The best defence for a group of University of Queensland law students will be the defence of their International Law Moot title.
UQ’s T.C. Beirne School of Law team has qualified for the international finals of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot for the second year running.
The finals will be held in Washington D.C. from March 26 to April 1, with UQ set to defend the title they won in 2005.
Director of Mooting Programs at UQ Jonathan Crowe said the team members were excited about qualifying for the international competition.
“The international finals are a great opportunity for the students to test their advocacy skills at the highest level,” Mr Crowe said.
“In addition, the team will get the chance to meet law students from around the world with a shared interest in international law.”
During the Australian regional rounds of the Jessup competition, which were held in Canberra in February, UQ reached the grand final.
The final was held in the High Court before a bench including the Honourable Justice Susan Crennan.
The UQ students narrowly lost the grand final to Bond University but both teams have secured a place to represent Australia at the international finals in Washington.
The team consists of Emily Absolon, Faheem Anwar, Aruni Jayakody, Gobind Kalsi and Claire Schneider. Three recent mooting alumni Ryan Goss, Michael Hodge and Christopher Peters coached the team.
Allens Arthur Robinson, Dibbs Abbott Stillman and Minter Ellison sponsor the team.
As well as finishing second overall, the UQ team attained a number of other distinctions including prizes for best respondent written memorial and best written memorials overall. Bachelor of Arts/Laws student Ms Absolon was ranked the seventh best individual advocate in the preliminary rounds.
The UQ team was ranked first after the preliminary rounds, winning all four of its moots. It won its quarter-final against the University of Adelaide and its semi-final against the University of Sydney.
Media: for more information, contact Jonathan Crowe (telephone 07 3365 7180, email j.crowe@law.uq.edu.au) or Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
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