คุยกับธนวินท์ วงศ์ศรีสุชน (Tanawin Wongsrisuchon) ศุภากร วิลาศรัศมี (Supakorn Wilartratsami) ณิชารีย์ กิติญาณทรัพย์ (Nicharee Kittiyansub) และปุณฑริก ทยาวิทิต (Poondarik Tayawitit) นักศึกษาคณะนิติศาสตร์เกี่ยวกับประสบการณ์และสิ่งที่ได้รับในการเข้าแข่งขัน Asia Cup 2021
Process of the Competition
Asia Cup 2021 is an international law moot court competition organised by the Japanese Society of International Law and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of the Nippon Foundation. It is a long-standing competition in which Thammasat University has been sending students to compete in for more than a decade. It is a moot competition hosted in Japan and pits Asia’s top law schools against each other. Our team consisting of Nicharee Kittiyansub, Poondarik Tayawitit, Tanawin Wongsrisuchon, Supakorn Wilartratsami third-Year law students are Thammasat representatives for the year 2021.
The competition this year is separated into two phases. The first phase is the memorial round in which each competing team must submit a memorial for the applicant to be graded by the judges. Thereafter, the team with the highest points from a country would qualify to plead in the oral rounds, representing Thailand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the oral round was unfortunately conducted online.
This year’s Asia Cup seems to cover a topic different from usual. Normally, Asia Cup moot covers Public International law with an emphasis on the Law of the Sea. However, this year, although there remains some aspect of the law of the sea, the case that was used for the competition mainly concerns a state-state investment dispute that was fictitiously submitted to the ICJ. Thus, our team got the chance to study, research, write and plead on myriad concepts such as diplomatic protection, protection in the EEZ, and international investment law.
Our team qualified for the oral rounds along with all the teams representing their own respective countries. We then went on to plead and got 6th place for the competition. Apart from the ranking in the competition, we also had a lot of fun and grew up along the way, learning both legal and life skills. Although we communicated throughout the competition mostly through online means, we gained invaluable friendships and the work was done satisfactorily. Online-working / Online-meeting / and online-pleading skills may be moot experiences mooters during non-pandemic times may not experience, and we feel that these skills will be beneficial in the future.
Lastly, we would like to thank all the coaches, all the Ajarns and lecturers, and all the seniors who have helped us along the way. We are more than grateful for their training and for their pushing us to be the best we can be, especially in the preparation for the oral rounds. Without their guidance and constructive critiques we would not have had the chance to test our own limits. We also would like to thank Thammasat International Moot Society for facilitating this moot, and every other moot, and also thanks to the Faculty of Law for always promoting activity. We are also deeply thankful to SRPP Ltd. for offering us a place to plead during the online pleading day as well.
Nicharee Kittiyansub
“The Asia Cup competition has been a challenging experience but a thoroughly enjoyable one nonetheless. Since the competition was conducted online, we faced many obstacles but managed to overcome them with the help of Ajarns, seniors, and TIMs – all of whom I give my sincere thanks. I am also very grateful to have had the opportunity to grow and learn alongside such a wonderful, talented and supportive team. Throughout this journey, I have been able to form amazing friendships and acquire legal skills and knowledge that I will carry with me throughout my academic career and beyond.”
Poondarik Tayawitit
“The competition is a wonderful experience. I got to research international investment law and environmental law, and was able to see different perspectives to the issues and relate to it in real life. I have learnt from watching my competitors and got motivated to do better as well. However, what made the competition most enjoyable for me are my teammates. I am most grateful for them and for the experiences and the shared ranges of emotions that come with it throughout the course of this competition. Lastly, I want to thank ajarns, seniors, members of TIMS, and friends for helping me and the team so tremendously. I am extremely grateful for this irreplaceable memory.”
Tanawin Wongsrisuchon
“Asia Cup was considered the hardest and most challenging moot court I’ve ever done. As the claims were based on International Investment Law which I hardly had ideas of. I had to start over with its fundamentals. Although the competition was held online, we gained many experiences from it. Throughout the competition, we had sharpened many legal skills such as researching, analysis and communication. We learned to deal with numerous obstacles. Not only the knowledge, but we also attained teamwork skills. Spending and sharing my time with my teammates, I would say, was the best part of doing moot court. We exchanged our ideas and made arguments, extended beyond the subject matter to our daily lives. This has made moot so much fun and enjoyable. Ultimately, the Competition result came out very satisfying. Even though we did not win, we have improved ourselves so far. Lastly I would like to thank the people behind our success including Ajarns, senior mooters especially P’Mint, P’Mind and P’Up, TIMS and Faculty of Law who are always encouraging us to be better mooters than we were.”
Supakorn Wilartratsami
“Asia cup competition has been a pretty nice experience even if almost every aspect of it is online. We have grown so much as a team since we first participated in Internal Moot Competition last year. We have had our limits challenged, but all the obstacles motivated us to become better and improve ourselves. Along the way, we also had fun and gained invaluable friendships. I would also like to thank everyone involved: Ajarns, Roonpees, TIMS and all the coaches who have helped us. Without them, we would not have made it this far.”
