第十三届“贸仲杯”国际商事仲裁模拟仲裁庭辩论赛（“贸仲杯”）于2015年12月6日至10日在北京成功举办，众多高校的优秀学子参与其中。我院2014级学生吉阳、姜欣欣，和2013级学生王宇石、张洞天在助理院长Eric H. Mao的带领下组队参赛。经过循环赛、淘汰赛、半决赛和决赛共85场比赛激烈的角逐，我院喜获辩论赛第三名，王宇石获最佳辩手。
本届“贸仲杯”辩论赛共有来自国内37所著名高校的39支代表队近400名学生参加比赛，美国、瑞典、德国、法国、俄罗斯、新加坡、中国香港、中国台湾等10多个国家和地区的近百名仲裁员和律师应邀担任比赛评委，参赛队伍数、参赛学生人数、比赛场次数、比赛评委人数均创历史新高。本届比赛同时也是比赛评委国际化程度最高的一届，82%的比赛至少有一名境外仲裁员、律师担任评委。
“我有想过这次比赛会成为一段记忆深刻的经历，但没有想到竟是这么的难忘”，吉阳说，“是国际法学院独特的法学教育、平日大量的专业知识阅读，和高强度的口语辩论培训让我们在这次比赛中能够发挥很好的表现”。
张洞天说道，“我的队友们都非常的认真、投入，能和他们一起打比赛我感到非常幸运”。王宇石表示，“这场比赛是一段不可思议的经历，我们的整个准备工作虽然艰辛却非常快乐。我们尽力让自己看更多的资料、思考的更加深入，也正因为从未松懈过的努力，我们的自我挑战得以转变为自我提升”。
今年，我院除了参加国际商事仲裁模拟仲裁庭比赛（the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court），还组队参加了欧洲法律学生协会WTO模拟法庭辩论赛（the European Law Student Association WTO Moot Court）、国际刑事法院审判比赛（the International Criminal Court Trial Competition）、Jessup国际法模拟法庭（the Jessup International Law Moot Court），和红十字国际人道法模拟法庭（the Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot Court）。
Ji commented, “I had expected the experience would be memorable, but never knew it would be so indelible.” Crediting the team’s success to STL’s “unique legal education,” Jiang noted the many opportunities for “extensive daily reading” and to “intensify our oral argument skills” that prepared her and her teammates for the rigors of the competition.
Zhang remarked on the team’s terrific chemistry, “it was a pleasure to work with my smart, dedicated and trustworthy teammates. Without them, none of what we accomplished would have happened.” Summing up the entire experience, Wang said, “this was an amazing journey. The entire preparation process was tough, but fun. We never stopped pushing ourselves. We tried always to read more, to think deeper, to express better, and all of our self-challenging eventually turned into self-improvement.”
The CIETAC Cup is sponsored by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). The CIETAC Cup uses the same case problem as the international Vis competition, focused around the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, and simulating an actual arbitral hearing. The competition is held entirely in English.
The four students on STL’s Vis team are among 24 who participate each year in the school’s international moot court program. The moot court competitions provide intense training in legal writing and oral advocacy, helping to augment skills acquired in the school’s Transnational Legal Practice program. Faculty coaches work closely with each moot court team to guide learning while the law school provides financial support for travel.
This year, in addition to the Vis team competing in Vienna, STL has teams competing in the Vis (east) Competition (based in Hong Kong), the European Law Student Association WTO Moot Court (based in Geneva), the International Criminal Court Trial Competition (based at the Hague), the Jessup International Law Moot Court (based in Washington, D.C.), and the Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot Court (based in Hong Kong).
By Eric H. Mao, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs
