The 16th Annual International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot 2015 was held in Melbourne from 3 – 7 July 2015. The UQ TC Beirne School of Law team comprised of Georgia Williams, Jessica Duncan, Zachary George and Leo Rees-Murphy. The team was awarded the David Martin Clark Trophy for the Highest Ranked Team in the General Rounds. They placed third overall for their written memoranda and competed in the semi-finals, where unfortunately they lost to the University of Hong Kong. The grand final of the competition was won by National University of Singapore.
The International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot is a competition open to any students enrolled in a law degree (either undergraduate or postgraduate) who have not been admitted to practice. The moot problem will involve a dispute relating to commercial maritime law and the controversy will be determined before an arbitral tribunal pursuant to the L.M.A.A. terms or other recognised terms. Students need not have previously studied maritime law and in fact several past winning teams had no prior knowledge of maritime law before undertaking the moot.
“The competition was both supremely challenging, and incredibly rewarding. Competing against and forming friendships with teams from across Australasia and Europe, meeting the maritime legal profession, and working closely with the law school to hone our legal skills was a fantastic academic, professional and personal experience.” said Mr Rees-Murphy.
"The team is very grateful to the many members of staff, the profession and former mooters who assisted them with their preparation. They are also very grateful to their sponsors, Norton Rose Fulbright. “