BukSU wins 6th Justitia Moot Court Competition

MALAYBALAY CITY (OP-IPS) Bukidnon State University’s College of Law Debate and Moot Society (DMS) bagged the championship in the 6th Annual Justitia Moot Court Virtual Competition, organized by the Claudio Teehankee Center for the Rule of Law (TCRL).

BukSU beat eight other schools with a total of 10 teams in the competition held on January 30 via Zoom with the theme “Striking the Balance Between Police Power and the Right to Non-Discrimination.”

The one-day competition featured two preliminary rounds and a final round. During the event, teams of law students from across the country create novel solutions to emerging issues in international law and to advocate and argue for their positions before a panel of esteemed judges.

The winning team was composed of Cassie Adrienne L. Tagupa, Jeanette Ives Torrejos, Jacinth Felice Maristela, Cristopher Ecuacion, and Rosa Misciel Galdavores as the team admin.

Another team from Mindanao, from the University of Mindanao won first runner up with one of its speakers hailed as the best oralist.

The competition tackled emerging issues in international law. In the final round, BukSU speakers Tagupa and Torrejos prevailed over their opponent on the issue of expulsion or threat of expulsion of citizens of Amira from Rophan.

Ruby Jan Casas and Rica Zharian Cabe also participated as oralists during the competition, representing BukSU Law DMS’s 2nd Team.   Nine schools from all over the country participated in the competition which included submission of memorials and rounds of oral arguments via Zoom derived from a formulated compromis or an agreement between two parties to submit a dispute to international arbitration for a binding resolution.

The University of Cebu won the competition in 2015, St. Louis University in 2016, the University of the Philippines in 2017, the University of Batangas in 2018, and the Jose Maria College in 2019.

TCRL aims to be the leader and central repository for Rule of Law studies in the Philippines and the ASEAN region and to  attain its mission, the TCRL anchors itself on three foundational Rule of Law Pillars: (1)Rule of Law and Good Governance; (2)Rule of Law and the Private Sector; and (3) Rule of Law and Sustainable Development. Through competitions such as this, law students are trained on human rights advocacy, and litigation. (With reports from College of Law)