Andrew Mitchell of Melbourne Law School writes with the following:
Melbourne Law School has won the 2008-2009 European Law Students’ Association WTO Moot Court Competition in Taipei!
The Melbourne team, comprising Laura Bellamy (LLB), Rudi Kruse (JD), Erica Leaney (LLB) and Christopher Tran (LLB) and coached by Associate Professors Andrew Mitchell and Tania Voon, prevailed over the University of Barcelona (Spain) and the Universidad Javeriana (Colombia) in the Preliminary Rounds and the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands) in the Semi-Final. It then defeated Duke University (USA) in a closely fought Grand Final before an expert bench of nine panellists, chaired by Professor Mitsuo Matsushita, a former WTO Appellate Body Member.
In addition to winning the competition, the team received awards for Best Overall Written Submissions, Best Oralist in the Semi-Finals (Christopher Tran), and Fifth Best Oralist in the Preliminary Rounds (Rudi Kruse). The team’s prizes include scholarships to complete the five-week Summer Academy of the World Trade Institute in Berne as well as specialised courses in conjunction with the University of Barcelona’s new Master of Laws in International Economic Law and Policy.
Melbourne Law School is now the only institution to have won this global competition more than once. Melbourne first entered the competition in 2006-2007 and won the Final Oral Round in Geneva that year.
