More Teams than Ever Compete in the Price Media Law Moot Court Competition 2018
A record number of teams participated in the international rounds of the 11th Annual Price Media Law Moot Court Competition this April
The International Rounds of the Oxford Price Media Law Moot Court Competition 2018 took place between 9-13 April 2018 at Oxford. This year the Moot was organised by the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, and the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. The competition saw a record number of 42 teams participating in the International rounds, from 27 different countries, including China, Brazil, Iran, Lebanon, and Ukraine, amongst others.
The International Rounds of the Moot took place at the Manor Road Building, as well as the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, housed in Mansfield College. Participants went through a series of preliminary rounds, with judges from across the world. The Quarter Finals teams came from National Law University, Delhi, India; Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, India; Singapore Management University, Singapore; and University of San Carlos, Philippines.
The final was an incredibly close match between the University of San Carlos, Philippines, and Singapore Management University, Singapore, with the final bench delivering a split verdict of 3-2 with the University of San Carlos, Philippines emerging victorious. The Final Bench comprised of former and sitting judges from international and domestic courts : Ineta Ziemele (Constitutional Court of Republic of Latvia), Kriangsak Kittichaisaree (Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea), Mabel Maame Agyemang(Justice of the Court of Appeal Ghana), Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque (European Court of Human Rights), Nicholas Blake (High Court Judge, retired).
The Bonavero Institute and the Manor Road Building also hosted a number of events around the Moot. Sarah Phillimore kicked off on Day 1 with a mooting masterclass, for the participants, followed by Timothy Garton Ash’s discussion on Free Speech in a Connected World; Nicole Stremlau and Monroe E. Price launched UNESCO’s flagship publication: World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development, with Omar Al-Ghazzi (LSE) commenting on the same; David Caragliano, Max Slackman, and Monika Bickert from Facebook hosted a Q&A session about the legal issues in the Case. There were two additional special events that allowed participants to speak with the drafters of the Case (David Caragliano) and the Bench Memorandum (Thiago Alves Pinto), as well as have an informal discussion with the Final Bench judges.
The Best Oralist of the Finals was awarded to Ms. Grace Goh of Singapore Management University. In addition, the Jonathan Blake Award for Spirit of the Competition went to Humboldt University, Germany as well as the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya. Singapore Management University and National Law University, Delhi jointly bagged the Best Memorial prizes.