King's Team Wins International Law and Diplomacy Competition

A team of five LLM students from The Dickson Poon School of Law have won an international law and diplomacy competition hosted by the Université Paris X Nanterre and sponsored by UK-based international law firm Simmons &Simmons.

The international ‘Day of Crisis’ competition, running for its third year, requires teams to respond to a series of ‘real life’ real time events involving complex issues of international law and diplomacy over the course of 24 hours. This year’s competition posed issues arising from the crash of a Brazilian satellite into the Taj Mahal, a territorial dispute between Russia, the USA and Canada over the Arctic seabed, a terrorist hijacking of a Thai plane with French nationals aboard that landed in the UAE, the secession of Catalonia from Spain, and China’s claim of sovereignty over the Moon. The eight teams from around the world were required to display skills of organisation, drafting and negotiation, as well as an ability to cope under pressure.

After 24 hours of non-stop work, the King’s team excelled in the three-hour final presentation on Saturday morning, a mock session of the Security Council. Remia Peter was awarded special distinction for her professionalism and presentation skills. Jeremy Faivre was also singled out during the competition for special mention for his excellent negotiation skills.

The King’s team were described as the ‘best of the best’ at the awards ceremony by the founder of the competition, Professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin, and were highly praised for their legal knowledge, drafting skills and teamwork. Over thecourse of 24 hours, the team had to produce 12 pieces of written legal advice, conduct three negotiations, engage in a press interview and make a final presentation.

The Dickson Poon School of Law was invited by Université Paris X Nanterre to represent the UK in the competition. Teams representing France, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Brazil also competed.

The King’s team comprised: Jeremy Faivre, Luigi Lonardo, Remia Peter, Fernando Rodriguez Perez, and Guillaume Rudelle. They were coached by Dr Philippa Webb, Lecturer in Public International Law, and Kirsten Roberts, Dickson Poon Scholar and PhD candidate.