Results of the Internal Mootcourt for 1st year students of the Master's program “International Trade Law and Dispute Resolution”

On June 24 a mootcourt in the format of investment arbitration was held for the 1st year students of the “Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution” Master's program.

Traditionally, students of the Master’s program “Law of International Trade and Dispute Resolution” take part in a game judicial process - mootcourt - as part of their first year studies. Participation in mootcourts is an important component of international lawyers’ training process as it allows to develop skills of analyzing international legal acts, including international treaties, decisions of international organizations, judicial practice as well as to improve legal writing skills and oral speeches in English.

This year’s mootkort took the form of a mock trial in investment arbitration ad hoc under UNCITRAL rules. The case focused on a dispute between a state-owned company AgroProduction MO and the state of Katolia and dealt, among other things, with the concept of investor and investment, challenging economic sanctions in arbitration proceedings and potential violations of fair and equitable treatment and prohibition of indirect discrimination. The authors of the case study were associate professors of the Master’s program: K.E. Ksenofontov and P.A. Lomakina.

Students were able to demonstrate a decent level of preparation for the mootcourt, both during the writing of written positions (memoranda) and during the oral hearings. In the final round, the 2 teams with the highest number of victories in the qualifying rounds met. The plaintiff team was represented by Dmitry Silkin, Angelina Turova and Nonthapat Watanavikan, and the defendant team was represented by Yulia Koroleva, Anastasia Mirzakhanova, David Gurevich and Pham Khanh Bao Trung. As a result of the final round, the defendant won.

In addition, the best memoranda for each side and the best speakers were awarded separately. Thus, the best memorial for the plaintiff was written by the team consisting of Daria Ulanova, Anna Kolupaeva, Daria Mironova and Yan Tianyu, and the best memorial for the defendant side was written by the team of Dmitry Silkin, Angelina Turova and Nonthapat Watanavikan.

Individual awards for best speakers went to Anastasia Mirzakhanova, Dmitry Silkin, Angelina Turova and Ariza Karaketova.

 

The judges of the round were graduates, PhD students and professors of the HSE, as well as guest practitioners in the field of international investment law and arbitration. In the final round, the judges panel was composed of:

• Ilya Rachkov, Partner, Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners;
• Yulia Dragunova, Deputy Head of Division for Ensuring Representation of the Russian Federation in International Trade Law Organizations of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation;
• Polina Lomakina, Head of the Expert and Contractual Area of the Legal Work Center, PJSC Inter RAO, Associate Professor of the HSE International Law Department.

The supervisors and professors of the master’s program express their gratitude to the judges and wish the students not to stop there!