14 law schools join IHL moot court battle royale

MANILA, Philippines - Top law students from 14 law schools joined this year’s battle royale involving issues on international humanitarian law (IHL) before the country’s biggest moot court competition that kicked off Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced.

Highlight of this year’s “IHL moot court competition,” is the “IHL’s role-play challenge” where law students are showcasing their legal knowledge in order to address or limit the effects of war or any armed conflict to the civilian victims.

The three- day ICRC-sponsored event will be held until tomorrow, Nov. 19 at the San Sebastian College in Manila.

“For 2010, we will take the moot court competition to a higher level by adding the role-play challenge. The goal of the role-play is to ‘take the law out of the books,’ so we expect the students to show through this challenge how IHL is applied in the real world. It’s also a chance for them to be in the shoes of an ICRC delegate, a military officer, reporter, or civilian caught in the midst of armed conflict,” said Anastasia Isyuk, ICRC communication coordinator in a press statement.

Isyuk said the role-play challenge was inspired by the Jean-Pictet IHL competition, which gathers students from internationally renowned universities and military schools.

Books on IHL will be given to the best team for the role-play challenge.

The IHL moot court competition is an annual event organized not only by the ICRC, but also by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), and the Supreme Court (SC).

Isyuk said this year, nine provincial law schools and five from Metro Manila will show their adeptness on IHL in a courtroom setting.

These participating law schools are the Ateneo de Davao University, St. Louis University-Baguio, Silliman University in Dumaguete, Southwestern University in Cebu, University of Cebu, University of San Carlos in Cebu, University of Batangas, University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University, Lyceum of the Philippines, San Beda College of Law and University of the Philippines-Diliman.

Among the judges for the 2010 moot court competition are SC Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, lawyer Harry Roque and ICRC’s regional legal adviser Richard Desgagne.