Future Legal Leaders from 20 Universities fight in Humanitarian Trials
The University of Hong Kong becomes Champion in
The 10th Red Cross International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot

 

 

(Hong Kong．10 March 2012) The Red Cross International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot, the largest scale of inter-university competition of its kind in the Asia-Pacific Region, marked its 10th Anniversary today.  Over the decade, the Competition has attracted about 70 law schools participated, and contributed greatly towards raising law students' concerns over humanitarian issues and their understanding of IHL.

This year, future legal leaders from 20 renowned universities of 18 Asia-Pacific cities joined the Competition.  The University of Hong Kong beat the others to emerge the champion, after a series of tough simulated trials relating to armed conflicts.  The runner-up is The University of Melbuorne.  Mr Albert Wong of the winning Hong Kong team also became the Best Mooter.

Addressing the Prize Presentation Ceremony, The Hon Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li said the annual Competition has become "an important one in the calendar of legal events in Hong Kong", as evident from the number of participants from all over the Asia-Pacific Region and the very many distinguished judges.

Participants of this year included teams from Vietnam and Iran, which joined the Competition for the first time, and 3 local teams from Hong Kong.  Sitting at the judging panel are about 70 distinguished judges and lawyers from Hong Kong and overseas.  They included The Hon Mr Justice Patrick Chan (Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong), Mr Michael Crowley (Senior Lecturer, School of Law and Justice, Edith Cowan University, Australia) and Mr Chris Harland (Regional Legal Adviser, The International Committee of Red Cross (New Delhi)).

The Competition is co-organized by the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in collaboration with the Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong, the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong and the Faculty of Law of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The first IHL Moot was introduced by the Hong Kong Red Cross in 2003 with only two local universities participated.  To commemorate for the 10th anniversary of the Competition, the Hong Kong Red Cross publishes “Introduction to International Humanitarian Law & IHL Moot in Asia-Pacific Region”. The book summarizes and consolidates the experiences of organizers and judges over the past 9 years. It aims at promoting knowledge on IHL among students and the public, introducing mooting skills and providing references of key readings on IHL.

The Hon Sir T L Yang, GBM, JP, Former Chief Justice cum Chairman of the Hong Kong Red Cross hopes this publication would contribute towards promoting humanitarian spirit.  He said it is an indispensable reference for law students, legal professionals and even the general public on IHL.

 

Details of award recipients:

Award	University
Winning Team	Albert Wong, Joshua Chan (The University of Hong Kong)
Runner-up Team	Georgia Boyce, Eamonn Kelly (The University of Melbourne)
Best Mooter	Champion: Albert Wong (The University of Hong Kong) 1st Runner Up: Vani Nair (Singapore Management University & National University of Singapore (Joint Team)) 2nd Runner Up: Ross Li (The Chinese Univerity of Hong Kong)
Best Memorial	Champion: Victoria University of Wellington 1st Runner Up: Nankai University 2nd Runner Up: National Chengchi University

 

List of the 20 participating delegations (in alphabetical order)

• China University of Political Science and Law (Beijing)
• Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok)
• City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
• Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (Hanoi)
• Korea University (Seoul)
• Kyoto University (Koyto)
• Nankai University (Tianjin)
• National Chengchi University (Taipei)
• National University of Singapore-Singapore Management University (joint-team)  (Singapore)
• Royal University of Law and Economics (Phnom Penh)
• Shahid Beheshti University (Tehran)
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
• The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
• Universitas Indonesia (Jakarta)
• The University of Melbourne (Melbourne)
• University of Cebu (Cebu City)
• University of Colombo (Colombo)
• Universiti Teknologi MARA (Shah Alam (Selangor)
• Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington)
• Xiamen University (Xiamen)

 

About IHL Moot Competition

The IHL Moot Competition is co-organized by the Hong Kong Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with the Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong, the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong and the Faculty of Law of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. It aims to raise awareness of international humanitarian issues among law students through examination and debate of wider social issues rather than black letter law. Each participating university was assigned at random to the role of the prosecutor or the defendant for a fictitious court case based on real-life facts. Participating law students debated whether certain acts violated the Law of War and whether the commander of the concerned armed forces should have criminal responsibility for the violating acts.

 

International Humanitarian Law

The Hong Kong Red Cross is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that endeavours to prevent human suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles.  The Geneva Conventions are the bedrock of IHL and the cornerstone of the Movement.  IHL is the body of rules which, in wartime, protects people who are not or are no longer participating in the armed conflict.  The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its three Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005 are the principal instruments of humanitarian law and are endorsed by nearly every nation in the world.

 

The 20 participating teams and the judges in front of the High Court Building.

 

Media enquiries: 

Ms Denise Wong, Corporate Communications Manager (2507-7111)