University Moot Court Team Continues Strong Performance

Media Release, Monday 12 May 2008

The 2007 global champion in the European Law Students’ Association WTO Moot Court Competition, Melbourne Law School, has continued its strong showing in local competition, after the latest regional round held in Adelaide.

The Melbourne Law School team, comprising LLB students Olaf Ciolek, Emily Long, Jessica Rae and Devon Whittle, won awards for Best Complainant Written Submission, Best Respondent Written Submission, and Best Overall Written Submissions at the regional round of the competition in Adelaide on March 12 to 15.

The team finished runner up to the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) after entering the final round ranked number one, following three preliminary rounds.

Senior lecturer at Melbourne Law School, Dr Tania Voon says although the team was disappointed not to make it to the international final in Geneva, the competition provided all four students with excellent real world experience. “Obviously [fellow coach] Dr Andrew Mitchell and I are both incredibly proud of the students’ efforts, and the students are pleased with how far they have come in such a short time as well.”

“The team came together for the first time in November 2007 to research the problem, which focused on the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services, in particular, trade in telecommunications services. The issues raised by the problem involved the Annex on Telecommunications, the Reference Paper (as adopted by the respondent in the case), anti-competitive practices, market access, national treatment, and domestic regulation.”

Hosted by the Institute for International Trade (IIT) at the University of Adelaide, the team had the opportunity to present its case to some of the world’s foremost experts in WTO law.

These included Victoria Donaldson (Visiting WTO Fellow, IIT, and Counsellor, WTO Appellate Body Secretariat), Professor Mary Hiscock (Emeritus Professor of Law, Bond University), Melissa Kelly (Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT)), David Morgan (Director, Economic Analytical Unit, DFAT), and Andrew Stoler (Executive Director, IIT).