Columbia U. Law students win Moot Court competition

"I am an innocent lost in a field of giants," winner Erika Evasdottir said after Sunday's final round of a Moot Court competition held at Tufts this weekend.

Seventy law students from 12 universities around New York came to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy over the weekend to debate international law at the 44th annual Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Atlantic Regional Competition.

The Moot Court competition is based on the process of the International Court Justice system in The Hague, Netherlands. In September, each of the teams was given a hypothetical court case, and by January they were required to file a 35-page memorial in defense of both sides. Over the weekend, the teams presented oral arguments to support their brief.

According to the Moot Court press release, this year's topic "deals with the aftermath of a [fictitious] brutal civil war that resulted in the founding of two states. Students will debate whether widespread and systematic rape is a war crime, whether sexual slavery and corruption are unlawful under international law, and the obligations and rights of states to prosecute those responsible for such acts."

Some of the issues surrounding the topic are international jurisdiction and crimes against humanity.

The topic forced students to consider the ramifications of many current issues and to base their arguments on solid legal grounds. "This is a novel area with many pitfalls," said attorney Dia Warren, one of the judges at the competition.

"One of the challenges of the case is that it is a fact putter and participants have to argue both pro and con. This makes it very interesting to watch [students] dance around their interpretation of the law," Warren said.

The winner of the competition was Erika Evasdottir, a first year law student at Columbia University. Evasdottir and her teammate, Kathy Wilhelm, defeated the New York University team in the final round. One of the keys to her success, Evasdottir said, is the "idea of thinking through the other team's argument to parry the other side."

The group of 38 judges included distinguished law professors, practicing lawyers, public servants, and other international law experts. Two of the most notable guests were Dr. Gabor Horvath, Ambassador General of the Republic of Hungary, and Detlev Vagts, Professor of International Law at Harvard, who judged Sunday's final rounds.

According to participants, one of the most exciting aspects of the debate was being forced to think on their feet while judges were allowed to interrupt and question speakers at any point during their presentation. Wilhem said that at some points, she craved the opportunity to take questions from judges, just "to check to see if they were on the same page."

Many of the students cited the extremely useful legal experience of attending Moot Court as the main reason for their participation. "This is probably the best way to help our careers," one NYU law student said. "It's better than learning some abstract material in a classroom." The students also mentioned that participating is a good way of networking with established alumni of the event.

Host schools are not allowed to participate in their own competition, so they are given the option of debating in the regional competition of their choosing. The Fletcher team just returned from a competition last weekend in Memphis, TN. The team placed fourth for its memorial, or legal brief, and is still awaiting the official results.

The Fletcher team was able to watch debates without having to participate. "It's more fun to watch and there's less pressure," team member Marti Flacks said. "It's interesting to see new angles and perspectives."

Although Tufts does not have a law school, the Fletcher team is still able to participate at the level of other universities, Flacks said. "It is gratifying to see that we can hold our own against people who have been taught skills on how to argue and prepare written briefs," she said.

"The Jessup competition is the largest law school event and one of the most important of the year," Regional Administrator Adrineh Gregorian said. "We are very honored to be hosting this event with such a prestigious list of schools," she said.

Participants were satisfied by the job of their Fletcher hosts. "They did a great job of getting judges who are experts in international law and it's been a great learning experience for us," one student from NYU said.

The 12 regional winning teams will move on to the international rounds, which are scheduled to take place in Washington, DC next month. Harvard Law School will defend its title as 2002 US champion.