2020 FDI Moot Globals won by Sao Paulo University
10 November 2020
Sao Paulo University won the final of the 2020 FDI Moot on 9 November 2020, becoming the first Brazilian team to take home the Skadden, Arps Trophy. In a hearing before Wendy Miles, QC (presiding), Charis Tan and Nikita Kondrashov, Sao Paulo prevailed against Paris Bar School. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgGAiPMzDE. Third place was taken by Jagiellonian University (Cracow) ahead of Universitas Airlangga (Surabaya).
The Thomas Wälde Award for the best advocate of all preliminary rounds went to Bianca Böhme (Saarland University), and the best advocate of the final was adjudged to be Kricia Pires Coelho (Sao Paulo). The Manuela Béltran Award for the best woman advocate from the Global South went ex aequo to Sarah Azahar (Universiti Teknologi MARA) and Hui Jun Hong (University of Malaya, Faculty of Law).
The University of Malaya, Faculty of Law was the overall highest ranked team (combined written and preliminary round scores), and thus at the same time also the recipient of the Baker McKenzie Prize for the highest ranked team from the Global South.
Including regional rounds, 142 teams, more than 500 students and 220 arbitrators took part in the 2020 FDI Moot. The virtual format allowed greater access to the Globals. Video-conference advocacy skills are fast becoming a necessity, and unsurprisingly the student advocates all acquitted themselves admirably, but even the not-always-so-youthful lawyers on the other side of the virtual table were not far behind. Despite the virtual format, the networking and social dimension was also a success with many Zoom meetings lasting well beyond the conclusion of the hearings.
The Best Written Submissions
After review of all memorials by six judges each in three rounds, the following were determined to be the best FDI Moot written submissions of 2020.
Claimant Memorials:- 3rd Rank: ALSD, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India
- 2nd Rank: University of Malaya, Faculty of Law, Malaysia
- 1st Rank: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
- 3rd Rank: National Law School of India University, India
- 2nd Rank: Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia
- 1st Rank: University of Malaya, Faculty of Law, Malaysia
These memorials will be published in TDM soon.
FDI Moot 2021
While we look forward to resuming in-person FDI Moot Globals in 2021 (31 Oct-2 Nov in Seoul), we believe virtual rounds (like the virtual All Africa Regional since 2019) will play an increasing role in the overall FDI Moot framework.
In closing, let me ask you to join me in congratulating not only Sao Paulo and the other award winners, but also all the students, arbitrators, and tribunal secretaries for making this such a successful competition.
Christian Campbell
LLB (Edin), LLM (McGeorge), New York State Bar (1992)
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL LEGAL STUDIES
www.cils.org
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