ANNOUNCEMENT
March 18, 2017
Empowerment for future legal professionals
The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), with the commitment towards laying a strong foundation for future of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), empowers youth through a series of events which kicked off on Friday, 17 March 2017.
Having already gathered more than 200 members from15 jurisdiction in the prelaunch period, the KLRCA Young Practitioners Group (KLRCA YPG) was formally launched then.
The group is designed to create synergy between budding ADR practitioners with senior practitioners. This will ultimately help the industry ensure that best practices will continue to pave the way for ADR progress.
The launch took place on the first day of the first ICC-KLRCA Pre-Moot Court Competition. Hosted in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), this intense competition is set to pit 36 global teams against each other as they vie for the top spot.
Pre-Moots are scheduled throughout the world to prepare teams competing at the upcoming Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot CourtCompetition (Vis Moot). The Vis Moot and Vis Moot (East) are international moot court competitions held in Vienna (since 1994) and Hong Kong (since 2004). These competitions attract over 300 law schools annually.
This is the first Pre-Moot held in Malaysia.
“We are delighted to have over 150 budding and ambitious young talents congregating here from all over the world; 15 countries across 5 continents, all geared up for a weekend of thrilling competition, entwined with knowledge and cultural exchange,” said Datuk Professor Sundra Rajoo, Director of the KLRCA.
Local teams hail from Brickfields Asia College, HELP University, International Islamic University of Malaysia, INTI International University, Taylor’s Law School, University Malaya and University Teknologi Mara. They will be competing against each other as well as their international counterparts from 14 other nations including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Hungary, India, Japan and the United States of America.
More than 90 accomplished legal practitioners and arbitrators volunteered their time and expertise to lead the hearings and impart knowledge to the participants over the 3-day competition.
The competition’s opening ceremony took place earlier this evening with YB Dato Sri Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department officiating.
In the same ceremony, YB Dato Sri Azalina Othman also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum-of-Understanding (MOU) between the KLRCA and University Malaya (UM).
The MOU marks the first of its kind collaboration between the KLRCA and a higher education institutions based in Malaysia, as this will see internship placements for UM students for exposure and knowledge enhancement.
“We place great importance in nurturing local, regional and international talent. Our successful internship programmes that have propelled some of the youngest and brightest legal minds to influential government roles, international arbitration firms and teaching positions across the globe,” stated Datuk Professor Sundra Rajoo.
The ICC-KLRCA Pre-Moot Court Competition will come to an end on 19 March with the finals taking place in the auditorium of Bangunan Sulaiman, the KLRCA’s state-of-the-art facility. The winning teams will walk away with generous cash prizes a well as internship opportunities with the KLRCA.