Another moot win

Clockwise from left: Cassandra, Syazana, Jia En, Dinesh, Mr Teo and Hannah

A team of students from the NUS Faculty of Law (NUS Law) has won the 16th International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot 2015, which was organised by Murdoch University and hosted by RMIT University from 3 to 7 July in Melbourne, Australia.

Year 4 student Cassandra Chow and recent graduates Syazana Yahya, Tay Jia En, Dinesh Sabapathy and Hannah Tay defeated 21 teams from law schools across the globe to clinch the champion title. The finals saw the students square off against the University of Hong Kong, successfully arguing their case as the claimants that the opposing team were fraudulent in the management of a vessel after it was attacked by pirates and damaged. The team also won the Oral Rounds of the competition.

This is NUS Law's fourth win at the competition, having come out tops at the inaugural run in 2000 and subsequently in 2001 and 2010. NUS teams were also runners-up in 2004 and 2013.

Professor Stephen Girvin from NUS Law coordinated the team's participation. "We are all very proud of our team who have worked exceptionally hard to emerge as the champions in this year's Moot, he said.

Mr Ian Teo, a Partner at law firm Rajah & Tann and coach to the team, echoed Prof Girvin's sentiments, adding that the team was exceptionally strong and "had an unbeaten run from the start to the end of the competition.

The team, who had no prior mooting experience, started preparing for the moot competition last December. They would spend almost every day hitting the books in the library and have practice sessions with their coach and professors in the lead-up to the competition. "The two biggest takeaways from the competition were the experience of preparing for a case itself, and the chance to interact with dedicated professors and practitioners who made available their time and experience to coach us, said Team Captain Jia En. They hoped their win would inspire other students and moot teams to give their best.