The School’s Nuremberg Moot Court team, consisting of Jade Sheppard, Christina Mikhael and Elly-May Dreier, has been awarded a coveted spot in the oral rounds in Germany. To reach this stage, the team was required to prepare two legal memoranda, one for each of the prosecution and defence.
In the Nuremberg Moot Court Competition teams from around the world compete, representing either a fictitious client or the prosecution in the International Criminal Court. From the 111 teams selected for the written competition, only 32 were chosen to advance to the oral rounds. Not only did the La Trobe team proceed, they finished second in the written stage.
Over the next two months the team will be coached by Nicole Shackleton, to prepare for the oral rounds. They will then travel to Germany where they will compete at the historic Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg trials against Nazi war criminals took place, appearing before the judges of the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber.
The team has worked closely together for many months and developed a plethora of new skills. “We have been able to learn about a new and exciting area of law and have greatly improved our advocacy skills. Having such a small team with time constraints has also improved our teamwork and communication skills, as well as developing lifelong friendships and connections.”
Professor Fiona Kelly, Dean of the Law School, congratulates the team on their extraordinary hard work and outstanding achievement. She also noted that their success “highlights the strength of the Law School’s mooting program, as well as the quality of our international criminal law teaching”.
