The University of Cambridge Vis Moot team, consisting of BA Law students Jian Wei Aw (Hughes Hall), Sheena Shu Ting Wong (Hughes Hall), So Tsz Ching Natalie (Magdalene College), and Yiwei Lu (Magdalene College), was very successful in this year's 22nd edition of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition held in Vienna, Austria, earlier in April.
The Vis Moot is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious international competitions, and is regarded as the private law counter-part of the Jessup Moot competition. This year's competition attracted nearly 300 teams, and simulated an arbitration on a dispute arising out of an international sale of goods. In addition to the oral rounds, teams had to submit written memoranda for both sides of the dispute earlier in the year.
Despite it being the very first time the University of Cambridge has sent a team, the Cambridge Vis Moot team won an Honourable Mention Award and emerged as the only UK team that advanced to the Round of 32 (for the top-32 teams of the competition). The team out-ranked every other UK team – including a team of trainee barristers from Middle Temple – and also out-ranked traditional Vis Moot powerhouses such as Harvard and Yale. It is noteworthy that only two UK teams, namely the London School of Economics and Cambridge, made it to the Round of 64, but, eventually, it was only Cambridge that advanced to the Round of 32.
The team was academically supervised by Dr Markus Gehring (University Lecturer and Director of Studies at Hughes Hall), and coached by Soterios Loizou (Hughes Hall, PhD in Law Candidate).
In the words of Professor Stefan Kröll, eminent arbitrator and organising Director of the Vis Moot competition:
"Congratulations for a great start to the Cambridge team. They advanced to the elimination rounds and performed extremely well. Given my affiliation with Cambridge I would naturally be very happy if this was only the start of a successful Moot history. It would be great to welcome a Cambridge team in the future."