Mooters from the University of the Philippines are declared as the overall champ in the international rounds of the Price Media Law Moot Court Competition in the United Kingdom. Photo taken from Harry Roque’s Facebook page
For expert arguments on an issue close to home, a team of state scholars ruled an international moot court competition in the United Kingdom this week, taking the first championship ever for the
Philippines.
A team from the University of the Philippines law school was declared the overall champ in the international rounds of the Price Media Law Moot Court Competition, held at the Oxford University in the United Kingdom from March 24 to 27.
The victory came just as the premier state university celebrated another topnotch finish in the bar examinations, with four of its graduates among the top 10 passers, the most for any school.
READ: San Beda graduate tops 2014 bar exams
UP Law professor Harry Roque, the team’s coach, announced the school’s victory on Facebook past midnight Friday (Manila time), moments after the Philippine team emerged as champs in a unanimous decision.
“The UP team was composed of veteran mooters deeply committed to the cause of human rights. Their incredible mastery of freedom of expression led to their victory in Oxford, which is a first for the
country,” Roque said when reached via text message before dawn Saturday.
“It proves anew that UP law is truly amongst the best law schools in the whole world. Its victory was a victory of the entire Filipino nation,” he told the Inquirer.
UP law students who make up the champion team include Gil Anthony Aquino, Gemmo George Fernandez, Rachel Angelie Miranda, Raphael Pangalangan, and Pauline Gairanod, who was also adjudged Best Speaker. Lawyer Macel Seno served as their assistant coach.
BACK STORY: UP in Oxford moot court
The team beat the Singapore Management University in the final round held at the historic Rhodes House in Oxford, winning the judges’ nod for their defense of hate speech legislation in the moot case.
“They defended a legislation of a fictitious country that found a blogger civilly liable for advocating converting a minority religion by all means,” said Roque of the case the UP team won.
“They also argued that the [internet service provider] that did not remove a video that led to a riot injuring hundreds is civilly liable under a conditional liability regime [because] it had noticed but did
not take down the video,” he added.
The Philippine team took the trophy at the culmination of the four-day competition, where it also beat teams from the United States and the host country through several rounds.
The team had advanced to the international rounds after winning the Asian Regionals held at Renmin University in Beijing last year. Nearly a hundred universities took part in the competition.
Moot court competitions, where law students take part in simulated court proceedings, have long been recognized as a crucial training ground for law students, preparing them for real world litigation.
The Price Media Law Moot Court Competition focuses on cases involving laws governing freedom of expression.
It was named after professor Monroe E. Price, who cofounded Oxford’s Program in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP).
The competition aims to “foster an interest in some of the most cutting edge issues of our time: the role of new information technologies and free speech” by using “solid empirical research that
is grounded in historical context and [based on] a dialogue between all those involved and affected,” according to UP in an earlier statement announcing its participation in the competition.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer is among the UP team’s local sponsors.
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