Tenth Annual WMU Moot Court

The tenth annual Moot Court competition for MSc students in the Maritime Law and Policy (MLP) specialization, Law of the Sea Course, took place 23 - 24 June. The competition, focused on fisheries and underwater cultural heritage, offered the students a welcome opportunity for face-to-face interaction while following social distancing recommendations.

The class was divided into several groups which performed the roles of applicants and respondents. The Arbitral Tribunal was organized by WMU Associate Professor, Dr. Maria Carolina Romero, and WMU Research Associates, Dr. Tafsir Johansson and Dr. Khanssa Lagdami. 

Roughly half of the MLP students are lawyers. The moot court activity promotes oratorical and legal argument skills for future maritime law and policy practitioners from across a variety of disciplines. To prepare for the competition, the students benefited from recorded lectures, group chats and coaching sessions as well as the requirements of formal legal argument and the conduct of contentious proceedings. In addition, students received a series of lectures on the Law of the Sea.

Certificates of participation and merit awards were handed out by WMU President, Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, in a ceremony at the Sasakawa Auditorium on the final day of the activity. The winners of the competition included: Group 3 (applicants), composed of Rosalia Sheryne from Fiji and Oluwafemi Sunday Kumuyi and Gabriel Chukwuemeka Chikelu from Nigeria, and Group 8 (respondents), Nii Lantei Kumi-Bruce from Ghana, Robbin Lato George from Liberia, and Sedigheh Zarei from Iran.