HKU Jessup Team Ranks 11th in Washington DC and Wins Top Oralist Award

From left: Coach Ms Astina Au, Jason Ko, Natalie So, Brian Lee, Michelle Sum, and Sakinah Sat

Congratulations to the HKU Jessup Team for achieving 11th place in the preliminary round of the 59th Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Competition, held in Washington, DC from 1-7 April 2018, where 121 teams competed. Demonstrating outstanding advocacy skills, team member, Natalie So, was crowned the top oralist in the International Rounds Top 100 Oralists. "The Jessup" is known internationally as the most prestigious public international law mooting competition for law students, where teams, having won their respective regional round, represent their country in a mock case before the International Court of Justice. The 2017-2018 competition problem involved a dispute between two fictional countries, Anduchenca and Rukaruku, concerning issues related to the validity of an arbitral award, the law of the sea, international arms disarmament, and the use of force.

    This year 600 law schools from 100 jurisdictions competed in the competition.  The HKU team won the Hong Kong regional championship in February 2018, capturing the best memorial prizes for both the applicant and respondent teams.
     At the International Rounds, the team defeated Argentina, Pakistan, Indonesia and Armenia in the preliminary round, before losing to the United States in the advanced rounds. The team members, Jason Ko Lun, Natalie So Tsz Ching, Brian Lee Chun-Hin, Michelle Sum Hiu-Yan, and Sakinah Sat are all students studying in the PCLL programme.  Brian and Jason ranked 17th and 75th respectively in the the list of top 100 best oralists.
     The team thanks Professor Po Jen Yap, Eva Sit, Tim Parker, Lester Lee, Adrian Lai, Terrence Tai, Kevin Lau, Isaac Chan, Jeff Chan, Winky So, Victor Lui, Sunny Hor, Henness Leung, Angel Cheng and Jonathan Lee for their kind assistance, and express their indebtedness to team coaches, Astina Au and Peter Barnes, barristers at Parkside Chambers, for their unfailing support.