Cebu to host int'l law competition

CEBU, Philippines - The 2011 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Philippine National Qualifying Round will be held at the Cebu International Convention Center tomorrow hosted by the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS).

The Jessup is the largest and most prestigious competition among law schools in the world.

Participating teams include the Ateneo School of Law, the University of the Philippines College of Law, De La Salle University – Far Eastern University Consortium Law School and Arellano University School of Law.

The preliminary rounds of the competition will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. while the championship round will be held on the same day at 6 p.m.

The justices that will judge the championship round of the Jessup will include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, who will sit as chief justice of the International Court of Justice; Presidential Legal Counsel, Atty. Eduardo De Mesa; Dean Amado Valdez, the Philippines’ Chief Negotiator for the Visiting Forces Agreement; David Johnson, Hong Kong-based partner of international law firm Allen & Overy, and Justice Myra G. Fernandez of the Court of Appeals - Cebu Division.

The preliminary rounds will be judged by lawyers, law professors and law deans from all over the Philippines.

Lawyer Christina Garcia-Frasco, former member of the 2005 Jessup Philippine Team and having joined as an oralist for the country in Washington, DC, organized the event.

“I am so happy to be able to organize this and even prouder that it will be held in Cebu,” Frasco said.

The winner will represent the Philippines to this year’s World Championships in Washington, DC.

Now on its 52nd year, the competition is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries.

The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations.

To welcome all the participants of the Jessup to Cebu, Governor Gwen Garcia will be hosting a welcome dinner at the Cebu Provincial Capitol tonight. —(FREEMAN)