Moot accomplishments by NUS Law students in Jan-June 2025

As we come to the halfway mark of 2025, we applaud the efforts of our students for their excellent showing at moot competitions near and far, with new records set at the Vis-Japan Pre-Moot and the Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition. Travelling to countries including India, Japan, Paris, Turkey and the United States, our students gained a broadening of their world views as they benefitted from the opportunity to argue legal standpoints against peers from law schools around the world—their achievements proving that NUS Law stands up against the best globally. The following is a list of our wins, beginning from January.

JANUARY

Lex Infinitum (VMSCL-International Dispute Resolution Competition), India

Our students were crowned champions at Lex Infinitum (VMSCL-International Dispute Resolution Competition) 2025. Oh Yu Han ’27 emerged as the Champion Mediator and best in the semi-finals, while Mervyn Lin ’25 and Seth Tay ’25 took the overall Champion Negotiating Team title. Held in January at V.M. Salgaocar College of Law in Goa, India, the team tackled a dispute between the head of a small village and a representative from an activist group, to address the challenge of balancing economic development with social and environmental impact in the final round.

FEBRUARY

ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition, Paris

A team of NUS Law undergraduates comprising Joan Goh ’27, Li Tianao ’27, Mervyn Lin ’25 and Taesha Tan ’27 beat 47 other university teams from 32 countries to emerge victorious at the 20th International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Commercial Mediation Competition held in Paris in February.

The NUS Law team gained eligibility to compete in the prestigious Paris competition after winning the third ICC-Hong Kong International Commercial Mediation Competition in December 2024. During the Paris finals, they went head-to-head and eventually emerged victorious against a team from the University of New South Wales as they tackled the mock mediation problem of unauthorised logging in protected timber harvesting zones.

CMS IP Moot 2025, Singapore

At the CMS Intellectual Property (IP) Moot 2025, Zachary Loh ’27 emerged as the champion, while Chen Hao ’25 was named second runner-up. Sponsored by CMS Asia Pacific and supported by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the competition’s finals took place at the NUS Law Wee Chong Jin Moot Court in February, where participants explored complex legal issues under the Copyright Act 2021.

Presenting from the stance of a defendant, both NUS Law finalists delivered compelling arguments: Zachary argued that his defendant qualified for the Computational Data Analysis Exception under Section 244 of the Copyright Act, while Chen Hao contended that his defendant qualified for the Fair Use Defence under Section 190 of the Copyright Act. The competition tested their understanding of IP law, prompting them to confront the evolving question of whether generative AIs can rely on the fair use defence, which remains a live issue in jurisdictions around the world.

A&O Shearman NLU Jodhpur International Deal Negotiation Competition, India

Su Myat Noe Maung ’28 and Benedict Yip ’27 emerged as first runner-Up at the Allen & Overy (A&O) Shearman NLU Jodhpur International Deal Negotiation Competition 2025. Held in February at Jodhpur, Rajasthan, the competition focused on transactions relating to investments in clean energy and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving sustainability. The students were tested on a wide range of complex sale and purchase agreements, M&A transactions and debt restructuring situations. A key challenge was striking the right balance—maintaining personability and rapport with the opposing team while engaging on dense legal technicalities.

Concours Jean-Pictet Competition, Turkey

Eliana Baey LLM ’25, Charlotte Lee ’25 and Charis Leong ’25 emerged as semi-finalists at the 45th edition of the Concours Jean-Pictet Competition on international humanitarian law (IHL). Held in Antalya, Turkey, in February, the team addressed issues surrounding international humanitarian law and international law in armed conflict, which included acting as legal advisors to a military commander to determine whether a target of attack was lawful under IHL.

MARCH

Vis Japan Pre-Moot, Japan

Ke Mengdie JD ’26, Karen Lee ’26 and Kenshi Yanagisawa ’25 clinched first place in the Japanese Division at the 18th Vis Japan Pre-Moot held at Doshisha University in Kyoto in March, defeating the previous year’s reigning champion. This marks a historic milestone as it is the first time NUS Law has won a moot competition in a language other than English.

The English Division team, consisting of Benedict Woon ’27, Caleb Lim ’27 and Jonathan Tan ’27, competed admirably and provided invaluable support to their Japanese Division counterparts. The Vis Japan Pre-Moot is an important preparatory competition for the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. This year’s case involved a dispute arising from a purchase and service agreement involving a turnkey green hydrogen plant project.

MNLU Mediation Bombay, India

Claudia Ann Ko ’27, Mashrur Rahman ’27 and Shreya Rajkumar ’27 emerged as first runner-up in the Negotiation category and finalists in the Mediation category at the fifth Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU) Mediation Bombay. In addition, the students won prizes for Best Opening Statements in both categories, and Shreya received a Special Mention award. NUS Law was the most awarded team at this year’s edition of Mediation Bombay.

The competition spanned six months, starting from October 2024 and culminating in the final rounds held in Mumbai in March. The advanced rounds addressed complex international space law issues, involving scenarios such as challenges faced by satellite companies, misuse of outer-space resources and inter-country competition in space exploration.

Advocacy Cup, Singapore  

NUS Law made a clean sweep at the 2025 edition of the Advocacy Cup held at the NUS Law Wee Chong Jin Moot Court in March. Nasha Marican ’26 emerged as the winner, while Donny Christanto ’27 was the first runner-up. Dai Yizhuo ’26 and Esther Huang ’27 were joint second runner-up. Judged by an esteemed panel consisting of The Honourable Justice Philip Jeyaretnam S.C., Professor Steven Elliott K.C. and Ms Blossom Hing S.C., the case was centred on the topic of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a weapon of offence, an offence under Section 326 of the Penal Code.

WongPartnership ICAM, Singapore

At the WongPartnership International Commercial Arbitration Moot (ICAM) 2025, Kristen Joseph ’27 and Shaun Wittberger ’27 took home the first and second prizes respectively, while Goh Jia Ying ’27 and Isabella Rotschaedl ’27 were jointly recognised as the second runner-up. Joan Goh ’27 earned the Best Memorial Prize.

Held at NUS Law’s Wee Chong Jin Moot Court in March, the moot involved key questions of contract law in an arbitration setting, such as whether the claimant could rely on parties’ subsequent conduct to interpret the term and whether the entire agreement clause prevents the implication of terms.

APRIL

Dentons Rodyk Moot 2025, Singapore

The NUS Law team delivered a stellar performance at the Dentons Rodyk Moot held at the NUS Law Wee Chong Jin Moot Court in April, with Julia Ho ’28 emerging as the champion. Cassandra Koh ’28 and Yeo Wei Shain ’28 were named first and second runner-up respectively while Tricia Low ’28 and Howra Manasawala ’28 were joint third runner-up. The Dentons Rodyk Moot was structured such that the topics submitted by each mooter were based on their LARC Moot topics, which included insurance law, property law and POFMA.

MAY

Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition, United States

For the first time, NUS Law advanced to the semi-finals of the Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition, marking a historic milestone for the school. Notably, only two English-speaking teams have won this competition in its entire 30-year history. Emmanuel Wong ’27 and TJ Rideshkumar ’27 prevailed against their opponents with arguments on gender discrimination, human trafficking and human rights violations of unidentifiable victims.

The competition saw participants from over 60 law schools across 20 countries arguing in English, Spanish and Portuguese, on the topic of human trafficking and human rights based on the unique Inter-American system. The moot is known for interpreted rounds, where English language oral arguments are translated in real time—adding a challenging layer to the competition that was held at American University’s Washington College of Law, located in Washington, DC, in May.

ALSA Singapore Moot Competition 2025, Singapore

At the ALSA Singapore Moot Competition held at the NUS Law Wee Chong Jin Moot Court in May, Jeslyn Chng ’27 and Donny Christanto ’27 clinched the top spot, with the latter taking the Best Speaker award. The moot problem centred on whether an innocuous neck massage, requested by a complainant, would be considered an outrage of modesty under Section 354 of the Penal Code because of the presence of a neck fetish. The problem also explored what is considered valid consent, and whether there is a misconception of fact absent of any active misrepresentation which vitiates consent.