Law students bring home grand prizes

These fourth-year students take their majors in business, civil and criminal law, with an exception of Verapat Pariyawong, who studies international law. Although preparing and researching on a different field of law pose a challenge for them, all would agree that their time and dedication was worth the effort.

Fighting for human rights

Joining the Asia Cup International Law Moot Court Competition, which was hosted in Tokyo, Japan from August 19 to 21, Verapat and his friend Chawatak Ardnaseaw, came home with at least two grand prizes, including the runner up prize and the best memorial award.

Other participants included teams from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. Judges included key members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations International Law Commission and the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The fictitious case was about a medical doctor who amputated the leg of an injured war prisoner. As a consequence, the home country of the war prisoner argued that the doctor has violated international humanitarian law (IHL). The doctor argues that such medical treatment was necessary to save the prisoner's life.

The case became more complicated as the doctor fled to a third country to seek asylum. The home country of the doctor requested his extradition, but the third country resisted until it considered whether it is obligated under IHL to extradite the doctor. The answer depends on whether the doctor has violated the IHL.

It could also be argued that the third country had a duty to deny extradition to the doctor's native country if the doctor could risk inhumane or capital punishment in the requesting country.

In this competition, all teams had the chance to apply human rights, humanitarian and refugee law in a simulated International Court of Justice.

Conserving nature

The other competition, the Twelfth Annual International Environmental Moot Court competition, was held in Manila, the Philippines for the Southeast Asian round from September 14 to 15. Chulalongkorn University, the first prize winner, and Ateneo de Manila University, second prize winner, will join the international round in Florida, in the United States on November 9 and 10.

Verapat also joined this competition with two other law students, Natawat Wannakowit and Pallop Manopsit, bringing back another best memorial prize besides the first prize award.

Environmental law is special because it is not a law for one country, says Verapat, as what happens in one country affects another, such as the forest fire in Indonesia that affected neighboring Malaysia.

In their mock case, a foreign company of a developed country was granted a concession right to extract coal in a less developed country. However, an environmental issue occurred after an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study was conducted to show that the Black Rhinoceros population soon would become extinct as a direct result of the coal extraction. The EIA was not conducted prior to the concession agreement.

The less developed country wanted to take back the concession, paying the least compensation, while the developed country demanded that the country pay them high compensation if they breached the deal.

Practicing English and law Since the moot court competitions were conducted in English, the four students were able to put their English language reading, writing and speaking skills into practice.

"Thai (law) students do not usually have much chance to use English," says Natawat, explaining that "this competition exposes them to formal English writing with legal terminologies," as each team had to write a legal brief to be presented to the judges.

Pallop also says that writing a brief has improved the team's writing skills and taught them how to research, which are very important skills for lawyers.

Besides the research and writing skills, Chawatak says he has learned how to speak in a clear and effective manner in order to convince the judges to adopt his team's argument. Since there is a time limitation for each team member to speak, he says that it is important that each team member knows how to bring out the argument of his or her team member in case he or she runs out of time to present them. This is a result of good teamwork.

Verapat says that the moot court competitions can encourage law students to become more concerned about things that happen to other people, which is the heart of being a law student, rather than what they, themselves, will get out of their law degree.