At the recent ALSA Conference held in Perth, Mr Mark Giddings and Mr Tomas Macura represented Adelaide Law School in the International Humanitarian (IHL) Moot competition. International Humanitarian Law deals with the regulation of armed conflict and provides strong legal protections for civilians as well as those hors de combat and is dedicated to ameliorating violence in conflict. Mark and Tomas were successful in all their preliminary rounds and successively prevailed over teams from the University of Queensland and Melbourne in the quarter and semi finals respectively, and ultimately the University of Tasmania, in the Grand Final. Presiding over the Grand Final was former Vice President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Judge Kevin Parker. As a result of this win, Mark and Tomas will be representing Australia in an International Red Cross IHL Moot competition to be held in Hong Kong next year. Their efforts and dedication to task have been exemplary and their advocacy skills have been superb. At a special presentation recently, Mark and Tomas handed over the IHL Moot shield to Prof John Williams. During this presentation, His Honour Christopher Legoe QC announced his generous support for the establishment of an Adelaide University Mooting Prize.
This year the AULSS and Law School cooperated in running an IHL course and associated mooting competition to select the Adelaide Law School team to go to ALSA. The competition saw enormous commitment and highly polished performers. Judging the various moots and providing constructive feedback were Dr Matthew Stubbs, Ms Rebecca LaForgia and A/Prof Dale Stephens, who form the core teaching team for International Law. The Adelaide Grand Finalists in this event were Mark and Tom as well as Mr Carl Vail and Ms Chloe Swinden. The final event was attended by representatives of the AULSS (Mr Sam Hooper and Ms Charlotte Thomas) as well as the SA branch of the Red Cross (Ms Anne Trengove). The IHL and advocacy course will again be run in 2014.
Tomas Macura and Mark Giddings.
Tomas Macura, Mark Giddings and Professor John Williams
Tomas Macura, Mark Giddings, His Honour Christopher Legoe QC and Professor John Williams
His Honour Christopher Legoe QC speaks to the students in International Law
Front – Ms Anne Trengove (Red Cross IHL Committee), Mr Carl Vail, Ms Chloe Swinden, Mr Mark Giddings, Mr Tomas Macura, Mr Sam Hooper and Ms Charlotte Thomas.
Behind: Dr Matthew Stubbs, A/Prof Dale Stephens and Ms Rebecca LaForgia
