As indicated in the results of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition 2021 (English Edition), UCASS team was awarded the first prize in this year’s contest with its outstanding performance.
In April, UCASS student delegates from the School of Law took part in the ICC Moot Court Competition 2021 for English and Chinese editions, becoming the first prize winners in both sessions.
Hosted by China University of Political Science and Law, the ICC Moot Court Competition(English Edition) has drawn a grand gathering of student contestants from nearly 50 universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Wuhan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Beijing Normal University, Tongji University, Shandong University (Weihai), China University of Political Science and Law, among others. Guided by Assoc. Prof. Qin Yihe of UCASS School of Law, who supports and advises the contestants, UCASS delegates have demonstrated their devotion and perseverance ever since the release of the contest question, by making thorough inquiries into classical treatises and frontier articles on international criminal law and detailed analysis into matters of great complexity in the field. Due to the impact of Covid-19, the organizing committee decided to cancel the courtroom debate and its following procedures, with final results determined through scores of each team’s submissions.
In the subsequent Chinese-edition competition, UCASS team also managed to win the first prize, on top of seven additional awards: the third place for best prosecution counsel brief; the first place for best courtroom argument; the first place for the best prosecution counsel courtroom argument; the first place for top-10 prosecution counsels; the first place for best state counsel courtroom argument; the first place for top-10 state counsels; and the first place for best prosecution counsels.
The above-mentioned ICC trial competition consists of a preliminary round for briefs and a final round, with student delegates competing from 72 universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, East China University of Political Science and Law, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, among others. A total of 45 teams have made it into the final round. Throughout the intense debates, UCASS delegates were able to respond to pointed questions from both their opponents and professional juries in a calm, quick-witted and methodical manner. Widely acknowledged by the judges, the UCASS team ultimately took the first place in aggregate scores, due to their outstanding performance with solid professional expertise, clear logic and confident composure.
Organized by the Grotius Center for International Legal Studies of Leiden University, the English edition of the ICC Moot Court Competition was initiated in 2004, with the support of the International Criminal Court. It is designed to better inform students with legal backgrounds from worldwide leading universities of the International Criminal Court and its due procedures. The Chinese edition is sponsored by the Chinese Initiative on International Law (CIIL). Under the auspices of the International Criminal Court, the Chinese edition functions as a mock trial contest that follows through ICC substantive and procedural rules. Taking into account the most keenly-followed matters of international concern in its contest questions, the competition aspires to provide guidance for students, as they explore their academic journey of international criminal law, learn to apply ICC procedural rules and upgrade their proficiency in legal research and courtroom argument.
The competition was also well supported by the UCASS Academic Competition Program for the New Talents of Humanities and Social Sciences, an initiative that encourages and financially supports students in their academic research.
