World Win For Auckland Legal Debating Team

9 October 2006

World Win For Auckland Legal Debating Team

A University of Auckland team has won a major international mooting contest for the second time in three years.

Jonathan Orpin and James Townshend beat McGill University from Canada in the world final of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Competition held in Barcelona, Spain last week.

Earlier this year they won the Asia Pacific regional round. They faced the victors in the European and North American rounds in the finals. The case they argued concerned a dispute between two countries over the sale and operation of commercial remote sensing satellites.

The finals of the Lachs Moot, established in 1992, are judged by three sitting members of the International Court of Justice. They were held in conjunction with the International Astronautical Congress and the International Institute of Space Law Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space.

The Auckland team was coached by Simon Mount and Isaac Hikaka (who was in the champion team in 2003), with support from Associate Law Professor Scott Optican.

The Dean of Law at Auckland, Professor Paul Rishworth, is delighted at this latest success. "In this competition we pit ourselves against some of the world's most eminent law schools. It is gratifying that once again our students have come out on top."

Funds raised by University of Auckland Law School students helped finance Jonathan and James at the Spain competition. The "2006 Law School Student Support Fund" collected contributions from recently graduated law students to support classmates participating in international lawyering skills competitions.

ENDS

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