The competition, the fourth of its kind so far, has attracted 18 national teams from the Asian-Pacific region, including two teams from the host country Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh City Law University will contribute one team and the other will come from Vietnam’s Diplomatic Academy.
This year’s topic is on confrontations between the rights of rescue ships and the legitimate rights of conservation agencies regarding under-water heritages at an international court.
The competitors are law students who will take it in turns to act as both plaintiffs and defendants before a jury consisting of prestigious lawyers, arbiters and judges from both at home and abroad.
Rector Mai Hong Quy of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, which is hosting the event, said that it is an opportunity for law students from Vietnam and the Asian-Pacific region to meet and exchange their experiences.
The moot court will use only English, offering an opportunity for Vietnamese law students to improve their professional English and their skills to institute proceedings before an international court, she added.
She also said that hosting the event is a preparatory step for her university to include the moot court sittings into the curricula.
Quy unveiled a plan to hold a national moot court competition to select the best students for international moot court competitions in the years to come.
The international moot court competition is part of an annual conference to be held by the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (Lawasia) in HCM City from November 9-12.
Lawasia comprises of some 1,500 members from 50 nations around the region.