Auckland mooters impress in Hong Kong

Over four days in Hong Kong, three law students took on the roles of counsel for both prosecution and defence in a fictional case before the International Criminal Court.

Oscar Read, Andrew Fu and Isabella Wensley competed against 24 other teams in the 21st Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot for the Asia-Pacific Region and were awarded second place.

Their mooting skills impressed the judges, and the team made it into the finals, appearing before a formidable final bench of Justice Carlye Chu, Justice Madan Lokur, Kelisiana Thynne, Dr Michael Crowley and Professor Sten Verhoeven.

The moot problems focused on protecting the natural environment, the status of prisoners of war, and the war crime of compelling a hostile party to participate in war operations against their own country.

After a close final round against the University of Adelaide, the Auckland Law team were named the runners-up, the best the law school has done in the competition to date.

Coaches Hannah Reid and Hayley Botha, who competed in the competition themselves while studying law at the University of Auckland, were delighted with the result.

“They were outstanding,” says Hannah, a senior solicitor at Meredith Connell, Aotearoa’s biggest litigation firm.

“Isabella’s research proved incredibly important, particularly in relation to the topic of the deprivation of fair trial rights. Meanwhile, Oscar and Andrew were phenomenal speakers -- calm and composed under pressure.

“Hayley and I want to extend a huge thank you to the team for their efforts. We are so proud of all the work they put into it, especially since Auckland Law doesn’t have a course on this particular area of law. The fact that they mastered it so well is a testament to their hard work and the overall quality of the Faculty of Law. We are also incredibly appreciative to the law school for supporting us as coaches.”

This year, for the first time in four years, the moot court competition was held on-site, much to the delight of many students and judges, thrilled to have face-to-face interactions again, says Dr Liu Xinyan, legal advisor of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Regional Delegation for East Asia.

“Many people feel it’s more conducive to the in-depth discussion of complex legal issues. The competition’s side events also provided an opportunity to share personal experiences and feelings.”

Co-organised by the Hong Kong Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Humanitarian Law Moot is the largest mooting competition in the Asia-Pacific region, with participating teams from many distinguished universities.

The Moot helps to disseminate the importance of international humanitarian law among young legal minds across the region.