Seoul National University Law School places second overall at global investment arbitration moot

[Financial News]  Students from Seoul National University School of Law (law school) placed second overall and first in the claimant-side written submissions category at the international investment arbitration moot world competition.
Seoul National University said on the 12th that its law school team placed second overall, based on the combined scores for written submissions and oral arguments, at the 19th International Investment Arbitration Moot (FDI MOOT), held in Shenzhen, China, from the 23rd to the 27th of last month. The team also took first place in the claimant-side written submissions category, winning awards in two categories.
FDI MOOT is an international moot court competition launched in 2008 to deepen future legal professionals’ understanding of international investment disputes. Participants prepare legal submissions for both the claimant and respondent in a hypothetical investment dispute and argue before an arbitral tribunal.
A total of 170 teams from around the world took part in this year’s competition, and 72 teams from 33 countries and regions advanced to the world finals after regional and national qualifiers. The Seoul National University team secured a place in the finals by winning all its group-stage matches in the Asia-Pacific regional round last August.
This year’s competition addressed a hypothetical case in which a foreign investor filed for international arbitration against a host state after a contract for a green hydrogen plant with a state-owned enterprise was terminated. Key issues included the relationship with existing commercial arbitration, fair and equitable treatment of the investor, and provisional measures concerning local insolvency proceedings.
Eight students, including team captain Jang Hyeon-su, took part on the Seoul National University team under the guidance of Professor Lee Jae-min. In the individual best oralist category, students Gil Jun-u and Jang Hyeon-su tied for fourth in the Asia-Pacific region, while Song Chae-mi placed 20th in the world competition.
The claimant-side written submission prepared by the Seoul National University team is scheduled to be published at year-end in TDM (Transnational Dispute Management), an academic journal specializing in international disputes.

[email protected] Lee Bomi Reporter