Singapore, 4 June 2018 (Monday) – Mooters from the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Law have been declared champions at the 2018 International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition at the International Round held in The Hague, The Netherlands, from 27 May to 1 June. SMU made its debut only in the eighth edition of this competition in 2015, and has reached the competition’s final round four years in a row, winning in 2015, 2016 and 2018. With this third championship title, SMU has improved its tournament-best record, having achieved the most number of finals appearances and championship wins in what is the world's largest and most prestigious competition on international criminal law.

The SMU team – comprising Ilene Chua (3^rd year, LLB), Tracy Gani (4^th year, LLB), Lee Chuan (2^nd year, Juris Doctor), Ng Pei Qi (4^th year, LLB), Tessa Tan Si Ying (3^rd year, LLB) and Yu Zheng Yi (3^rd year, LLB) – won nine matches at The Hague to win SMU’s third championship title at this competition. Ng Pei Qi was also named Best Victim's Representative (2^nd position) and Best Overall Oralist (3^rd position), SMU's first such oralist awards in this competition. The team was coached by SMU alumni Edmund Koh, Nicholas Liu, Beverly Lim and Sampson Lim.

Established in 2008, this version of the ICC Moot Court Competition was organised by Leiden University, in partnership with the International Bar Association and sponsored by the Planethood Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and The Hague Municipality. It is now the largest and most prestigious moot competition in the world on international criminal law, with top students from almost 45 countries and six continents worldwide participating this year.

The competition has four editions: Chinese, English, Russian and Spanish, with the English edition drawing the most teams. This year, the English competition attracted a global turnout of more than 100 participating teams, with the best 60 teams qualifying for the International Round held in The Hague, The Netherlands, from 27 May to 1 June 2018.

The issues in this year’s moot problem related to abusive labour practices and human trafficking, criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator, and procedural fairness at the national court proceedings. (More details here.)

The competition requires each team to represent three sides: government, prosecution and victims. Each speaker speaks for 30 minutes in total – 20 minutes for main submissions and 10 minutes for rebuttal. Each round pits three teams against each other. The SMU team reached the championship final after eight intense matches, facing off against teams from countries such as Hong Kong, India and the United States.

SMU’s opponents in the final round were Ireland's Honourable Society of the King's Inns and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. In the end, it was the SMU team, with their composure, clarity and conviction, which won over the judging panel. The judging bench for the final round, which was presided by sitting ICC judge Geoffrey Henderson, praised the SMU team's performance as ‘masterful’.

"We knew that winning our third title was going to be a real challenge, especially given the high quality of the international teams, but we have outdone ourselves again this year across the board. With the continued support of the University and our partner, WongPartnership, we look forward to scaling greater heights,” said Assistant Professor Chen Siyuan, who heads SMU’s International Moots Programme.

The ICC Moot is but one of various Grand Slam moots (a class-leading competition or one that has more than 100 teams) that SMU takes part in. Since SMU School of Law started its International Moots Programme in Academic Year 2009-2010, out of 18 Grand Slam finals which Singapore has been to (e.g. the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition, Williem C. Vis and Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moots, Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot, and Frankfurt

Investment Arbitration Moot), SMU has represented Singapore 17 times.

Furthermore, fourth year SMU law undergraduate Tracy Gani has the distinction of being the third student in the history of international moots to have won a second Grand Slam moot – another member of this distinguished club is SMU alumnus Dennis Saw, who won the Price Media Law Moot Court Competition and ICC moot in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

In this AY2017-2018 season alone, SMU has won two championship titles, two first-runners-up and three second-runners-up, including a fourth consecutive championship final appearance at the Price Media Law Moot – another moot in which SMU has the best tournament record. The SMU School of Law’s overall tally for top-three finishes in all international moot competitions now stands at 63. (Please see overall medal tally enclosed at Annex 1).

[Featured Photo: ICC Judge Geoffrey A. Henderson (far right) with the winning team from Singapore Management University. (L-R) Sampson Lim, Ilene Chua, Tessa Tan Si Ying, Tracy Gani, Yu Zheng Yi, Ng Pei Qi and Lee Chuan.  Photo credit: ICC-CPI]

- End -

Enclosures:

• Annex 1: SMU School of Law international moot competition achievements (From Academic Year 2009-10 to 1 June 2018)
• For ICC Moot 2018 official results, please see https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=PR1389 

______________________________________________________________

For media enquiries, please contact:

HUANG Peiling (Ms)

Senior Assistant Director, Corporate Communications

SMU Office of Corporate Communications & Marketing

Contact: (65) 6828 0964 / plhuang [at] smu.edu.sg