17/02/2009 Uncategorized
button_text
A team of students from UPH Faculty of Law will represent Indonesia in the 2009 Phillip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition in Washington DC on March 23-28.
A team of students from UPH Faculty of Law will represent Indonesia in the 2009 Phillip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition in Washington DC on March 23-28.
Along with top winners from the University of Indonesia, the UPH students will represent the country in the prestigious competition that attracts participants from 500 law schools all over the world.
The UPH team is led by 7th semester student Junianto James Losari. This team clutched the first runner-up position during a recent national-level contest.
Indonesia?s best national achiever in the competition was a finalist in last year?s competition. One of the speakers from the University of Indonesia was also selected as the 3rd best speaker.
The chief UPH speaker Losari says that even though this is the 1st time for his university to join the international competition, ?our target is to reach the final stage and include all our speakers in the Top 50 category.?
The UPH team spent four months preparing for the national level contest during which time they conducted intensive discussions and argumentations as well as being involved in simulations with professional lawyers.
?We will have even more intensive preparations for the international competition,? Losari added during an interview with CampusAsia.
The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from more than 80 countries.
The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations.
A team from each participating school is required to prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.
Thousands of law students from around the world will work all year long on this season’s Jessup Problem, which will address the power and authority of the International Court of Justice and other important international law issues.
Most students must first compete in national and regional competitions (mostly held in January-March) to earn the right to advance to the world championship Shearman & Sterling International Rounds held every spring in Washington, D.C.
The 2009 Shearman & Sterling International Rounds, which will be held March 22-28, 2009, will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Jessup Competition.
Meanwhile, Prof Dr Bintan Saragih, Dean of the Faculty of Law of UPH, explained that UPH team?s victory in the national level contest is the result of the students? hard work.
They organized the team by themselves from the beginning, he said, adding that he had seen outstanding progress in the way the team performed.
The first time UPH students joined the competition, they did not win. The following year, they were placed 6th in the national competition ranking.
?This was followed by becoming the 4th twice. And this year, we are the First Runner-Up,? the dean noted.
Prof Saragih is also proud of the regeneration of the students joining the global Moot Court contest. He says that the students have even rented a house for seniors to train juniors.
?Alumni of the UPH School of Law have been outstanding over the years. Our alumnus was elected chairman for the 2009 national round,? Prof Saragih says.
He believes that this is also part of the university?s effort to implement global best academic practices.
The dean also says that for this activity, students get full support from his office apart from financial assistance ?and of course prayers.?
Moot Court is a simulation of court proceedings. There are two parties in the game?the applicants and the respondents. Speakers from two teams are positioned as the agents from both sides.
According to Losari, this is only an extramural activity at the faculty. Nevertheless, ?UPH is considering including it in the curriculum,? the UPH captain said, adding that several universities abroad have included it in the curriculum. The National University of Singapore is an example.
Pricilla Halim, one of the team members, says that she has gained a lot of experience joining the team. ?You are not a student of the faculty of law if you haven?t joined the Moot Court,? she argues.
Other members of the UPH team are Nenda Inasa Fadhilah and Johan Kurnia. The UPH School of Law is sending another team to represent Indonesia in a contest in Florida representing Southeast Asia.
Prof Saragih says this team will compete in an international contest that focuses on environmental issues.
UPH Media Relations
