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"UNITED NATIONS OF BOND" IMPRESSES AT INTERNATIONAL MOOTING COMPETITION

A team of law students hailing from all corners of the globe has impressed at the prestigious Willem C. Vis (East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot, held in Hong Kong in March.

Quita Brunt, Mark Wires, Tsjatsja Westerveld and Raquel dos Santos, with the support of team coach Assistant Professor Louise Parsons, competed against more than 200 teams from leading universities around the world and were delighted to be awarded an Honourable Mention for the Claimant's Memorandum.

Dubbed the "United Nations of Bond" by a competitor in reference to their diverse backgrounds (the team included two Canadian students, two Australian students one of whom was born in Brazil and another born in Kenya and a South African coach!), the students had the opportunity to mix with more than 500 students, coaches and arbitrators at a Welcome Function prior to the competition kicking off.  

The first day of the contest saw them come up against De Paul University from the United States, and it soon became apparent the bar had been set high. 

VIS East Moot team
Vis (East) Moot Team (l-r): Raquel dos Santos,
Tsjatsja Westerveld, Quita Brunt and Mark Wires

Both sides displayed an impressive depth of preparation and presented good arguments to the panel of judges that included practising arbitrators from Canada and academics from the City University of Hong, who grilled the students on particular legal points, conventions and recent case law. 

The following days saw the team battle against Xiamen University of China and Handong Global University of South Korea before being awarded an Honourable Mention for their Claimant's Memorandum. 

Team coach Assistant Professor Louise Parsons said the students were deserving of their recognition.
 
“The students have been amazing in their consistent display of dedication and their self-directed approach to preparing for this moot. They left no stone unturned in their research,” she said.
 
“They did the best they had ever done as a team and we received some very good feedback from the arbitrators. They should all be very proud of their efforts.
 
“Thanks again to everyone involved with making this experience possible for the students - all the guest judges, the subject matter experts who shared their knowledge with the team, and the people behind the scenes.
 
“Thank you as well to the course co-ordinators and tutors who have been incredibly flexible, supportive and accommodating.”
 
About the Willem C. Vis (East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot:
 
Since its inception in 1993, the Vis Moot has grown to become one of the premier international student competitions in the world. Its goal is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem of a client, and to train law leaders of tomorrow in methods of alternative dispute resolution.
 
Organisers deliberately selected arbitration as the method of dispute resolution for the competition in response to the business community’s marked preference for resolving international commercial disputes by this method.
 
Students participate in two crucial phases: the writing of memoranda for both claimant and respondent, and the hearing of oral argument based upon the memoranda - both judged by a panel of arbitration experts.
This article is an extract from the Bond University newsletter.
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