Colombo University Law Faculty Bench excels at prestigious John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition

The Moot Court Bench (MCB) team representing the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, emerged quarter finalists at the Global Rounds of the 20th edition of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition, 2022, held in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition is the premier International Moot Court Competition organised annually by the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) focused on International Trade Law (ITL) and is based on the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The prestigious competition attracts over 100 teams from across the globe, as well as WTO experts from legal academia, top law-firms, and the WTO Secretariat. 

The UoC team comprising Nimaya Dahanayake, Devinda de Silva, Amanda Halliday and Sayuni Masakorala was coached by Attorney General’s Department of Sri Lanka Apprentice MCB Ameerah Salie and Foley Hoag LLP Andrés Esteban. 

They commenced their journey after being selected for the MCB’s International Trade Law Program in July 2021, alongside a team from the Sri Lanka Law College coached by University of Colombo Faculty of Law Undergraduate student MCB Saheli Wikramanayake and Harrison Mbori (Max Planck Institute), and a team from CfPS Law School coached by University of Colombo Faculty of Law Undergraduate student MCB Avishka Jayaweera and Ana Maria Garcés (Initiators Guild). 

All three MCB teams were supported by the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the US Department of Commerce.

The three teams were extensively prepared over the course of several months leading up to the West and South Asian Regional Rounds in April 2022 and performed exceptionally well. The UoC team emerged runners-up at the Regional Rounds with Amanda Halliday bagging awards for being the Best Oralist in the Preliminary, Semi-Final, and Final Rounds. 

In the Global Rounds, the team emerged as part of the top eight among 80 of the best international universities. Amanda Halliday, for her skilled display of oral advocacy, was named the Best Orator in the Preliminary Rounds. This was also the second consecutive Sri Lankan team trained by the MCB to break through to the Global Rounds and were the defending champions, following UoC’s win in 2021.

Coach Ameerah Salie who represented Sri Lanka Law College at the 19th Edition of the Jackson also works towards disseminating knowledge on Trade Law to Sri Lankans at large as part of the MCB Trade Law Team. 

The MCB is Sri Lanka’s first fully integrated training platform for legal advocacy, with special emphasis on International Commercial Arbitration, International Trade Law, International Mediation and Negotiation. Today, the MCB strives to drive the conversation surrounding ADR and ITL in Sri Lanka forward while expanding its own horizons and establishing itself as the foremost advocate of reforming local and international Dispute Resolution Systems.

The team was also assisted by University of Colombo Faculty of Law Department of Commercial Law Senior Prof. Naazima Kamardeen, University of Colombo Faculty of Law Department of Commercial Law Senior Prof. Shanthi Segarajasingham, US Department of Commerce CLDP Shaya Tavaf and Melinda Zanner, MCB Senith Abeyanayake, MCB Sandun Batagoda, MCB Harish Balakrishnan, ACWL Christian Vidal-León, Harrison Mbori, Ana Maria Garcés, RMIT University Prof. Rajesh Sharma, Heritage Partners Dr. Arittha Wikramanayake, UoC Tavini Nanayakkara, Pontifical Xavierian University Luis Ramirez, City University Hong Kong Prof. Julien Chaisse, Georgetown/AUWCL Jesse Kreier, US Department of the Treasury Ted Posner, Garrigues Natalia Serrano and Los Andes University Rodrigo Minuzzo.