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NUS Law School Teams Win Awards In International Mooting Competitions

Two teams representing the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law emerged Runners-up at the Philip C. Jessup Moot Competition in Washington D.C. and the Asia Pacific Regional Round of the Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot Competition in Sydney in early April. At the same time, a team from the Faculty has won the Best Memorandum Award (Respondent) at the Willem C. Vis Arbitration Moot Competition held in Vienna, Austria.

Philip C. Jessup Moot Competition

A total of 94 teams from 81 countries competed in the International Rounds of the Jessup competition in Washington D.C., United States, from 29 March to 3 April. This was the 11th time that NUS has been in the finals, winning four times (in 1982, 1985, 1994 and 2001) and emerging Runner-up for the seventh time. NUS speaker, fourth-year student Jaikanth Shankar, was named the Best Oralist in the Championship Round.

In reaching the Jessup finals, the NUS team won its 4 Preliminary Rounds and beat Harvard Law School and the national champions from Indonesia and Mexico in the Run-Off Rounds. In what was believed to be the closest and best Championship Round in several years, the NUS team emerged Runner-up to the Ateneo de Manila University team, the national champion of the Philippines. This is also the first time in the history of the Competition that two teams from Southeast Asia faced each other in the Championship Round.

The 2004 NUS Law School Jessup Moot Team comprised one third-year student, Melanie Chng, and three final-year students, Jaikanth Shankar, Ramesh Selvaraj, and Geoffrey Liem; accompanied by their coach, Associate Professor Robert Beckman, who has coached the NUS Law School Jessup teams for the past 25 years.

Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot Competition

The Asia-Pacific Regional Rounds of the Space Law competition were held in Sydney, Australia, from 30 March to 3 April. The NUS team emerged Runner-up to the team from the National Law School of India University. The NUS team also won the Best Memorial prize and one member, Woo Shu Yan, was ranked third best speaker from the preliminary rounds. The 2004 NUS Space Law Moot team comprised third-year students Woo Shu Yan, Germaine Chia and Daniel Chia; accompanied by their coach, Assistant Professor Lim Lei Theng.

Willem C. Vis Arbitration Moot Competition

The Willem Vis Moot Competition was held in Vienna from 2 to 8 April and attracted 136 teams from 42 countries. Apart from winning the Best Memorandum award, NUS Law School speaker, Jon-nathaniel Nair was named one of the top speakers in the competition. It was also the first time that the Competition applied the rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

The Vis Moot team comprised final-year students Gail Wong Li-Jing, Jon-nathaniel Nair, Chui LiJun, Adrian Wong Wei Ern, and third-year student Gitta Satryani Juwita; accompanied by their coach, Associate Professor Gary F. Bell.

The fine performance of the NUS Faculty of Law teams cap what has been a most successful mooting year, which started with yet another Faculty team emerging as Champions in the 2nd International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot Competition held in Hong Kong in March 2004. The IHL competition was organised by the Hong Kong Red Cross Society under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the NUS Law School team was sponsored by the Singapore Red Cross Society.

NUS Faculty of Law Dean, Associate Professor Tan Cheng Han, S.C. said: “I believe all the teams have done extremely well by giving their best. They and the Faculty have every reason to be proud of their achievements. The Faculty is also grateful to the Singapore alumni who have helped the teams with the numerous practice rounds before they departed for the competitions.”

About the Competitions
The Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the largest and most prestigious moot court competition in the world. It is organised by the International Law Students Association (ILSA) and is sponsored by the American-based law firm, Shearman & Sterling. The Jessup Cup World Championship Round was held on Saturday 3 April, in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the US District Court of Washington D.C. Having been in the World Championship Jessup Cup Round 11 times and being the only team to have won the championship four times, the NUS Faculty of Law has a better record than any other law school in the Jessup Competition.

The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition began in 1992 and is organised annually by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). Each year, the regional winners of the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States compete in the world finals held in conjunction with the annual International Astronautical Congress. The Championship Round is judged by three members of the International Court of Justice. This year's world finals will be held in Vancouver, Canada, from 4-8 October 2004. The NUS Faculty of Law has been participating in the Asia Pacific Regional Round of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition since it began in 2000, and was the Regional Champion in the first two years and Runner-Up in 2002. In 2001, NUS Faculty of Law also became the first law school from the Asia-Pacific to win the worldwide competition.

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot has been held annually in Vienna (the seat of UNCITRAL) since 1994, and fosters the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem. It is one of the largest and most prestigious moot competitions in the world. When NUS Faculty of Law first entered the competition in 2002, the team won the overall oral pleading competition and became the Champion in their first year.