Fudan University team wins Invitational Moot Arbitration Competition
Officials from Shanghai's justice departments watch the online final competition.
The 2nd Invitational Moot Arbitration Competition involving colleges and universities from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau concluded at the Shanghai International Dispute Resolution Center on Sunday.
A team from Shanghai-based Fudan University won final, with the team from South China Normal University finishing runner-up.
The competition ran through about half a year from March to late August and attracted more than 300 law students in 78 teams from 55 universities and colleges, including Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Hong Kong University as well as Macau University.
Participants used English for all procedures, including document preparations and presentations, during the competition, which was held online due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The arbitration case chosen for the competition was a cross-border contract dispute about equipment sale and installation, deemed as both practical and time-sensitive under the backdrop of the pandemic resurgence.
Participants were required to solve the dispute caused by commercial difficulties and force majeure as well as applicable situations of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
In particular, the scope of the convention in China will be extended to the Hong Kong region in December, making the case very suitable for participating students from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.
The main draw was organized in the form of a mock arbitration hearing at the center on Saturday. Some 16 teams were divided into four groups, and each group had a single round-robin competition. And the final took place on Sunday afternoon.
A total of 26 English-speaking law experts from various co-organizing law firms, notary offices and other judicial departments functioned as "arbitrators," judging the participants' performance.
Students who participated the competition got a chance to get better acquainted with the main points of arbitration and mediation, gain moot court defense skills and improve their legal practice skills.
