Wednesday, 31 March, was the main day of the Elimination Rounds.
All the rounds are "knock-out", which means that the tribunals are called upon to decide a winner. There are no scores or feedback, only a winner of each round. This makes each session nerve-racking, as a team must continue winning in order to advance throughout the day.
The elimination rounds start at 08.00 with the second half of the Round of 64, proceeding to the Round of 32, Round of 16, and finally the Round of 8 (or Quarter-finals) at 17.30.
Monday 5 April 2010
Vienna, Preliminary Round Day 4: Tuesday 30 March 2010
The final preliminary round on Tuesday, 30 March, was as Respondent against Tsinghua University at 16.00. Bhavna and Olly pleaded for the second time.
Bhavna and Olly with the Tribunal and the Tsinghua University team.
The pleading finished at 17.45, which left very little time for the team to get to the Austria Center for the announcements for the Round of 64! These are the elimination rounds that determine who proceeds to the next phase of the competition.
By the time we arrived at the Austria Center, the excitement was overwhelming. Most of the teams were already there, and Professor Jeff Waincymer was entertaining the crowd with songs before Professor Bergsten was ready to announce the Finalists.
Then...after what seemed forever, Professor Bergsten came up on stage and started making the announcements...we were nervous as this was it...
Team after team was called...with cries of jubilation around the huge hall...and we were getting more and more tense as all the teams for that evening's round of 64 had been announced. We heard our friends from two other UK teams, College of Law and LSE, being called, but nothing yet for KCL...
And then...we heard our name...it would be University of Warsaw v KCL in the morning!!!
In the metro ride back, we could hardly contain our joy.
Back in the hotel...a happy team.
Bhavna and Olly with the Tribunal and the Tsinghua University team.
The pleading finished at 17.45, which left very little time for the team to get to the Austria Center for the announcements for the Round of 64! These are the elimination rounds that determine who proceeds to the next phase of the competition.
By the time we arrived at the Austria Center, the excitement was overwhelming. Most of the teams were already there, and Professor Jeff Waincymer was entertaining the crowd with songs before Professor Bergsten was ready to announce the Finalists.
Then...after what seemed forever, Professor Bergsten came up on stage and started making the announcements...we were nervous as this was it...
Team after team was called...with cries of jubilation around the huge hall...and we were getting more and more tense as all the teams for that evening's round of 64 had been announced. We heard our friends from two other UK teams, College of Law and LSE, being called, but nothing yet for KCL...
And then...we heard our name...it would be University of Warsaw v KCL in the morning!!!
Back in the hotel...a happy team.
Vienna, Preliminary Round Day 3: Monday 29 March 2010
Monday, 29 March, was actually a free day for the team...as the final preliminary round was not until the following day.
The team took the opportunity to sightsee and enjoy traditional Viennese food.
Gabriel and Katherine in the Stephansplatz.
Gabriel and Olly.
A horse-drawn carriage.
The Jesuit Church on the way to Stephansplatz.
The team took the opportunity to sightsee and enjoy traditional Viennese food.
Gabriel and Katherine in the Stephansplatz.
Vienna, Preliminary Round Day 2: Sunday 28 March 2010
Sunday, 28 March, was an intense day, with 2 pleadings...the first at 08.30 as Respondent against the University of St Gallen, and the second at 16.30 as Claimant against the University of Navarra.
In the morning, Shingi and Scheherazade pleaded.
Scheherazade and Shingi with the Tribunal (with Professor Kimberlee Kovach as President) and the team from University of St Gallen.
The girls had an excellent session, which impressed everyone...
Scheherazade and Shingi...happy after the pleading.
The team went for brunch at the famous Cafe Central, before preparing for the next session at 16.30.
Scheherazade and Greg.
Shingi and Gabriel.
In the afternoon it was time for the pleading as Claimant against the University of Navarra.
Bhavna and Olly with the Navarra team and Tribunal (Professor Charles Holton, President).
The team after the pleading.
Dinner at the Thai restaurant near the Ost-Klub, the 'official' moot bar.
Katherine and Heloise ready to party.
Shingi and Scheherazade dancing at the Ost-Klub.
The team onstage...Scheherazade, Ziva, and Ben.
In the morning, Shingi and Scheherazade pleaded.
Scheherazade and Shingi with the Tribunal (with Professor Kimberlee Kovach as President) and the team from University of St Gallen.
SThe girls had an excellent session, which impressed everyone...
The team went for brunch at the famous Cafe Central, before preparing for the next session at 16.30.
Scheherazade and Greg.
Shingi and Gabriel.
SIn the afternoon it was time for the pleading as Claimant against the University of Navarra.
Dinner at the Thai restaurant near the Ost-Klub, the 'official' moot bar.
The team onstage...Scheherazade, Ziva, and Ben.
Vienna, Preliminary Round Day 1: Saturday 27 March 2010
At 10.30am on Saturday 27 March was our first preliminary round as Claimant against the University of Amsterdam, with Ben and Heloise pleading.
The pleadings were held in the Juridicum, the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna.
Ben and Heloise with the Tribunal and the University of Amsterdam team.
The pleadings were held in the Juridicum, the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna.
Finally in Vienna! (Opening Ceremony, 26 March 2010).
The team arrived in Vienna on Thursday 25 March. Everything we had worked on for the past six months would (hopefully) fall into place...a scary thought nevertheless, as this was now the real thing!
On Friday 26 March the team headed to the Konzerthaus for the Opening Ceremony in the evening.
The team with coaches Gabriel and Katherine in front of the Konzerthaus.
Here, Professor Eric Bergsten introduced the moot.What a sight it was...253 teams from 62 countries...over 1,500 students and 600 arbitrators...the Konzerthaus was full.
Professor Harry Fletchner then came up on stage to sing the 'CISG song' and the 'Vis Mootie Blues'...songs that every Vis mootie is all too familiar with...
...but the new song this year was a love song to...beryllium!
Everyone then headed out into the reception to mingle...
The crowd at the Konzerthaus.
Bhavna, Shingi, Scheherazade and Katherine at the reception.
The team, however, couldn't stay too long as there was a pleading in the morning at 10.30am...our first preliminary round as Claimant against the University of Amsterdam.
On Friday 26 March the team headed to the Konzerthaus for the Opening Ceremony in the evening.
The team with coaches Gabriel and Katherine in front of the Konzerthaus.
THere, Professor Eric Bergsten introduced the moot.What a sight it was...253 teams from 62 countries...over 1,500 students and 600 arbitrators...the Konzerthaus was full.
Professor Harry Fletchner then came up on stage to sing the 'CISG song' and the 'Vis Mootie Blues'...songs that every Vis mootie is all too familiar with...
Everyone then headed out into the reception to mingle...
The crowd at the Konzerthaus.
Bhavna, Shingi, Scheherazade and Katherine at the reception.
The team, however, couldn't stay too long as there was a pleading in the morning at 10.30am...our first preliminary round as Claimant against the University of Amsterdam.
The Hague (PCA) Pre-moot (22-23 March 2010).
On Sunday 21 March, the team boarded the Thalys bright and early (too early!) to Rotterdam, where we would then proceed to our next stop: The Hague.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Pre-Moot was taking place on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 March. We were scheduled to plead against Paris XI and Carlos III Madrid on Monday, and Cologne and IHEID Geneva on Tuesday.
This is the second year that the KCL team participated in the PCA pre-moot. This year the pre-moot was equally welcoming, thanks to Sarah Grimmer, Jara Minguez Almeida and the rest of the PCA team.
One of the attractions (apart from the excellent teams who attend) of mooting in the PCA is the fact that it is held in the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice.
Olly, Shingi, Bhavna and Ben with coaches Greg and Ziva and Professor Martin Hunter.
The team in The Hague city centre enjoying a well-deserved break.
After the pre-moot concluded, we were sent the team rankings...and found out that we had WON the PCA Pre-Moot! Go team go!
Paris: ICC pre-moot (19-20 March 2010).
The next stop was Paris, at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Pre-moot, on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 March.
The opponent teams were Loyola Law School Chicago, University of Buenos Aires, CEU Budapest, and University of Milan.
The team took the opportunity to explore Paris the day before the pleadings.
Outside the Louvre, by the Pyramid...
...and relaxing by one of the many bridges of the City of Lights.
On the Saturday, the team pleaded against CEU Budapest in the morning, and University of Milan in the afternoon.
The team getting ready for the CEU pleading.
Bhavna and Heloise as Claimant.
The team and coaches...all together.
In the evening, we had a party with French food and drink...thanks to Greg's wonderful mom...
Ben and Olly with glasses of Slovenian wine, courtesy of Ziva.
Heloise and Katherine.
Greg and Ziva.
Scheherazade and Bhavna.
Frankfurt pre-moot (5 March 2010)
The first pre-moot that the KCL team attended was the Baker and McKenzie pre-moot in Frankfurt on Friday, 5 March. Apart from KCL, five German teams (from the Frankfurt area and other parts of Germany) participated.
Waiting for the train to Frankfurt.
Olly, Bhavna, Shingi, Scheherazade, and Heloise after a pleading.
Bhavna and Ben with the team from Erlangen-Nurnberg.
"Team merits" by the bridge in Frankfurt.
Sunday 4 April 2010
Pre-moot season
With the submission of the memoranda done and dusted, it was time to move onto the oral phase of the moot. As every mootie knows, the oral preparations are the most hectic and demanding time of the moot, but they are also the most exciting.
Traditionally, Vis mooties flock to different parts of the world for "pre-moots", in which teams gather to test their arguments in front of arbitral tribunals in preparation for Vienna. The pre-moots have evolved into events in themselves.
This year, the KCL team participated in four pre-moots: Frankfurt, LSE, Paris, and The Hague.
Traditionally, Vis mooties flock to different parts of the world for "pre-moots", in which teams gather to test their arguments in front of arbitral tribunals in preparation for Vienna. The pre-moots have evolved into events in themselves.
This year, the KCL team participated in four pre-moots: Frankfurt, LSE, Paris, and The Hague.
Claimant and Respondent Memoranda (4 December 2009 and 21 January 2010)
The journey began in October 2009, with long nights in the library and endless redrafting of the memoranda. First we had Claimant's memorandum due on 4 December. Shortly thereafter, the team received a memorandum to respond to...that of the University of St Gallen. We then had just six weeks to write the Memorandum for Respondent.
Thus, the Christmas break was not really a "break" as the team and coaches discussed the memos over Skype from different parts of the world...Dubai, Kenya, London, New York, Paris...
On 21 January, the Memorandum for Respondent was submitted!
Bhavna, Ben and Shingi about to submit Respondent's memo.
Thus, the Christmas break was not really a "break" as the team and coaches discussed the memos over Skype from different parts of the world...Dubai, Kenya, London, New York, Paris...
On 21 January, the Memorandum for Respondent was submitted!
Bhavna, Ben and Shingi about to submit Respondent's memo.
Introduction to the Willem C. Vis Moot
Hello and welcome to the King's College London 17th Willem C. Vis Moot blog!
Following on from a tradition started last year of blogging about the Vis moot (http://kclvismootteam.blogspot.com/), this year the KCL Vis team is back to recount its journey to Vindobona (Vienna to you and me) and its amazing and memorable adventures on the way.
The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is an annual international moot court competition held in Vienna, Austria. The object of the Vis Arbitral Moot is to foster study in the areas of international commercial and arbitration laws and encourage the resolution of business disputes by arbitration. The problem for the moot is always based on an international sales transaction subjected to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the Intenational Sale of Goods, 1980 (also referred to as CISG) and also involves procedural issues of arbitration. The moot consists of submitting written memoranda prior to the moot on designated dates for both sides of the dispute (Claimant and Respondent in legal terminology). The oral argument phase of the moot is held in Vienna.This year, 253 Universities from 62 Countries are participating.
The Team representing King's College London, one of the 12 teams from the United Kingdom, consists of six members: Bhavna Gokaldas, Oliver Coddington, Ben Waidhofer, Heloise Robinson, Scheherazade Dubash, and Shingirirai Chaza.
The coaches are Greg Travaini, Katherine Lim, Ziva Filipic, and Gabriel Olearnik.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
