8 May 2018
WTI-supported Elsa Moot Court moves into final round
The 16th edition of the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) moot court competition is heading into the final oral round, to be held at the World Trade Organization in Geneva from 19 to 24 June.
The World Trade Institute has sponsored the competition since 2009 and was an academic supporter for this year’s edition. WTI alumni represented the institute at the four regional rounds, held between February and April.
Marta Soprana and Sergey Lakhno (see photos) served as panellists at the European rounds in Naples and Wroclaw, gave presentations about the WTI and handed out certificates to the winning teams for a full scholarship to the WTI Summer Academy.
"I was positively impressed by the enthusiasm, curiosity, and willingness to learn with which several teams approached the European Round of the ELSA Moot Court and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to engage in the practice of law with other immensely talented trade experts," enthused Soprana.
“As in previous years it was a great experience,” added Lakhno, observing that the competition was well organised.
Sally Mukabana, who attended the African regional round in Nairobi, said she had also enjoyed representing the WTI at the moot court.
"Great steps"
“The highlight for me was to see what great steps the region had made in appreciating and understanding international trade law,” she said. “The efforts made by the WTI through its various initiatives such as awarding scholarships for the MILE programme, trainings and capacity building for students from the region have contributed immensely to this improvement.”
The WTI was represented at the Asian-Pacific regional round from 5 to 9 April by External Fellow Sufian Jusoh. This comprised two sub-regional rounds, the South Asian Sub-Regional Round and East Asian Sub-Regional Round. Teams from the Australian National University and National Law University of India were the winners and will represent the regions, together with the losing finalists, at the final round in Geneva.
The other winning teams were Istanbul Bilgi and Maastricht universities (European round), Harvard and Universidad Francisco Marroquin (All-American round) and Kenya School of Law (African round).
The ELSA Moot Court Competition is a simulated hearing of the WTO dispute settlement system. The teams prepare and analyse a fictive case and present their arguments both for the complainant and the respondent in front of a panel of WTO and trade law experts.