Students come 5th in the world in Jessup Moot Competition
Following their successes at the United Kingdom Qualifying Rounds of the 58th Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the team of students from The Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College London, proceeded to represent the United Kingdom at the International Rounds in Washington D.C. from 10-15 April 2017. This year's Jessup Moot Court competition the biggest yet, drawing 650 teams from over 95 countries. The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the UN's principal judicial organ.
The King's team, consisting of Caleb Kirton (LLB, third year), Jagoda Klimowicz (LLB, third year), Ng Kit Chong (LLB, second year), Monika Tobjasz (LLB, third year) and Rishikeesh Wijaya (LLB, second year), have been working on this year’s fictitious problem for several months. This year’s problem concerned cutting-edge issues in public international law - shared natural resources, cultural heritage, illicit import of cultural property and compensation for migrant outflows. The team is coached by dedicated King’s alumni Aqeel Noorali (LLB 2010) and Mubarak Waseem (LLB 2014, LLM 2016).
The team faced preliminary round matches against teams from Boston College (USA), Cambodia, Kuwait and Bangladesh, winning all four of their matches before proceeding to the knock-out stages of the competition. After beating Ghent University (Belgium) in the round of 32, the King's team faced University College London once again in the Octo-Finals, a repeat of the UK Finals. The team emerged victorious and went up against the team from the University of Western Ontario (Canada) in the Quarter-Finals, where they were beaten. Despite this, the team was fortunate to rank 6th globally, and obtained the 9th Best Combined (Applicant and Respondent) Written Memorials, as well as 2nd Best Respondent Written Memorials. Caleb Kirton was also ranked 24th best oralist in the competition.
King's has an outstanding track record at the international rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, reaching the World Finals in 2007 and the Semi-Finals in 2014 and 2016. In 2014, the King's team won 10th best combined memorials and Mubarak Waseem (LLB 2014, LLM 2016) emerged as 4th best oralist in the competition.
The team and coaches are very grateful for all of the support that they have received in preparation for the competition, including from Lucas Bastin (Essex Court Chambers), Andrew Carruth (Quadrant Chambers), Wesley Pang (Shearman and Sterling LLP). Special thanks must go to White & Case LLP as well as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for hosting the team at receptions prior to the International Rounds in Washignton D.C. The team also sincerely thanks King’s academic staff for their support and advice, including Dr Holger Hestermeyer, Dr Emily Hudson, Dr Philippa Webb and Penelope Nevill.