance to the international level of the competition (called the "International Rounds"). In some countries, such as the United States and India, the number of teams participating is so large that the qualifying level of the competition is broken up into multiple "Regional Rounds" instead of a single national tournament.

Currently, there are approximately 45 participating countries that hold National or Regional Rounds. For a list of countries that held qualifying tournaments last season, please refer to the 2008 National Rounds Schedule. To see pictures from last year's qualifying tournaments, please visit the 2008 Jessup National Rounds Photo Album.

Most qualifying tournaments occur in January and February. Each competition has its own unique structure and rules, depending on the size of the competition, the academic calendar, the local mooting culture, and other local factors. Some competitions are small; others are very large. For example, last year Russia had almost fifty teams, while Mexico had four. Each qualifying tournament is run by an Administrator, who is in charge of running the competition according to the Official Jessup Rules. Some qualifying tournaments have a separate registration process and are governed by a National Supplement to the Official Jessup Rules. The Official Jessup Rules and National Supplements are carefully reviewed on an annual basis in order to ensure that the competition is run consistently across the globe.

Websites of Qualifying Tournaments:

• Official website of the Armenian National Rounds
• Official website of the Canadian National Rounds
• Official website of the French National Rounds
• Official website of the German National Rounds
• Official website of the Greek National Rounds
• Official website of the Italian National Rounds
• Official website of the Polish National Rounds
• Official website of the Russian National Rounds (English) / (Russian)
• Official website of the South African National Rounds
• Official website of the Ukrainian National Rounds (English) / (Russian) / (Ukrainian)
• Official website of the United States Super Regionals