KDU Law Department puts forward a stellar finishing touch to the end of 2013

2013 is a year of significant anniversaries. It is the 150th anniversary of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), and the 10th anniversary of the ICRC’s annual national International Humanitarian Law (IHL) moot court competition. For the team representing KDU’s law department, 2013 also welcomes the 30th anniversary of our beloved institution. It is therefore befitting that this year ends on a high note. 



In the ICRC’s 10th annual national International Humanitarian Law (IHL) moot court competition co-organized with the University of Malaya, conducted recently on 30th November and 1st December 2013, KDU’s law prosecution team has secured the ultimate prize: National Champions! To top off this accolade, New Su-Ann, senior counsel of KDU’s prosecution team, has bagged the much-coveted “Best Mooter” award in the national competition.

The annual IHL moot court competition is a highly prestigious competition focusing on International Humanitarian Law practice and procedure, which essentially is the law of war. Throughout the course of history and civilization, the law of war was extended to consider not just the rights and duties of armies, but also the protection of, and alleviation of suffering for, all victims of war. The subject of international humanitarian law is comprised of those customary and treaty laws that address the plight of victims of war. For the oralists in this competition, a fictional international or non-international armed conflict scenario is presented to them, and it is their job as counsel to either prosecute or defend a person or group of persons accused of breaching laws in this given scenario.

Hence, it is a very exciting mock enactment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) courtroom case, drawing close allusions to real-life war cases such as the conflicts prosecuting Thomas Lubanga in the Democractic Republic of Congo hostilities; Omar al Bashir in the Darfur, Sudan conflict; and, amongst others, the crime of Ramiz Delalic, which many believed triggered the 1990s Bosnian War.