From December 10 to 12, the 15th Mainland China Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition was successfully held. After a fierce competition, our international moot court debate team won the third prize.
The ICRC International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition (IHL) is a professional event organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), aiming to enhance law students’ knowledge and understanding of international humanitarian law issues, promote the development of international humanitarian law, and facilitate the cultivation of international rule of law talents through mock trials on international humanitarian law issues. Since the first competition held in 2007, this event has become one of the earliest and most influential full English-language international moot court competitions in Chinese mainland. Received widespread attention and support, the judges of the competition are usually sitting judges of international trial organizations, legal scholars, consuls in China and well-known lawyers from home and abroad.
This year’s moot court cases involved cutting-edge and focused issues in international humanitarian law such as the treatment of prisoners of war, landmines, cyber-attacks, and protection of civilian objects. Teams from our university and 57 universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, China University of Political Science and Law, Fudan University, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Nanjing University, participated in the competition, with 60 international and domestic experts serving as judges. Due to the epidemic, this year’s competition was held for the first time in a full online format.
Our team was guided by Ms. Zhong Li from the Department of International Law, with a 2018 undergraduate student Xia Yixue as the student coach; 2019 undergraduate students Xu Zesen and Zhou Jielei as court debaters; and Zhang Loudan and Lu Xinzi as researchers. During the four-month-long preparation, the team members devoted all their time after school to promoting learning through the competition, constructing a knowledge system, writing briefs and practicing courtroom arguments by studying cases and systematically reading relevant papers and monographs. Through the preparation and competition, the team members not only consolidated their basic theoretical knowledge of international law, but also made great progress in legal information retrieval, English literature reading, logical thinking, document writing, English oral argumentation and teamwork, etc. They also broadened their international vision and clarified their future career direction, with a view to become a reserve force of high-quality foreign-related rule of law talents in China.
During the preparation, the team members also received assistance and guidance from Zhang Ao, a 2021 doctoral student; Gu Fang, a 2021 master’s student; and Liang Shiqi, Wang Yujia and Wu Mengke, 2018 undergraduates of our International Moot Court Debate Team. Our International Moot Court Team is a collaborative family that has trained a large number of foreign rule of law talents who are either studying in world-renowned universities or working in international organizations or internationally renowned law firms. In addition to the International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition, we also organize and participate in other annual events, such as Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court, Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot, International Criminal Court Moot (Chinese and English competitions), WTO Moot, Shenzhen Moot International Investment Arbitration Cup, China International Law of the Sea Moot, etc. We look forward to more outstanding students joining us and injecting new energy into our international moot court debate team to achieve further success!
