On 30 November and 1 December, there was IHL Moot Court competition Japan round 2019. The University of Tokyo had a team, which I coached.
The moot problem this time was very well written and brought up a lot of issues – what is the required control by a State over an armed group for IAC to exist, evidential standards for pre-trial and trial chambers, how sure should the attacker be about the identity of the target when they attack humanitarian convoys (for satisfying elements of war crime), how to establish ordering of no quarters with ambiguous orders, and many more technical and interesting questions.
The University of Tokyo’s team was headed by a second-year student, with two students who were in their first year when I started teaching a class back in April. They thrived with this challenge.
I am so proud of this team, who rose to the challenge and won the first prize at this IHL Moot Court competition.
Congratulations, and we will continue our effort for the Asia Regional Round in Hong Kong in March 2020.
Here is the team, from right to left, Mr. Issa Shiraishi (team member), Mr. Jan Romer (ICRC Asia Pacific Legal Advisor), Ms. Tong Fei (team member), Mr. Paul Hwa Namkoong (team member), and myself (coach).
aikiharahunt 