15th Leiden-Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition (18-20 April 2024)
Leiden’s International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) was delighted to co-organise the 15th edition of the Leiden-Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition alongside this year’s host, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. The event brought together around 200 students and professionals from six continents under the collaboration agreement between UNAM and Leiden University.
International Air Law Conference
Prior to the competition, the Leiden IIASL International Air Law Conference was held on 17 April, during which the legal aspects of topics such as aviation cybersecurity, airports and aviation disasters were discussed at length. The conference was opened with remarks by Professors Steven Truxal (Director, International Institute of Air and Space Law), Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas (Rector, UNAM), Sonia Venegas Álvarez (Dean of the Faculty of Law, UNAM) and Mr Christopher Barks (Regional Director, North American, Central American and Caribbean Regional Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)). The conference took place at UNAM’s Antigua Escuela de Jurisprudencia in Mexico City's historic centre.
International Air Law Moot Court Competition
A total of 17 teams from all around the world travelled to Mexico City to participate in the competition.
Following two days of semi-finals, Leiden University (applicant) faced The Chinese University of Hong Kong (respondent) in the final. The final took place on 20 April at UNAM’s Faculty of Law and was judged by Michael Gill (Director, Legal Affairs & External Relations, ICAO), Carlos Sierra (Managing Partner, Abogados Sierra and Professor, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)) and Nuhad Ponce Kuri (President, Asociación Nacional de Abogados de Empresa). After lengthy deliberations, the bench returned to announce the winner: The Chinese University of Hong Kong! Many congratulations to the winning team!
Congratulations are also in order for the Leiden team for bringing home the runner-up trophy!
The Leiden team was represented by Eleonora Romeo (Italy), Matylda Berus (Poland) and Marcelo Talia Moreno (Paraguay), current students on Leiden’s Advanced LL.M. in Air and Space Law programme. The team was coached by Tuvana Aras, PhD candidate at the International Institute of Air and Space Law and the Europa Institute, and Anmol Dhawan. Both Tuvana and Anmol are IIASL alumni.
- Best memorial applicant: National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
- Best memorial respondent: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Best oral arguments applicant: Leiden University
- Best oral arguments respondent: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Best oralist: Liubomir Bahah (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy)
Thanks go to the author of this year's case Vikrant Pachnanda (IIASL alumnus), the International Board of Reviewers for scoring written memorials and the 45 judges of the semi-finals.
This year’s conference and competition could not have been possible without the outstanding organisation of IIASL staff Natascha Meewisse and Jinyoung Choi and several generous sponsors including the LUF, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Special thanks go to H. E. Wilfred Mohr, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Mexico, for hosting a reception at his residence, and to the UNAM team (Trilce Ovilla Bueno, Larry Rodrigo Murillo Cárdenas, Angélica Ramos Velasco and student helpers) and Sierra LATAM colleagues for their wonderful support.
Next year’s conference and competition will be hosted by the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens between 24 and 27 April 2025.