From left to right: Tess Marie Tan, Mark Lawrence Badayos, Atty. Joan Largo, Rashid Pandi, and Stephanie Marie Abigail Olea.

The University of San Carlos College of Law Mooting Team dominated in the recently concluded 2018 Price Media Law Moot Court Competition held in Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom from April 9-13, 2018.

The team composed of Stephanie Marie Abigail Olea (JD-III), Mark Lawrence Badayos (JD-IV), and Tess Marie Tan (JD-IV) faced off against the defending champion, Singapore Management University, in the championship round, with Badayos and Tan as oralists. Olea was awarded 2nd Best Oralist in the Preliminary Rounds, and Badayos secured 4th place.

The Finals Bench was composed of five (5) international judges, included sitting judges of the European Court of Human Rights, Ineta Ziemele and Paulo Pinto de Albuqurque, and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Judge, Kriangsak Kittichaisaree. Other members of the judging panel were Judge Mabel Agyemang (Justice of the Court of Appeal of Ghana) and Sir Nicholas Blake, a retired judge of the English High Court.

This is the 11th year of the competition, with teams from different universities around the world competing in seven regional rounds (South Asia, Asia–Pacific, South East Europe, North East Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, South Africa, and Afghanistan) before meeting in Oxford University for the International Rounds of the competition. The USC Law Mooting Team is a back-to-back Asia-Pacific Champion and the only Philippine representative in the international rounds.

The Price Media Law Moot Court is a combined project of the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy and the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. This year’s moot problem concerned current issues facing the freedom of expression, particularly non-consensual pornography, fake news, and the regulation of social media.

by Atty. Joan Largo, Dean, School of Law and Governance

Tags: Law