ANU e-hosts 17 universities to deliver successful second remote Jessup moot
Competing teams gather virtually to hear the results from the grand final

Competing teams gather virtually to hear the results from the grand final.

In addition to the high standard of mooting, it was excellent to see the Jessup traditions and culture maintained despite the online medium.

The Australian National University (ANU) College of Law has hosted the largest national round of the Jessup moot in recent history, with 18 law schools competing in the 2022 DLA Piper National Rounds from 8-12 February 2022.

This year marked the second that the competition was held online to enable law schools to compete regardless of border restrictions, with the students rising spectacularly to the challenges they faced in preparing for the moot in the midst of lockdown restrictions and surging COVID cases.

“This year we were delighted to see the Swinburne University of Technology compete for the first time in the Jessup moot, rounding out the largest field of teams in recent years,” said National Administrator and ANU College of Law Visiting Fellow, Andrew Ray.

Andrew served as co-National Administrator together with ANU alumnus and Associate Professor Dilan Thampapillai, Director of Education at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Centre for Social Impact.

Andrew said: “Despite the challenges students and coaches faced in preparing for the competition, the overall standard was exceptionally high, with only the smallest of margins separating the eight quarterfinalists from the rest of the universities”.

“In addition to the high standard of mooting, it was excellent to see the Jessup traditions and culture maintained despite the online medium. Of particular note was the performance from Swinburne when, despite the withdrawal of a team member on the eve of the moot, the remaining team member Harrison Cant rose to the challenge of arguing both speaker positions for all four of his moots. This achievement was recognised with a unanimous vote from the universities to award Swinburne and Harrison the Spirit of Jessup Award.”

The move toward a remote international round has enabled more Australian teams to advance to the competition’s next level, with teams from UNSW, the University of Melbourne, Bond University and the University of Queensland progressing to the next stage of what is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious mock trial competitions.

The University of Queensland won the award for the highest applicant memorial score as well as the highest combined memorial score, with the University of Melbourne receiving the prize for the highest respondent memorial.

The grand final was adjudicated by Justice Simon Steward of the High Court of Australia, Justice Melissa Perry of the Federal Court and DLA Piper Partner Gowri Kangeson, with UNSW narrowly beating the University of Melbourne. Oralists Vishal Karna and Henry Chen from UNSW were named joint best speakers in the grand final, with Karna also winning the prestigious award of the highest ranking oralist from the preliminary rounds. Justice Mark Leeming from the New South Wales Court of Appeal and Ms Sue Robertson, a First Assistant Secretary at the Office of International Law, presided over the two semi-final moots.

Justice Steward, Justice Perry and Gowri Kangeson presided over the grand final between the University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales.

“Having such esteemed and experienced benches for the grand final and the semi-finals provides an unparalleled opportunity to students to showcase their abilities in front of some of the top legal minds in this country” Andrew said. “Being able to moot on the topic of international law in front of both senior judges and senior figures from the Office of International Law is something that is unique to the Jessup moot. This extends to the preliminary rounds, with the remote competition allowing us to select the best judges from all over Australia as well as internationally”.

Assisting in judging the competition were many ANU alumni, including Tim Magarry, Alexandra Barry, Clara Wilson, Lorenzo McMiken, Andrew Chakrabarty, Marc Iztachi, Lorenzo McMicken and former ANU Jessup competitors Will Randles, Hayley Keen and Madhav Fisher, all of whom were selected to judge in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

The 2022 Friend of Jessup Award, which recognises lifelong contributions to the moot in Australia, was awarded to Professor Tim Stephens from the University of Sydney for his longstanding involvement in the competition over nearly 25 years.

“Tim has shown a longstanding love for the Jessup, taking part first as a competitor, then as a coach and faculty advisor for the University of Sydney as well as serving as National Administrator. In recent years, Tim has acted as the President of the Australian Jessup Association and worked tirelessly to maintain the traditions of the moot and its place as the preeminent domestic competition,” Andrew said.

“It was a pleasure to once again administer the competition, and preparations have already begun for a planned hybrid competition in 2023, hopefully allowing us to return the grand final to the High Court itself.”

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