I had the privilege of coaching the moot court team that
represented the Nanjing University Law School at the English-speaking 8th
Red Cross International Law Moot. The competition was held at Jilin University
in Changchun, China.
Teams take the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys in arguing a hypothetical International Criminal Court (ICC) case. The ICC hears
cases dealing with genocide and war crimes. The problem this year included charges
concerning starvation of a civilian population, an attack on civilians, and environmental
destruction.
Four law students represented the Nanjing Law School. Two of
these were presenters who were required to argue for the prosecution in one
round and the defense in another round. The judges were from various countries,
one being a former barrister from a common law jurisdiction.
I was impressed with the high quality presentations given by
Chinese students in a second language. I was proud of our team. We placed ninth
out of thirty teams. In an early round we competed against the team that
ultimately placed fourth and won that round.
Changchun is in the northeast part of China, and when we were
there in December, it was very cold. We were told that Jilin University has
60,000 students and is one of the largest universities in China.
Marilyn was able to go on the trip and we had a wonderful
time getting better acquainted with and learning from great students.
TEAM NANJING!
This is a university classroom at Jilin University configured
to serve as an courtroom for the competition.
The Nanjing presenters with the judges who judged the second round.
This is the room where the final rounds were held.
I cannot say enough about the quality of these students. They are intelligent, talented, diligent, and were also fun for Marilyn and me to be with.
A picture of the participants.
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