The stature of Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot Court is that of a Major/Grand slam in Space Law Moot Court Competitions having regional continent wise rounds. It is the most prestigious International Moot Court Competition globally in the field of Space Laws. Since its inception by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) in 1992,the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition has grown to cover four world regions : North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. More than 60 teams participate yearly in this competition.
Regional Winners receive financial support to attend the World Finals. The IISL’s Lachs competition is particularly distinguished by the tradition of judges of the International Court of Justice presiding over and judging the World Final.The Lachs Competition offers an unparalleled learning experience to all teams at all levels in a fair and cordial environment.
A brief schedule of the event is produced below:
28th March- Registration & Gala- Night
29th March- Preliminary Rounds
30th March- Quarter Final rounds & Semi-Final rounds
31st March- Final Round & Valedictory Ceremony
Tune in for live updates of the event
Day -1 (28th March)
1200 hours:- Welcome. 17 participating teams of Asia Pacific Rounds of “Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot Court Competition 2019 have arrived at the venue while the rest are arriving. The registration process is about to begin.
1500 hours:- All the teams have arrived and the registrations have begun
1630 hours: Registration of all the 38 teams have been completed.
16:45 hours: Memorials are being exchanged by the respective teams.
20:30 hours: A Gala Dinner was organised by the Amity Law school,Noida which witnessed all the participants in their finest gear. It was a great opportunity for all the participants to socialize amongst each other while enjoying the delicious dinner in a beautiful space along with dancing to their favourite tunes.
Day-2 (29th March)
07:30 hours: Respected teams have left their accommodation and shall be reaching Amity law School,Noida shortly
09:00 hours: Judges for the preliminary rounds have started to arrive, orientation for the judges will follow soon.
09:15 hours : Breakfast and Tea has been served to the judges.
09:30 hours: Judges for the preliminary round are being briefed.
10:00 hours: Preliminary round 1 has begun with 18 teams.
11:30 hours: Preliminary Round 1 has ended and the general observation of the judges was that all teams did well while arguing about the case and during the rebuttals.
12:00 hours: Preliminary round 2 has begun with 18 teams.
13:30 hours: Preliminary Round 2 has ended.
13:45 hours : All the teams have proceeded for Lunch
14:00 hours :The volunteers of Radio Amity 107.8 FM engaged in a short interaction with the judges during a short break prior to the preliminary round 03.
INTERVIEW MINUTES: Mrs.Talish Ray, Founder and Partner at TRS legal
I am deeply impressed by the law school for organising such a competition conducted at an international level. I am pleasantly surprised to see such huge participation from many countries and I am also fascinated by the hospitality and humility of the organising team towards judges and participants. To all the participants I have seen and judged, they all did an incredible job. I would also like to express to all the participants that “win or lose it is the experience and effort that matters” because in the end law is a profession which requires effort day in and day out.
14:45 hours: Preliminary round 3 commences
16:15 hours- Preliminary round 3 ends.
16:30 hours: – All the participants are proceeding for High Tea.
16:45 hours: Preliminary Round 4 has commenced.
18:30 hours: Preliminary Round 4 has ended and the all the participants are anxiously waiting for the results.
18:45 hours: The judges were felicitated by Dr.Aditya Tomar, Additional Director, Amity Law School,Noida.
19:00 hours: The results for the preliminary rounds have been declared. The following teams have qualified for the Quarterfinal rounds in no specific order.
- Team Code: 037
- Team Code: 021
- Team Code: 039
- Team Code: 013
- Team Code: 025
- Team Code: 045
- Team Code: 015
- Team Code: 012
Day-3 (30th March)
09:30 hours- The participants have arrived at the venue and are eagerly waiting for the quarters to commence.
09:45 hours: All the esteemed judges for the Quarter-finals have arrived and are being briefed.
10:15hours: The Quarter-finals rounds have commenced.
Court Room Number 1:
10:20 hours: The applicants have started their presentation.
The Applicants submitted that their use of Enhanced Sefarite was for peaceful purposes and the disclosure of the research and development of such materials would have threatened the national security of Suniza. They were confuted by the esteemed panel of judges by questioning the non-disclosure on the basis of national security.
10:50 hours: The respondents have started their presentation.
The Respondents’ first submission was the defence for occupying the Suniza abandoned and newly furnished eZ1, a permanent lunar facility for research and development. They further argued that the loss of spacecraft due to Suniza’s negligence was sufficient grounds for compensation. Lastly, they stated how the non-disclosure of the development of Enhanced Sefarite was violating numerous international treaties.
Court Room Number 2:
10:20 hours: The applicants have started their presentation
The applicants presented their arguments in a confident and assertive manner. The applicants had 2 major arguments backed by well-framed proofs, which later involved heavy questions and answers between the panel and applicants. The applicants tried to answer the questions to the best of their knowledge.
10:50 hours: The respondents have started their presentation
The respondent started the argument in an extremely calm and composed manner. They led their arguments with reference to the points presented by the applicants. They were also very systematic while explaining their facts in great detail and in the end answered the questions briefly that was put up by the elite panel. This was followed by the conclusion of this session at 12:10 pm.
12:30 hours: The judges were felicitated by Dr. Aditya Tomar, Additional Director, Amity Law School, Noida and Dr. Komal Vig, Administrator, Associate Professor, Amity Law School, Noida.
13:00 hours: Lunch has been served to the participants
14:00 hours: The results of the quarter-final rounds are out and the teams which have qualified for the semi-final rounds, in no particular order, are:
- The WB National University of Judicial Sciences, Kolkata
- School of Law, Wuhan University China
- National University of Singapore, Singapore
- City University Hong Kong, Hong Kong
15:25 hours: The semi-final rounds have commenced
Court Room Number 1
15:30 hours: The applicants have started their presentations
The applicant’s main submission was a territorial claim that Suniza held over eZ1 even though it had effectively ended all operations on the launchpad. It stated that ‘control is the state’s right’ and hence Azazi’s claim over the launch pad was an infringement of territory. The other point raised by the applicant was that the disclosure of the presence of Enhance Serfite on the spacecraft was not part of the Launch Services Agreement and therefore there was no obligation on the part of Suniza to do so. Lastly, the respondent was accused of breach of the Launch Services Agreement as they had the obligation to get back the non-Azazian people back to Earth from the moon which they refused to do for the past 2 years.
16:00 hours: The respondents have started their presentation
The main points of contention between the judges and the respondents were whether Azazi was to take partial responsibility for the explosion of the spacecraft on the account of the lack of due diligence on their part and whether Azazi violated International Humanitarian Law by refusing to transport the citizen of Suniza from Moon to the Earth. The reason for the lack of due diligence on Suniza’s part was stated to be the lack of knowledge about the Enhanced Serfite. The Respondents stated that since they had no knowledge about the research and development of such materials by Suniza and the long-standing agreements with Suniza with regards to outer space travels led to the breach of trust between the two.
Court Room Number 2:
15:30 hours: The applicants have started their presentations
The semifinal round of Manfred moot court commenced at 3:30pm. The applicants started their argument in a very decent and subtle manner. Applicants without wasting much of the time in stating out the point of arguments to be discussed move on to the details of the respective points and the argument which revolved around humanitarian grounds. The expression and idea of the applicants were extremely clear. Questions from the panel were very smartly and spontaneously handled as well as the conclusion was given within the time frame, thus allowing the panel to indulge and question the argument proposed which ended at 4:05 pm.
16:00 hours: The respondents have started their presentation
The presentation from the respondents started at 4:07pm.Their approach was gentle yet affirmative. They supported their argument through various treaties and cases.T heir concepts with regards to the present case, albeit upfront, were appreciated by the panel. Although they exceeded the time limit they had mentioned various facts which favoured their argument. Their justification was also their major defences. They concluded briefly but provided enough content in the preceding argument to have the necessary information for the panels thus bringing the session to an end at 4:40pm.
16:45 hours: The judges were felicitated by Dr. Aditya Tomar, Additional Director, Amity Law School, Noida and Dr. Komal Vig, Administrator, Associate Professor, Amity Law School, Noida.
17:00 hours: High tea has been served to the judges
17:30 hours: The results of the semi-final rounds are out and the teams which have qualified for the finals, in no particular order, are:
- School of law, Wuhan University, China
- National University of Singapore, Singapore
Day-4 (31st March)
09:00 hours: Welcome to The Final Day of the Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot Court, 2019- Asia Pacific Rounds.
09:15 hours : The participants have arrived for the Final Rounds.
09:30 hours: The judges for the Final round have arrived.
10:00 hours: The judges are being briefed for the finals
11:30 hours – The judges have arrived in the Moot Court Hall and the the proceedings are about to begin.
The bench for the final round comprises of
- Mr. M.S. Oberoi
- Prof. (Dr.) S.S. Singh
- Prof. A.K. Koul
- Prof. Paul Babie
- (Rtd.) Hon’ble J. Rajesh Tandon
11:45 hours: The applicants have started their presentation.
The applicants started their argument in subtle yet in a assertive manner after introducing the case with utmost confidence and positivity, had put forward three defenses for their arguments before the elite bench, first, being that Azasi’s occupation was a blatant violation. This argument was further explained by the applicant with vigor and calmness.
They presented their second argument stating how allegations over suniza by the respondant over abandonment of the facility at the lunar region were completely fictitious. They also established that there was never an intention to abandon the facility but merely a declaration that they no longer would continue with the activities.
The judge of an elite bench asked the applicant whether the present case of Azasi and Suniza would fall under the jurisdiction of international court of justice to which the applicant agreed and explained points, backing up their answers. Last but definitely not the least, the third argument presented by the applicant that backed the case was that, albeit Suniza did use the facility for military purposes but it was within the range described by the International Court of justice and that it doesn’t mention absolute demilitarization. Thus, after a rigorous question and answer round between the panel and the applicant the session concluded.
12:00 hours: The respondents started their presentation establishing their base upon the following points; their first pointer was divided into 2 sub-heads which classified their right to use the abandoned property and no liability regarding damages from their side. The respondents clearly explained the registration and the agreement between the parties and their ownership rights. They also added that the ownership rights bring the right of jurisdiction and control. After this, the respondents were showered with lot technical and detailed questions by the elite panel of judges. The respondents found it quite exacting to answer the questions. In their answers, it was very easy to infer that they were extremely determined and assertive with their arguments. They abridged the link between the damages and breach, and also stated the link to be proximate. For the conclusion, they submitted the capacities of the respective parties regarding the usage of the property on an obligatory basis.
14:00 hours: Welcome of Chief Guest, Distinguished Guests & Lighting of the Lamp for the valedictory ceremony.
14:06 hours: Welcome Address by Prof.(Dr.) Aditya Tomer, Additional Director, Amity Law School, Noida.
14:10 hours: Address by Prof. (Dr.) S. S. Singh, Dean, Faculty of Law,Advisor ALS, AJA, ALF, Amity University Uttar Pradesh
14:14 hours: Welcome Address by Prof.(Dr.) Dilip Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, Amity Law Schools.
14:24 hours: Opening Remarks by Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh.
14:35 hours: Address by Dr. Sunita Singh, Pro vice Chancellor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh.
14:54 hours :Address by Distinguished Guest of Honor His Excellency, Mr. Hector Cueva, The Ambassador of Ecuador to India, New Delhi
15:16 hours: Address by Distinguished Chief Guest Hon’ble Mr. Justice M. R. Shah, Judge, Supreme Court of India.
15:27 hours: Declaration of Results
Best memorial-Gujarat National law University, Gandhinagar.
Best oralist of preliminary Rounds- lim jia rim,National University of Singapore.
5 Best speakers-
I-tan pyu yeng
II-Aryan khana
III-Karan Vijay
IV-Jayesh sanyal
V-Conner
Runners up- wuhan university
Winners- National University of Singapore
15:55 hours : National Anthem.
17:00 hours: After the successful completion of the event we would like to thank our organizing team for arranging the event enormously. Finally to our institution Amity Law School, Noida for providing us this opportunity.
