Lao National Round of the ICRC IHL Moot court Competition, 14 Dec 2022

On the 14th of December 2022, the Lao National round of the ICRC International Humanitarian Law Moot Court competition took place at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLP) with the assistance of the University of Luxembourg.

This year, three teams, representing in turn the Defence and the Prosecution, competed against each other. As usual, the fictitious case on which teams were pleading in English was set before the International Criminal Court (ICC).  Judges for this year’s national round of the competition included Dr. Papawadee Tanodomdej (Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University), Ms. Sophia Cason from The Asia Foundation (Chief of Party, Laos Legal Aid Support Program) and Mr. Phanthasak Mingnakone (Lecturer at Faculty of Law and Political Science, NUOL).

Exceptionally this year, the competition was organised and financially supported by the University of Luxembourg due to the ICRC’s shortage of staff.  All the mooters were trained by Dr. Perrine Simon, Liaison Officer of the University of Luxembourg based in Vientiane, and Dr. Lawrence Siry who gave them a week-long intensive physical course on Mooting in October 2022. These were the first Students’ Moot Court training face-to-face after the pandemic and it is hoped that more teams will participate next year in order to keep supporting this significant Asia-Pacific competition.

This IHL Moot court is a great way to stimulate legal thinking, by applying legal reasoning and learning how to develop arguments appropriately. Students also improved their presentation skills, debating skills and English! After years of virtual pleadings, the winning team is going to Hong-Kong in March 2023.

Congratulations to all teams, especially the winning team Mr. Amphon Khammanyvong, Ms. Latdaphone Sorphapmexay, and Ms. Soumaly Sisouthammamnouny, which will be representing the FLP in the International Round of the competition in Hong-Kong!