On 9 and 10 May 2019, 12 student teams from all over the world competed in the International Migration and Refugee Law Moot Court Competition at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The teams pleaded in a case concerning Mr. Moreno, a Venezualan asylum seeker, who applied for asylum on the fictitious Island of Caraiba. Judges from different countries and with different backgrounds (judges, attornies, academics, Government and UNHCR representatives) assessed the students’ performances. After three rounds of pleadings, four teams qualified for the semi-finals. Ghent University competed against Maastricht University and the University of Hong Kong against the City University of London. During a lively social event on Thursday evening in the office of Amnesty International the finalists were announced by Judge Berg: Ghent University and the University of Hong Kong.

The team of the University of Hong Kong is happy to have reached the final

Early on Friday 10 May, the teams received a new case for the final concerning the application for family reunification for Mr. Moreno, who had in the meantime received a refugee status. Six hours later, the teams appeared, well-prepared, at the oral hearing in one of the court rooms of the district court Amsterdam. After a close final, Judges Torres, Ochieng and Berg announced that the team of Ghent was the winner of the competition. Moreover, they considered Joseph Finnerty of the team from Ghent and Amy Ting Ting Cheng of the team from Hong Kong the best individual pleaders of the competition.

Here you can find a short impression of the moot court.