Into its fourth edition, this year’s Attorney General’s Cup moot competition was held on 29 August 2014.  It was an all-SMU final at the competition as both finalists were our own – Wong Yan Yee and Sean Sim Zhi Quan, both second-year undergraduates with the SMU School of Law.  They had, through a series of knock-out rounds beginning in July, triumphed over 14 others to arrive at the final round.

The audience was treated to an hour of intense intellectual debate as both mooters displayed finesse and conviction as they presented their submissions before the judging panel comprising three of Singapore’s heavyweights in the legal fraternity – Attorney-General V.K. Rajah S.C., Judge of Appeal, Justice Andrew Phang and Justice Quentin Loh.

[Photo: Dean Professor Yeo Tiong Min and Deputy Dean Professor David Llewelyn were present to support our SMU law students.]

This year, the hypothetical question which the law students had to tackle included one in relation to section 17(2) of the Official Secrets Act and involved whistle-blowing.  Can someone who leaked information marked as "confidential" to the media to expose alleged wrongdoing in the public service - flouting the Official Secrets Act - defend himself by saying he did so to protect the public interest?

[Photo: (L-R) The SMU mooters, Yan Yee and Sean, making their submissions.]

Yan Yee, acting for the Prosecution, was extremely composed and calm throughout her submission and answered the questions fired at her with great intellectual courage and firmness.  Similarly, despite the relentless grilling from the judges, Sean spoke with confidence and conviction and also proved himself to be a strong contender for the title.

Demonstrating consistent clarity, confidence and composure, Yan Yee was ultimately crowned the Champion of the Attorney-General Cup 2014.  She won $1,000, while Sean was awarded $500.

[Photo: The Bench (from left to right): Judge of Appeal, Justice Andrew Phang, Attorney-General V.K. Rajah S.C. and Justice Quentin Loh.]

Delivering the results, Attorney-General V.K. Rajah S.C. commented, “It was a good effort from Sean, and we have been very impressed with his arguments. But in every competition there has to be one winner, and that has to be Miss Wong.”

It was a jubilant occasion for SMU as we won 12-7 and also took home the Cup as overall team champion.  The rest of the SMU 2014 Attorney-General Cup team included: Second-year students Damien Chng, Daniel Ho, Angus Koh, Elyssa Tan, Pearlynn Wang and Racheal Wong.  SMU international moot alumni Kenny Lau and Deya Shankar Dubey assisted the students in their preparation.

[Featured Photo: SMU 2014 Attorney-General Cup team.  Front row (L-R): Elyssa, Racheal, Pearlynn, Yan Yee, Sean; Back row (L-R): Angus, Daniel, Deya, Kenny, Damien.]

All photographs courtesy of Assistant Professor Chen Siyuan.