04.02.2006
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A MOOT COURT COMPETITION ON INTERNATIONAL LAW
The Philip Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is being held in Armenia for six years already. This year teams of the law departments from seven state and private institutes from overall thirteen that had applied for participation in the Competition, introduced their written memorials. These seven teams met in the Oral Round of the Competition. The winner team will participate in the International Round of the Competition to be held in spring in Washington. Last year the Armenian team was the 80 th among the 103 teams from different countries. “We hope our team will show a better result this year,” Mary Yeganyan, AYLA PR coordinator said. “The main hindering problem, which our teams face in the international rounds, is the language barrier,” she added. The organizers of the event informed that teams from English speaking countries usually won in the International Round of the Competition. They also noted that Armenia lacks experience in the sphere of the international law. As Miss Yeganyan said, “The Jessup Competition is aimed at training and providing necessary skills to the lawyers of the new generation in the sphere of the international law.“
The theme of the Competition referred to the differences between the two newly formed countries Acastus and Rubria, which emerged on the territory of the dissolved Republic of Nessus, concerning the construction of an oil and gas pipeline that would pass through Acastian territory. Agents for Acastus, the applicant in this case, insisted that Rubria had constructed the pipeline at the same time violated the human rights, forced the people to perform dangerous work without compensation, harmed the ancient cultural heritage, as well as caused the destruction of agricultural lands. The students representing the Republic of Acastus proved their claim with different international documents and legislative acts.
The students representing the State of Rubria argued that the construction of the pipeline would promote to the economic development as well as improve communication systems of the State.
The court hearing was held by the judges’ panel under presidency of Ara Zohrabyan. On the whole the process was like an examination, where the sides introduced their arguments and the judge asked additional questions.
The judges needed only ten minutes to take “a final decision,“ and the parties were invited into the “courtroom.” Ara Zohrabyan, the judge read the verdict, which said, “On the whole the jury is satisfied with the answers. Nevertheless, we think the parties should have made more citations. And, what is even more important they should speak freely and with confidence, as well as hold their ground and never feel constrained .”
