2012-2013 Susan J. Ferrell Intercultural Human Rights Moot Court Competition

The Susan J. Ferrell Moot Court Competition, now in its 8th year, is a competition revolving around a simulated court proceeding, in which teams representing both sides of the argument prepare written pleadings with respect to a fictional problem of international human rights law and policy, and present their arguments in an oral argument before the International Court of Justice. The deadline for team registration is October 15, 2012. More information and the problem for this year's competition can be found here.

International Institute of Space Law Announces Moot Court Competition Problem

The International Institute of Space Law (IISL) has released the Problem for the 21^st Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition in 2012. Also, the Manfred Lachs Trophy has now found a permanent home in the Peace Palace, the seat of the International Court of justice (ICJ).

The student competition is based on a hypothetical space law dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Preliminary competitions will be held between March and June 2012 in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific. A new African regional round is being planned for 2012. The winning teams of the regional rounds will meet in the World Finals in Naples, Italy in October 2012 during the annual IISL Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, in the framework of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC). The Final Round is traditionally judged by three judges of the International Court of Justice.

The “Case concerning On-orbit Collision, Non-cooperative Satellite Removal, and Damages”, is available at http://www.iislweb.org/docs/2012problem.pdf.

The 2012 Problem challenges the students to research and debate the legal issues posed by space debris including mitigation and removal measures, and the use of satellites as a tool to combat natural disasters on Earth.

The contact details for the Regional Rounds are:

Asia Pacific:             Dr. Yuri TAKAYA (Ms.) - lachsmoot-asiapacific@iislweb.org

Europe:                         Mr. Raphael Milchberg - lachsmoot-europe@iislweb.org

North America:             Dr. Milton (Skip) Smith - lachsmoot-northamerica@iislweb.org

More information about the competition can be found at: http://www.iislweb.org/lachsmoot 

More information about the IISL can be found at: http://www.iislweb.org/.

IASLA Space Law Moot

The IASLA Space Law Moot is an international mooting competition organized annually by the International Air and Space Law Association. It has regional rounds held in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. The Competition provides an opportunity for law students to compete against some of the best law schools in the region as well as the added benefits of networking and interacting with teams from other countries.

In order to participate in the IASLA Space Law Moot, all you need is 2 to 4 committed and enthusiastic law students that are interested in expanding their knowledge in international law and gaining international mooting experience. Historically, teams without a background in space law or even a coach have been quite successful in space law mooting competitions.

The North American Regional Rounds will be held from March 29 to April 1, 2012 in New York, where teams will compete to reach the International Finals in Hong Kong on July 5, 2012. For more information, including the moot problem, registration forms, rules, timetables and other resources are available from http://www.spacemoot.org.

The registration deadline for the Competition is Friday, 13 January 2012.

If you have any queries about participating, please do not hesitate to contact Kristie Blase, the North American Regional Director at  kristie.blase at spacemoot.org.