in-conjunction with
The Institute for International Trade
The University of Adelaide
present the
2007
SOUTH-EAST ASIA & PACIFIC (SEA&P)
REGIONAL ROUND
of the
on the Law of the
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
14 - 17 MARCH 2007
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
INTRODUCTION
The European Law Student's Association
(ELSA) has been involved in Moot Court Competitions for a number of years
in its Member Countries. In 2002, ELSA established the ELSA
Moot Court Competition (EMC²) on the law of the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
Established in 1995, the WTO which is based on the old GATT Agreement creates
a system for efficiently regulating international trade. ELSA's aim for the competition
is to encourage further developments on the subject matter in the curriculum of
academic institutions globally and for law students to contribute to the ongoing
discussion about globalisation in the context of the WTO Agreements.
RESULTS OF THE FINAL ORAL ROUND - GENEVA
University of Melbourne's Law School team has won the Final Oral Round of the European Law Students Association Moot Court Competition (EMC²) on WTO Law which was held in Geneva, Switzerland at the WTO on 1-5 May 2007.
The Case problem for the 5th Edition of the EMC² (2007) concerned the topical issue of access to patented drugs in order to address a serious public health crisis as well as conflicts between free trade agreements and the WTO multilateral agreements.
Sixty four (64) teams, hailing from around the globe participated in the competition. In the Preliminary Rounds, the non-ELSA South East Asia & Pacific (SEA&P) Regional Round teams from the University of Melbourne and University of Sydney were outstanding. The University of Melbourne defeated teams from the London School of Economics and Duke University whilst the University of Sydney, defeated teams from Duke University and the University of Edinburgh. At the conclusion of the Preliminary Rounds, the University of Melbourne were ranked first and the University of Sydney were ranked third based on both their Oral Pleadings and Written Submissions.
As required by the Rules of the EMC², when two teams from the same country progress to the Semi Finals, notwithstanding their ranking, then those teams must 'moot-off' against each other. In a repeat of the SEA&P Regional Round Grand Final, the University of Sydney won the toss and elected to moot as Complainant, with Melbourne as the Respondent. The Semi-final Panellist, consisting of chairperson, Dr David Luff (Director of the TradeCom Programme - ACP Group Programme and Partner of AppletonLuff (Brussels)), Mr Hannes Scholemann (Director of World Trade Institute Advisors (Geneva) and Mrs Letizia Raschella-Sergi (EMC² Asia-Academic Supervisor and Senior International Trade Law Counsellor – Institute for International Trade (Adelaide)), were given the unenviable task of selecting a winner.
Both teams rose to the occasion and it was obvious that they had undertaken substantial additional preparation for the Geneva competition since participating in the SEA&P RR Grand Final. After the Panel deliberated for an hour and thirty minutes after utilising the specified assessment criteria, the University of Melbourne were pronounced the winner and progressed to the FOR Grand Final. The other semi-final consisted of the non-ELSA Asian Regional Round Winner, the University of Hong Kong, against a team that had entered via the International Written Round, Georgetown University. The University of Hong Kong were the eventual winners and went on to argue as Respondent in the Grand Final.
The Melbourne University Team (Left to Right) Mr. Chian Kee, Ms. Elizabeth Sheargold, Ms. Sarah Kemeny
and Mr. David Heaton claimed all but one of the major prizes that were eligible for the taking:
* World Trade Institute Award - Winning Team
* International Chamber of Commerce Award - Best Orator - Elimination Rounds (Ms. Elizabeth Sheargold)
* World Trade Institute Award - Best Overall Written Submissions
* Gabrielle Marceau Award - Best Complainant Written Submission
* Valerie Hughes Award - Best Respondent Written Submission
Each Team member has won a fully paid scholarship to the World Trade Institute's Postgraduate Diploma in International Trade Law and Economics in Bern as well as a number of Cambridge University books on WTO law. As the Best Orator of the Elimination Round, Ms. Elizabeth Sheargold has also won an internship with the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. All competitors and coaches received a Participation Certificate.
After the FOR was concluded, both Australian teams met with the members of the Australian Permanent Mission to the WTO (Geneva), the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat, and EMC² sponsor, law firm Sidley Austin before returning to Australia.
On behalf of the Institute for International Trade, we congratulate both Australian teams on their win and placement at the 2007 Final Oral Round of the EMC². A full report of the 2007 EMC² will be published on the official website (http://www.elsamootcourt.org) on 29 June 2007.
The 2008 SEA&P Regional Round will once again be held in Adelaide, Australia in mid March. Details of the competition and the 2008 Case will be released on the Institute’s website (http://www.iit.adelaide.edu.au/) on Monday, 03 September 2007. We look forward to seeing teams from Australia, Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam in Adelaide!!
2007 EMC² - SEAP REGIONAL ROUND - ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
In 2007 seven teams from Australia and New Zealand entered the EMC² South East Asia and Pacific Regional Round of the competition. At the conclusion of the event the Asia-Pacific Academic Supervisor announced that ELSA had agreed that both the Winner and Runner-up of the SEAP RR qualified for the 5th edition of the Final Oral Round (FOR) to take place in Geneva between the 1st and 6th May 2007. The teams will join sixteen other teams progressing from the various ELSA and non-ELSA Regional Rounds. The teams will continue to argue the highly controversial and emerging issue of access to patented drugs to address a serious public health issue. The legal issues relate to the business distribution scheme and the continued tension between multilateral agreements and free trade agreement regulation which impact on pharmaceuticals.
At the conclusion of the Preliminary Rounds – every team pleaded once as Complainant and once as Respondent - the four highest ranked teams (1st placed – University of Melbourne vs 2nd placed - University of Sydney 3rd placed – University of Victoria, Wellington, NZ and 4th placed – University of Technology Sydney) progressed to the Elimination Rounds. The University of Sydney progressed to the Grand Final as and argued for the Complainant whilst the University of Melbourne argued for the Respondent.
|
|
|
|
SEA&P RR Ground Final (Teams and Panellist) National Wine Centre,
Adelaide, Australia - 17th March 2007
Back row left to right - (University of Sydney - Runner-up SEA&P RR) - Irina Kolodizner, Robynne Croft, Susan Cirillo, Luisa Mockler and
(University of Melbourne – Winner SEA&P RR) - Chian Kee, Sarah Kerneny, Elizabeth Sheargold, David Heaton
Front row left to right - Mr Andrew Stoler (SEAP RR Administrator and Executive Director of Institute for International Trade); Mr Iain Sandford (Deputy Director, International Trade Law Department – Minter Ellison and former Legal Officer WTO Appellate Body Secretariat); Dr Tania Voon (2007 EMC² Case Author, former Legal Officer WTO Appellate Body Secretariat and Senior Lecturer University of Melbourne); Mr Scott Gallacher (Director, International Trade Law Department – Minter Ellison and former New Zealand Trade Diplomat); Ms Jessica Wyers (Legal Officer International Intellectual Property Section – Office of Trade Negotiations, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Mr Paul Schofield (Legal Officer WTO Disputes Section, WTO Trade Law Branch – Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). |
|
|
|
|
