Hong Kong, 20 March 2018: Colin Cohen has no doubt the future of the legal profession is in safe hands after acting as a judge at the 16th Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot in Hong Kong.
The annual competition pitted teams of law students from universities across Asia-Pacific in a series of mock trials related to armed conflicts and humanitarian challenges.
Mr Cohen, Senior Partner in Boase Cohen & Collins, joined leading figures from the legal profession in assessing the students’ oral performances as they presented cases for the prosecution and defence on charges arising from a fictional armed conflict.
He commented: “This was the sixth year I’ve been a judge in this excellent competition and the standard of mooting continues to be extremely high. Having seen these students put forth their submissions in a courtroom setting, it is clear many of them are destined for highly successful careers in the legal profession.
“The moot not only heightens awareness of humanitarian issues, it encourages students to further their knowledge in this complex field and gives them valuable experience in a courtroom scenario. It was an honour to be involved once again.”
This year, the moot problem was set in the context of climate change and involved new technology weapons, an attack on fishing boats carrying civilians and the protection of medical transports at sea.
The four-day event, which brought together students from 18 jurisdictions around the region, was organised by the Hong Kong Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong. The opening rounds were staged at HKU with the semi-finals and final held at the High Court in Admiralty.
Between rounds, the Hong Kong Red Cross headquarters in West Kowloon was the venue for a keynote seminar on humanitarian issues as well as an exploration activity in which the students assumed different roles in a simulated war zone, such as detainees, prison guards and refugees.
The competition was won by Raghav Bhargava and Samira Mathias from India’s Gujarat National Law University ahead of Christopher Chiam and Veronica Sebesfi from the University of New South Wales in Australia. Christopher Chiam was named Best Mooter.