University of San Carlos Secures Bronze at the 15th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court

Philippine Permanent Representative to the WTO Ambassador Teehankee congratulated the USC moot team composed of freshmen law students Jovellie Delubio, Philip Jezrael Nobleza and Loranisa Balorio, accompanied by their mentors Attys. Daryl Bretch Largo and Joan Largo, in the presence of First Secretary Oliver Delfin, encouraged them to join other competitions including the WTO-organized John Jackson Moot Court Competition. (Photo courtesy of Mr. Cedric Barcena)

GENEVA 27 July 2023 — Philippine Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ambassador Manuel Teehankee congratulated the University of San Carlos (USC) College of Law moot team, composed of freshmen law students, and accompanied by their mentors Assistant Dean Daryl Bretch Largo and USC Assistant Vice-President for Academic Affairs Joan Largo, for placing third at the recently concluded 15th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court. The USC moot team competed with 23 other law schools on 17-20 July 2023 in Geneva for the advanced and in-person round of the Competition after the preliminary virtual rounds in May. The teams underwent a rigid double elimination process including the submission of a memorial and the online preliminary rounds. USC was the lone ASEAN team to have reached the semi-finals.

Ambassador Teehankee underscored the importance of holistically discussing international relations issues through moot court competitions. He stressed “law schools play a valuable role in enlightening our emerging pool of legal talent on the different facets of global issues, including multilateral trade issues, by participating in domestic and international moot court competitions.” He explained that moot court competitions, including the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition on WTO Law, a simulated dispute settlement proceeding on issues relating to WTO Agreements, are excellent opportunities for Filipino law students to hone written and oral advocacy and legal skills as well as learn from trade law experts from other jurisdictions.

Last month, Ambassador Teehankee also received the moot court teams of the schools of law of the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University which participated in the 21st edition of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition on WTO Law and discussed with them the works currently undertaken by the Mission in Geneva. The University of the Philippines team secured 4th place overall at the 2023 competition, besting teams from the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, National Law University of Delhi and Georgetown University before falling to the National University of Singapore in the semi-finals. END

Ambassador Teehankee welcomed the John H. Jackson Moot Court representatives from the University of the Philippines College of Law and Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. (Photo courtesy of Ambassador Manuel Teehankee)

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