Moots Spotlight (July to September 2021)

One of the valuable educational experiences an NUS Law student can have is to represent the university in mooting competitions. These are some of our students’ achievements in competitions from July to September 2021.

NUS Law won the 2020 International Negotiation Competition

(L to R): Isabella Tan ’21, Nikhil Angappan ’21

The International Negotiation Competition (INC) is the oldest and most renowned international legal negotiation competition in the world. Due to the pandemic, the competition went virtual this year and comprised both INC International Rounds 2020 and 2021. It was hosted by NUS Law from 28 June to 3 July 2021.

After winning the Singapore National Round in May 2020, the NUS Law team comprising Isabella Tan ’21 and Nikhil Angappan ’21 went on to represent Singapore in the International Round. This year, 28 teams from over 19 countries participated.

All three rounds of competition (which included both two-party and four-party negotiations) explored various contractual arrangements concerning space, construction, intellectual property, law and technology. Through the three days of competition, the Singapore team negotiated with teams from the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, India and Wales, and emerged the winners.

Isabella and Nikhil expressed their appreciation to their coach, Professor Joel Lee, for his wisdom and patience; INC alumni Chia Lyn Lynn ’02, and Lin Wenrong ’08 for their time, expertise and care; and dedicated sparring partner Jerald Tan ’22.

NUS Law emerged as Champions at the International Bar Association – Vienna International Arbitral Centre Mediation and Negotiation Competition 2021

(L to R): Chan You Quan ’22, Vivien Tan ’24, Charmaine Sng ’22, Jeriel Teo ’24

The International Bar Association – Vienna International Arbitral Centre Mediation and Negotiation Competition took place virtually from 10 to 14 July 2021, which saw 33 shortlisted international student teams from different countries such as Brazil, the United States, Israel, Germany, India, and Italy. The team – Chan You Quan ’22, Vivien Tan ’24, Charmaine Sng ’22 and Jeriel Teo ’24 – came face to face with the University of Sydney in the Grand Finals in an exciting rematch after meeting them in the Preliminary Rounds, and emerged as Champions of the overall competition.

The problem was based on the arbitration case of the Willem C. VIS International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Participants had to negotiate a commercially realistic outcome between two pharmaceutical companies. The problem is centred around an intellectual property dispute for the research, development, and production of a viral vector COVID-19 vaccine.

The team expressed their appreciation to their coach Utsav Rakshit ’21 for his guidance; and Professor Joel Lee, Nikhil Angappan ’21, Samuel Teo ’21, Eugene Lau ’21, Jonathan Lee ’21, Tan Pei Han ’22, Sarfaroj Ahmed Malik ’24, and Mark Lim ’19 for their generous support along the way.

NUS Law triumphed at the 4th INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition

(L to R): Richmond Xiao ’22, Song Yihang ’22, Chen Rong ’21, Benjamin Ho ’21

The INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition challenges law students with important issues arising in trademark and unfair competition law in the region, and fosters a healthy spirit of competition and camaraderie among participating teams. This year, due to the COVID-19 situation, the oral rounds were cancelled and the competition was judged solely based on the submitted briefs. Additionally, this year’s iteration of the INTA Asia-Pacific Moot Competition featured an additional stipulation – for teams to work independently, with no external help from professors or alumni. Nonetheless, NUS Law emerged victorious amidst the formidable competition, and have clinched the first and second place brief!

First place:
Chen Rong ’21,
Benjamin Ho ’21,
Song Yihang ’22
Richmond Xiao ’22

The team expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Professor Ng-Loy Wee Loon ’87, Professor Daniel Seng ’92, Professor Martin Senftleben (University of Amsterdam), Professor Andrew Christie (University of Melbourne), and Professor Bita Amani (Queen’s University) who have laid the foundational groundwork for their interest in intellectual property and trademark law.

Second place:
Adriel Ho ’24
Lo Yin Peng ’24
Navneeth Kanagavelu ’24
Jarrett Chen ’24

The team expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Professor Burton Ong ’99 and Nah Sze Perng ’23 for supporting their participation.

Congratulations to the Champions of the ALSA International Moot Court Competition 2021

(L to R): Austen Lim ’23, Perl Choo ’23, Toh Ding Jun ’22

The ALSA International Moot Court Competition (AIMCC) took place from 3 to 5 September 2021, and involved teams from the Southeast Asian countries, India and Australia.

The moot problem involved a Claimant-investor who had made an investment in a patent related to mental health within the Respondent-State’s jurisdiction. Due to a mental health crisis that the Respondent-State faced, it took a series of measures vis-a-vis the Claimant – this included the introduction of a compulsory licensing regime, the grant of a compulsory licence on the Claimant’s patent and, finally, complete revocation of all patents relating to mental health treatments within its jurisdiction. The issues arising for the tribunal’s consideration included significant issues relating to whether virtual hearings can be conducted in light of the respondent’s objections (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and substantive issues relating to the respondent’s fair and equitable treatment obligations, expropriation, and damages.

NUS Law congratulates our Champions and the teams who participated.

Champions – Team Strandburg
Toh Ding Jun ’22 (Team Leader and Best Speaker in the Finals)
Austen Lim ’23 (2nd Best Speaker in the Preliminary Rounds)
Perl Choo ’23

Second Runners-up – Team Selden
Ernest Sng ’24 (Team Leader)
Benjamin Goh ’24 (5th Best Speaker in the Preliminary Rounds)
Johanna Lim ’23
Tan Ying Qian ’24

Quarter-Finalists – Team Waldron
Yan Jun Yi ’24 (Team Leader)
Ajay Nair ’24 (3rd Best Speaker in the Preliminary Rounds)
Daniel Loh ’23
Ben Ng ’24

Toh Ding Jun ’22 took home the Ex Curia International Final Round Best Advocate Award, which is awarded to the best speaker of the final round.

Team Strandburg and Team Selden expressed their gratitude to their coaches: Joel Quek, Dana Chang ’18, Joshua Phang ’19, Long Shi Han ’21 (Team Strandburg), Jerald Tan ’22, and Yeoh Su-Jane ’22 (Team Selden) for their unwavering support and guidance on this journey.

In addition, for their time and feedback in numerous practice rounds and consultations, the three teams expressed their appreciation to Emeritus Professor M Sornarajah, Associate Professor Eleanor Wong ’85, Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow ’95, Adjunct Associate Professor Dr Matthew Secomb, Adjunct Assistant Professor Aditya Singh, Adjunct Assistant Professor Sim Khadijah ’07, Dr Charalampos Giannakopoulos, Gitta Satryani ’05, Joan Lim-Casanova ’06, Keith Han ’11, Ian Ming Choo ’18, Ong Chee Yeow ’18, Kiu Yan Yu ’18, Seah Ern Xu ’19, Tan Fong Han ’20, Ng Wei Qi ’21, Ong Kye Jing ’21, Abel George ’21, Shaun Cheng ’21, Samuel Wittberger ’21, Shayna Robinson ’22, Ariel Tan ’22, Ngai Hei Yee (Khione) ’22, Bay Jia Wei ’22, Valerie Lim ’22, and Arjit Pandey ’22.