As the 2021 Jessup season ends, we are happy to announce that the Unpar Jessup Team received the Hardy C. Dillard award for the 17th best combined memorials in the world in the global rounds of the 2021 Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. This achievement is the first in 13 years for the Unpar Jessup team, as the Hardy C. Dillard award was last won by Unpar in 2008.
Armed with the 2021 Jessup topic, the Unpar Jessup team began research in August of 2020. As the moot problem was published in September of 2020, it soon became clear to us that we would be competing as agents representing the United Republic of Aprepluya and the Democratic State of Ranovstayo in a case that hits very close to home, the Case Concerning the J-VID 18 Pandemic. The preparation and discussions among team members were not easy for the Unpar Jessup team, as these processes were held completely online. We debated issues, shared discoveries, and faced dead-ends in our research with the team members, all through social media and online platforms. The faculty advisors, foreign counsels, student coaches, and alumni gave massively helpful input for the team, all through emails or online meetings. This continued well into the pleading phase of the competition, where we tried our best to make our case and plead before the International Court of Justice to a computer screen.
Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, we are sure that these challenges were also faced by other competing teams. But when we went against our opponents from the Asia Pacific and the global rounds of the 2021 Jessup, we were sure that these challenges did not hinder any team from performing their best. We were simply wowed by the extent of research, the sharp performances, as well as the resilience of all the teams we had the pleasure of going against.
Not only did the J-VID 18 pandemic made the research very interesting and relatable, topics such as counter-claims concerning the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction and anticipatory self-defense added to the mix of hard-to-tackle issues. We also cannot forget to mention the long-debated issue of diplomatic asylum, all of which combined to make the 2021 Jessup an especially fun case for us to work on.
This achievement would not have been accomplished without the immense support of faculty advisors Theodora Pritadianing Saputri (FH Unpar 2006) and John Lumbantobing, LL.M, MCIArb. (FH Unpar 2004); student coaches Aurelia Livya (2017), Vincent Jiadi (2017), Clemens Danang (2017) and Theo Prawiradirdja (2017); and the Unpar Law Alumni (ILUMNI FH Unpar).
Throughout the process of preparing the memorials and the oral pleadings, the team received salient guidance from foreign counsels Vik Tang and Rachita Bhagnani (Foreign Counsels, Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung), Carol Lim (Foreign Counsel, Assegaf Hamzah & Partners); and alumni Alamo D. Laiman (Legisperitus Lawyers, FH Unpar 1999), Tyas Hardianto (Ginting & Reksodiputro – Allen & Overy, FH Unpar 2010), Vincent Bellamy (FH Unpar 2004), Heru Muzaki (LHBM Counsel, FH Unpar 2003), Anastasia Anggita (Makarim & Taira S., FH Unpar 2014), Merlyn Margaretha (Norton Rose Fullbright, FH Unpar 2014), Wishnu Adisatya (Legisperitus Lawyers, FH Unpar 2016), and Rana Cinta Rahmania (Bagus Enrico & Partners, FH Unpar 2016).
As we transition into what we call the mooting off-season, we hark back to the growth in skill and knowledge that we have experienced from working on the 2021 Jessup. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement, but we look forward to it.
Signing out for now,
The Unpar Jessup Team