The results are in – SMU’s mooters from the School of Law have concluded this moot season with a bang.  They have brought home the top prize from the International Criminal Court (ICC) moot court competition, and in their first attempt, no less!  It is also the first time a team from Singapore has won the championship.

The SMU team comprising final year law undergraduates Foo Shi Hao, Ong Chin Kiat, Annabelle Teo Li Ping and Samuel Yap Zong En, and Juris Doctor student Alexis Ang Jingsi, was also named Best Overall Team (Victim's Representative).  Furthermore, Annabelle was named Best Speaker of the entire tournament.  The team was coached principally by SMU alumnus Edmund Koh.

Jointly organised by Leiden University and the ICC, the competition has been established since 2008, and is the largest and most prestigious moot competition in the world on international criminal law.  The competition has four editions: English, Russian, Chinese and Spanish, with the English edition being the largest competition.  This year, the English competition attracted a record turnout of over 100 participating teams, with the best 57 teams qualifying for the international rounds held in The Netherlands in May.

The competition required each team to represent three sides: government, prosecution and victims.  Each speaker speaks for 30 minutes in total - 20 minutes main submissions and 10 minutes rebuttal.  Each round pits three teams against each other.

Unfazed by the strong competition even though it was making its debut, the SMU team reached the final round after seven matches against teams from countries such as Australia, Canada, India and Ukraine.  Along the way, they beat the teams from former champions Bond University (Australia) and Osgoode Hall (Canada).  Leiden University (Netherlands), one of the two teams SMU met in the final round, was also a former champion of the competition.

Finally, it was the SMU team which, with their conviction, clarity and composure, won over the distinguished panel of judges, who comprised international criminal law practitioners, including ICC judges and law professors.

With these latest results, SMU now has a total of 13 international championships in 26 final appearances since the School of Law's moot programme was launched in AY2009/10.  In this season alone, SMU has reached eight international championship finals, winning five.  This is also the 10th time SMU has reached any championship final (fifth time winning it) in its first attempt.

"There is now no question that SMU mooters can compete with anybody in the world.  But none of this would have been possible without the generous support of the university, school and its alumni, as well as the help from the legal fraternity," said Assistant Professor Chen Siyuan, who heads the moot training Programme.

Well done, SMU mooters, for an excellent season of achievements!

[Featured photo: (L-R) Judge Howard Morrison with Annabelle Teo, Samuel Yap, Alexis Ang, Foo Shi Hao, Ong Chin Kiat and Edmund Koh. Photo courtesy of ICC-CPI.]