NUS Law Team Wins Nuremberg Moot Court Competition

Congratulations to team NUS Law for being the overall champions at the Nuremberg Moot Court Competition!

Victor Leong ’16, Joshua Hiew ’17, Mehaerun Simaa ’16 and Hairul Hakkim ’16 won after defeating teams from the United States, Pakistan, Rwanda, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

Joshua Hiew received the additional honour of being awarded Best Speaker for the Final Round.

The Nuremberg Moot Court Competition is organised by the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, Nuremberg and the Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg. It takes place in the historic Nuremberg Courtroom 600, in Nuremberg, Germany. The competition aims to encourage university students to become familiar with International Criminal Law by arguing a fictitious case in front of the International Criminal Court.

Participants of the competition get the opportunity to moot in front of expert panels which comprise former and presiding judges, and defence counsel from the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia, The International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

This is a particularly notable victory as the team made their way to the competition at their own expense. Victor, Joshua, Mehaerun and Hairul had hoped to get partial funding but as several team members had already graduated, they were no longer eligible and they ended up paying for themselves. They largely self-coached and pushed themselves to play to their “weaknesses” rather than their strengths. They were driven by passion and the desire to further their learning experience. Vice Dean (Student Affairs) Associate Professor Eleanor Wong cheered the team’s victory and said that the team epitomises the NUS Law mooting sprit. She commended the team on the self-initiative and commitment they displayed in pursuing their goal.

NUS Law congratulates the team on their well-earned victory!