The 2008 Jessup Moot Team: Nick Summers, Claire Vinten, Watna Mori, Premila Ratnam, Tamara Watson and their coach, Katrin Giesen.

A team of five Murdoch students participated in the famous 2008 Philip Jessup International Law Moot. This year’s problem concerned the conflict between the fight against terrorism and Human Rights.

Claire Vinten, Nick Summers, Premila Ratnam, Tamara Watson and Watna Mori have spent the last seven months preparing for this prestigious competition. This included drafting two 9,000 word memorials (one for each of the parties), and preparing for the oral stage of the Moot, which took place in Canberra from 29 January to 2 February. The preparation was intense and hard, and required a lot of dedication and teamwork. However, it was also very rewarding for the team and their coach, Katrin Giesen. The team had lots of fun!

After the Preliminary Rounds, in which they mooted against the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales (which later came first and second in the national rounds), the team made it to the Quarter Finals. Here, they were defeated by Queensland University of Technology, which was ranked first after the Preliminary Rounds.

The team received the first prize for their memorial for the Applicants, beating again the two finalists. This is an extraordinary achievement for Murdoch University, the team members, and their coach. Murdoch has only participated for the second time, which the other teams appreciated by giving our team standing ovations when they were awarded the Best Applicant Memorial prize at the High Court Awards Dinner on 2 February 2008.

Applications for the 2009 Philip Jessup Moot will begin shortly. This is your chance to further your career as a legal practitioner!