The University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Law (FLL) Moot Team won the Best New Team Award at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which is considered the “Olympics in the field of international law”. This was the first time that UM’s Moot Team participated in the competition, and won the only Best New Team Award.

 

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition was launched by Harvard University in 1959. It has since grown to be the world’s largest and most prestigious competition, attracting more than 900 universities from approximately a hundred countries every year. Associate Professor Muruga P. Ramaswamy, coach for the UM’s Moot Team, said that regardless of the outcome, participation in the competition could considerably strengthen students’ knowledge on law and benefit their future development because it helped students to apply theoretical knowledge to real-life issues. He said that it was not easy to win the Best New Team Award in its first-year participation.

 

Prof. Simon S.M. Ho, Vice Rector (Academic Affairs) of UM, said that UM would consider FLL’s suggestion of including Moot Court as an elective course to provide a platform for students to realise their full potential. He also wished that the success at Jessup could be passed on and enhance the achievements of UM students in other academic areas.

 

The UM team consisted of five Master students, four from the Faculty of Law majoring in International Law and one from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, namely Yuan Xingxing, Zheng Jiajia, Yin Qingsi, Tang Yanyan and Wang Yuna. Zheng Jiajia described that the experience was full of pleasant surprises. This competition not only allowed her to gain a lot of new knowledge on international law and improved her English proficiency, but she was also able to exchange ideas with students from around the world and broaden her horizons. Yin Qingsi commented that the competition had made her more familiar with international law, and also taught her how to handle stress. She learnt how to stay confident and present her viewpoints calmly when being questioned by the judge.

 

Another team member Yuan Xingxing thought that effective time management is the key to success, because not only did every team member need to give a concise presentation of their viewpoints within a limited period of time during the competition, but they also needed to strike a balance between classes, assignments and intensive training before the event. Wang Yuna, majoring in International Relations and Public Policy, said that at the beginning she found the application of international law quite difficult, but with the help of her teachers and teammates, she realised her potential during the competition, and established a clear direction for her future. Finally, Tang Yanyan thanked UM for the good resources provided, as well as Prof. Ramaswamy and Senior Instructor Dr. Sten I. Verhoeven for their tremendous effort, which enabled them to obtain such an outstanding achievement in their first-time participation in this large-scale competition on international law.



Should you have any enquiries about the information, please feel free to contact the Information Executives Ms Lei or Ms Fok at(853)8397 4325 or  prs.media@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.