The World Trade Organization (WTO) Moot Court Law Faculty (FH) team of Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) have finished the John H. Jackson Moot Court competition on the global scale. The competition was held at the WTO headquarters base at Geneva, Switzerland from 4 to 8 June 2019. The WTO Moot Court FH UPH team is also the first team representing Indonesia on the international John H. Jackson Moot Court competition.

The John H. Jackson Moot Court competition was previously known as the European Law Students Association (ELSA) Moot Court competition. This year is the 17th time the competition is held.

In the international round, FH UPH sent the WTO Moot Court team which comprised of Alya Mahira (2016), Pricilla Patricia (2015), Laurencia Marcella Leoni (2016), and Sarah Raisa Putri (2016).

Previously, the team had also completed the regional Asian-Pacific semi-final round at Singapore from 23 to 26 February 2019. Their success in this round crowned FH UPH as the first Indonesian team with a semi-final round winner title and as the first to represent the country in the international competition. In the regional round itself, there were as much as 27 teams from Asian-Pacific countries such as Singapore, China, India, Australia, Vietnam, and Indonesia participating.

In the international round, FH UPH successfully reached the top 22 teams. This journey gave the FH UPH team experience and international knowledge that will be useful for future networking in the international trade law area.

This was also said by Alya, Pricilla, Laurencia, and Sarah, who received the advantages of participating in the international competition.

They said, “The competition really widened our knowledge of international trade. Other than that, we were able to meet participants from top law schools of other countries, international trade law experts, and the Appellate Body members of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. All in all, this event was very fun.”

WTO Moot Court is the largest court simulation in the world regarding the dispute settlement system of WTO. In the competition, teams comprised of two to four students must prepare a written submission that is filled with arguments from the countries involved in the dispute, may they be the petitioner or the respondent. The arguments will be brought up in front of the panels comprised of experts of international trade law.

In their preparation process, the FH UPH team was supported by their professors and seniors so that they can compete well. Sponsors have also supported the team so that the team is able to depart to Geneva. The sponsors are Multipolar, First Media, AZP Legal Consultants, PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur, and Bursa Efek Indonesia.