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2006 ELSA World Trade Organization Moot Court Competition
NYU School of Law Team
Final Oral Round, Geneva, Switzerland, Spring 2006
NYU School of Law students David Jordan (LL.M. '06), Marie Choi ('07), Daniel Meagher (LL.M. '06), and Peter Au Chong Wai (LL.M. '06) competed in the final oral round of the 2005-2006 WTO Moot Court Competition. Hosted by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) in Geneva, these students visited Switzerland from April 25-30, 2006. In addition to the NYU team, there were twenty teams in attendance from around the world.
Using the first day to prepare for the competition, the NYU team faced a challenging panel of judges while arguing against a well-prepared team from Colombia. The following day, the NYU team argued against a Swedish team. Ultimately, teams from the United Kingdom and Australia advanced into the final round.
Along with the competition, the NYU students went sightseeing and socialized with the other participants. The Sponsor's Fair and Awards Ceremony provided additional time to take advantage of the opportunity to network with all those present.
The ELSA competition, it turns out, was a welcome break for our students because it occurred just before final exams at home. With the return of the NYU team and the completion of their exams, they reflected on their time in Geneva mentioning that it was a worthwhile experience for all.
2005 ELSA World Trade Organization Moot Court Competition
NYU School of Law Final Oral Round Team
Final Oral Round, Geneva, Switzerland, Spring 2005
NYU School of Law students Amanda Rawls, Jon Christian Nordrum, Juliana Obregon, and Terra Lawson-Remer made it to the semi-finals of the Final Oral Round of the 2004-2005 WTO Moot Court Competition hosted by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) in Geneva, Switzerland April 26-30, 2005. Eighteen teams from Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America, and the United States participated in the Final Oral Round, in which teams argued before panels consisting of distinguished scholars and practitioners in WTO Law, many of whom were past Panel and/or Appellate Body members. On the way to the semi-finals, the NYU team faced stiff competition from London City University (who were declared winner of the Grand Final), and University Technology Sydney. In the semi-final round, they faced Hong Kong University, who went on to compete against London in the finals.
Preparation for the competition began in the fall of 2004, when the team members were selected through a competition open to students in Professor Weiler’s International and Regional Trade Law course. To qualify to compete in the Final Oral Round, the team submitted two briefs, each 30 pages in length, in which they argued both sides of a fictional dispute between the wealthy nation of Paradise and the developing nation of Arachnia. Over 50 teams participated in the preliminary selection rounds either through participation in the International Written Competition or regionally-organized oral selection rounds. NYU School of Law is proud to sponsor the only team from the United States selected to progress to the Final Oral Round in Geneva.
The fictional dispute centered around a controversial issue of how states can integrate environmental and development concerns into their trade policies without violating their obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In the case, Paradise sought to offer preferential tariffs to developing countries who were able to produce agricultural products with reduced levels of detectable pesticide residue, with further reductions for those products produced with no application of pesticides whatsoever. Arachnia - unable to reduce her pesticide use - sought to prevent Paradise from implementing this scheme on the grounds that it was in violation of the obligations of GATT Article I, was not a permissible program within the context of the Generalized System of Preferences, and was not justified through the exceptions to GATT obligations laid out in GATT Article XX. The competition provided a unique opportunity for the student participants to delve deeply into an issue at the cutting edge of current WTO jurisprudence, while learning to refine both written and oral argument skills. The team wishes to thank the Hauser Global Law School Program, Professor Joseph H.H. Weiler, Meera Pradhan and Nomaan Raja for all of their help and support in making the Law School's participation possible.
2003 ELSA World Trade Organization Moot Court Competition
NYU School of Law Final Round Team
Geneva, Switzerland, Spring 2003
NYU Law School students Jared Wessel, Delfin Rodriquez, Martin Molina, and David Bennion made it all the way to the final round of the 2002-2003 edition of the ELSA World Trade Organization Moot Court Competition before ceding victory to the University of London (UCL) in a hotly contested final held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. NYU made it through a tough preliminary round, where they defeated both the Universite de Geneve and the team they would later meet in the finals, UCL. For their work in the preliminary rounds, Martin Molina and Delfin Rodriquez both won honorable mention for 'best oralist.'
In the semi-final round, NYU defeated Martin-Luther-University of Germany before a three-person panel consisting of Professor Thomas Cottier, Professor Robert Howse of the University of Michigan and Ms. Gabrielle Marceau. Pleading for the respondent, Jared Wessel and David Bennion faced questions from the panel regarding the interaction of general international law and the WTO.
In the final round, the full team gathered to argue before a panel consisting of distinguished scholars and practitioners in WTO Law, many of whom were past Panel and/or Appellate Body members: Prof. Jacques Bourgeois, Prof. Thomas Cottier, Prof. Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, Prof. Frank Emmert, Ms. Valerie Hughes, and Prof. Elisabetta Montaguti.
38 teams from Europe and the United States competed in the preliminary written rounds for twelve places in the final oral rounds. All participating teams were asked to present memorials - both for the claimant and for the respondent, which were later judged individually and independently by two academics. NYU was the only U.S. team admitted to the finals.
The competition, organized and cosponsored by the European Law Students' Association (www.elsa.org), centers around a hypothetical trade dispute arising from the imposition of an import ban on fish products by a large economic bloc on a country that allows the hunting of whales for scientific purposes in spite of a moratorium on commercial whaling.
The team wishes to thank the Hauser Global Law School Program, Professor Joseph H.H. Weiler, Professor Iqbal S. Ishar, and Professor Benedict Kingsbury for all their help and support in making NYU's participation possible. Hopefully, NYU's participation in this prestigious competition will be a continuous event.
Biographical Information
David Bennion graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in political science in 2000, after completing an internship with the State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy. Following his interests in Latin America and public international law, he spent three months in 2002 working at the Center for Justice and International Law, a human rights organization in San Jose, Costa Rica. He is a member of the board of the NYU International Law Society and was an Article and Note Editor for the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics in 2003-2004.
Martin Molina obtained his law degree from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1995. Before pursuing his graduate studies at NYU, he practiced law in Geneva and Zurich. His most recent position has been serving as Resident Judge of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland. At NYU he is pursuing an LL.M. degree in International Legal Studies.
Delfin Rodriguez graduated the NYU Stern School of Business in 1998 with a degree in Finance and Information Systems. He worked for 3 years in consulting and at an internet start up. He is now a second year Juris Doctorate student at the NYU School of Law.
Jared Wessel was born in the United States in 1977. He holds a bachelors degree "Summa Cum Laude" from The College of William and Mary where he studied economics and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He then spent one year working for a European consulting firm and as an independent contractor in the field of anti-trust. Jared is now pursing a J.D. from NYU School of Law where he is an editor of the Annual Survey of America Law.