Six teams of students, representing Law Schools and Law Faculties in the Caribbean, participated in the 1st Annual Caribbean Court of Justice Law Moot Competition on Wednesday 18th March 2009. The event took place in Courtroom 1 of the Court. At stake were the Caribbean Court of Justice Annual International Law Moot Shield and a VISA Electron card in the sum of US$75 for each member of the winning team.
Participating Law Schools and Law Faculties were:
- The Eugene Dupuch Law School (The Bahamas)
- The Hugh Wooding Law School (Trinidad & Tobago)
- The Norman Manley Law School (Jamaica)
- The Faculty of Law of the Anton de Kon University of Suriname
- The Faculty of Law of the University of Guyana
- The Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill-Barbados).
First year law students of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus assisted with the proceedings and functioned as mooting registrar, mooting court support officer and other mooting court officials. Law students appreciated the opportunity to practise and prepare for their future legal careers.
The CCJ judges were very impressed by the structured approach, strong arguments and excellent performance of the teams overall. They expressed that the students demonstrated sound understanding of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and its application in the Original Jurisdiction case.
The 1st Annual CCJ International Law Moot was won by the team from the Norman Manley Law School of Jamaica, whose members were: Ms. Alecia Johns (Advocate 1); Mr. Miguel Williams (Advocate 2) and Mr. Garcia Kelly (Reserve). The team advisor was Prof. Stephen Vasciannie, Principal of the Norman Manley Law School.
It was subsequently announced in November 2009 that Ms. Alecia Johns, leader of the winning team, was awarded a 2010 Rhodes Scholarship.
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