Silliman University law team is new champ of 2010 moot court competition on IHL

By ICRC
November 22, 2010

MANILA  –  The Silliman University team outshined 13 other law schools to emerge as champions in the recent national moot court competition on international humanitarian law (IHL).

The team from Dumaguete City clinched first place in the finals held 20 November at the Supreme Court en banc session hall. They were adjudged as best team by a panel of judges led by Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and lawyer Harry Roque.

"The finalists were very well prepared, and it was a very difficult choice. We hope the winners will do well in Hong Kong – it takes a real character to go in front of the court and argue your points. Our country needs people like that, and I hope one day I will see them in the halls of the Supreme Court again,” said Justice Sereno.

Aside from receiving a trophy, the Silliman University law team will be sent by the ICRC to the regional finals in Hong Kong in 2011. Last year, the winning team from Ateneo de Manila University ranked as one of the top five prosecution teams in the HK finals.

A total of 14 law schools from across the country displayed their argumentation skills in the annual event organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), and the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Nine provincial law schools and five law schools in Metro Manila joined this year's competition: Silliman, Ateneo de Davao University, St. Louis University-Baguio, Southwestern University in Cebu, University of Cebu, University of San Carlos in Cebu, University of Batangas, University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University, Lyceum of the Philippines, San Beda College of Law and University of the Philippines-Diliman.

San Sebastian College Manila played host for the elimination and semifinal rounds. "It's the second time for our school to join but it's my first," said Phoebeth Peras, a junior law student from the University of Cebu. "If you're prepared for the match, then it's only your sense of confidence that can harm your presentation."

But lawyer Neil Silva, a former mooter and one of the judges for the elimination round, said he was “very impressed” with the students. “They were able to combine comprehensiveness and depth, which is usually not easy to combine. They were well-prepared to sustain the most difficult questions on IHL," he observed.

An "IHL role-play challenge" was also introduced this year to simulate practical applications of the law that seeks to limit the effects of war. For this challenge, the students were asked to act as an ICRC delegate, a military officer, reporter, or civilian dealing with an armed-conflict situation.

Southwestern University was declared the best team for the role-play challenge. They were awarded books on IHL for their effective performance.

"We've worked really hard to prepare for the moot court competition, but it was a real challenge, particularly the role play. But it was worth it! We've made some many new friends, and being in the en banc hall of the Supreme court makes it really special," said best mooter Micah Dagaerag of Silliman.

The moot court contest began in 2005 with only six participating schools but it is now considered a prestigious event for law students, being the only moot court competition that is allowed to hold its finals in the high tribunal's en banc session hall.

"I hope more schools will join the moot court competition in the years to come because it gives the students an alternate means of training and learning. It also exposes them to international law, which I discovered myself to be a very dynamic field," added Silva.

As part of its IHL program for the academe, the ICRC also supported the publication of the third volume of the Asia-Pacific IHL Yearbook, which was launched by the UP-Institute of International Legal Studies on 17 November.