On November 25th, the East Asian Regional Rounds (“EARR”) of the 2023-2024 Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition (“IEMCC”) was hosted and held successfully by Soongsil University. STL moot team won the champion, advancing to the International Finals successfully.
The IEMCC, founded in 1996 and organized by Stetson University College of Law, has widespread recognition in international environmental law. The competition, with English being its working language, is divided into two phases: the Regional or National Qualifying Rounds and the International Finals. This year, there are 10 regional or national rounds, including North America Regional Rounds, Ireland and UK Regional Rounds, Southeast Asian Regional Rounds, and East Asian Regional Rounds.
The theme of this year’s competition is “Mountain Gorillas and Impact Assessment”, and the factual background is that Replomuté, a developed country in Europe, is conducting oil-related activities within the mountain gorillas’ habitats of a developing country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Ibirunga (“DRI”). Aringuv, a neighboring country, is accusing the developed country of procedural and substantive violations of international environmental law. The topics discussed includes who should conduct an environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) and the content of the EIA, the impacts of oil-related activities on the protection of mountain gorillas, transboundary harms from oil-related activities, the international responsibilities of developed countries for exploiting oil resources in developing countries, and how to balance economic development and environmental protection in developing countries.
STL moot team was coached by Ms. Qiu Xiaoya, the Director of the Moot Court Competitions, and Wang Haozhe, a student in her fourth year, as the student coach. The team also received guidance from Mr. Liu Yue, the Director of Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research, as well as support and assistance from alumni Yue Hong, who is a member of the team earning the champion of the 9th East Asian Regional Rounds, Gong Ran, Hu Minghao, Li Mengchao, Wang Shiqi, Yang Min, and Zhang Yuting (in alphabetical order of last name). Team members include 3L students Sun Chen, Yang Yiqing, An Chenglong, and a 2L student Wu Lin.
The competition opened on November 21st and ended on November 25th with a tight schedule and fierce competition. After intensive preparation, STL team won the Soongsil’s Gold Medal and the Second Memorial Award for their outstanding performance, and successfully advanced to the International Finals. Among them, An Chenglong was awarded the Best Oralist in Final Round for his brilliant submissions, and Yang Yiqing earned the title of the Second Oralist Award for her exceptional performance in the preliminary rounds.
The competition was divided into two parts: memorial writing and oral submission. In the process of memorial writing, Ms. Qiu Xiaoya led the team members to analyze the problem, provided research guidelines, and revised the team’s memorial word by word. The memorial, written by Sun Chen and Yang Yiqing, argued on behalf of Aringuv, a neighboring country in this case, that (1) as a procedural matter, Replomuté violated its obligations under international treaties and customary international law to conduct an EIA, and (2) as a substantive matter, Replomuté should be directly liable for the violation of its own obligations under international environmental law, and should be indirectly liable for coercing the DRI to continue their cooperation in oil-related activities. The success of the memorial should be attributed to the effortful research and thinking of the team members, as well as the careful guidance and inspiration of Ms. Qiu Xiaoya. In the end, the contributions were awarded a good result.
In the preliminary rounds, STL team played against Shihihutug University in Mongolia (in the role of Applicant), Southwest University of Finance and Economics Team A (in the role of Respondent), and Beijing Institute of Technology (in the role of Applicant), successfully advancing to the semi-finals. Before and after each round, Ms. Qiu Xiaoya and Wang Haozhe reviewed the team member’s performance, and provided inspiration for the team’s submission ideas, answer angles, and research directions through mock oral submissions and quick questions and answers.
In the semi-finals and finals, STL team faced off against Soongsil University Team B and China University of Political Science and Law respectively. The rule for the semi-finals and finals was a coin toss on the spot to determine the side. STL team took on the role of Respondent in both rounds, arguing on behalf of Replomuté, the developed country in this case, which is engaged in oil-related activities in mountain gorilla habitats of the developing country, the DRI, that (1) procedurally, it does not violate its obligations to conduct an EIA under international treaties and customary international law, and (2) substantively, it complies with the relevant provisions of international environmental law in the process of oil-related activities in the DRI, and it is not liable for the DRI’s violations of the international environmental law obligations. In the semi-finals and finals, An Chenglong and Wu Lin carefully recorded opposing agents’ arguments, adjusted their submissions in time during the other side’s submissions, responded to the other side’s arguments according to the facts and legal sources of the case when advocating for the two issues in this case, and flexibly responded the questions from the judges. In the end, STL team won the champion of the East Asian Regional Rounds and advanced into the International Finals.
STL team members demonstrated their positive and enterprising competition spirit, solid and deep legal foundation, and broad and far-reaching international vision in the IEMCC. In the future, STL team will continue to give full play to its strengths and improve its oral submission and memorial writing skills. Looking forward to STLer’s another wonderful performance in the International Finals!
Written by: CHEN Shiyu
