Team of Utrecht University wins the NILOS Moot Court Competition
The first ever international moot court on Law of the Sea
A team from Utrecht University has won the NILOS Moot Court Competition on 24 May in the Janskerk. The students qualified for the finals after having obtained the highest score on the pleadings for the Applicant team. Their opponents were a team from Greece, from The National and Kapodistrian University School of Law which had the highest score as the Respondent team.
The NILOS (Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea) Moot Court Competition welcomed universities from all over the world in Utrecht last week, for the first ever moot court simulating proceedings under Part XV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Eleven teams from nine different countries competed: China x2, Italy x2, Germany, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cyprus, Iran, Greece and a team from Utrecht University. It was a unique opportunity to discuss issues of law of the sea, sustainability and to engage with the many procedural facets of international dispute settlement.
The members of the UU team were:
- Daniela Buhler
- Maarten Christiaens
- Fachry Hasani Habib
- Baine Kerr
- Frits Portheine
The team was coached by dr. Otto Spijkers, assistant professor at Utrecht University and PhD candidate Wen Duan, also working at Utrecht University. The organising committee consisted of professors:
- Alex Oude Elferink, Professor of International Law of the Sea, Director of NILOS;
- Seline Trevisanut, Professor of International Law and Sustainability, Senior Research Associate at NILOS;
- Erik J. Molenaar, Deputy Director of NILOS;
- Cedric Ryngaert, Professor of International Law and Programme Leader of the Utrecht Master in Public International Law; and
- Machiko Kanetake, Assistant professor of International Law and Programme Coordinator of the Utrecht Master in Public International Law
The competition was sponsored by legal firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.
