12th Moscow Pre-Moot
On 12 March 2021, the traditional conference on the eve of the Moscow Pre-Moot was held. The conference was kicked off by a workshop in which Nadia Smahi (Associate at Bär & Karrer), Mag. Oliver Loksa (Counsel at Hausmaninger Kletter Rechtsanwälte-Gesellschaft m.b.H.) and Yulia Mullina (Executive Administrator at the Russian Arbitration Center) discussed virtual hearings and due process considerations that might arise in the course of such hearings.
During the first session of the conference, Prof. Dr. Ingeborg Schwenzer (Dean at Swiss International Law School and Professor (em. at University of Basel, Counsel and Arbitrator), Associate Prof. Dr. Andrey Schirvindt (Lomonosov Moscow State University), Prof. Loukas Mistelis (Queen Mary University of London) and Assistant Prof. Dr. Milena Djordjević (Director of Center for Legal Skills at the University of Belgrade) as a moderator discussed the legal standard of application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and whether it can provide an effective legal framework for contracts related to vaccines.
In the second session, Dr. Dorothee Schramm (Partner at Sidley Austin LLP), Boris Malakhov (Partner at Lidings) and Dr. Nadine Lederer (Senior Associate at Hogan Lovells) as a moderator discussed various questions related to the exclusive licenses, including third-party rights.
On 13 March 2021, the online rounds of the Pre-Moot began, with each team playing at least twice as claimant and respondent.
The second day of the general rounds took place on 14 March. Teams of Lomonosov Moscow State University and SASTRA University were qualified to the Final Round of the Moscow Pre-Moot arguing before Margaret L. Moses (Institute for International Law and Practice at Loyola University Chicago), Andrey Shirvindt (Lomonosov Moscow State University) and Jan Paulsson (Founding Partner of Three Crowns LLP).
The distinguished panel crowned Lomonosov Moscow State University team as a winner of the 2021 Moscow Pre-Moot. The best speaker - Dana Gabidullina (Lomonosov Moscow State University).
To summarise, we organised 109 rounds in two days, including the Final Round.
We received over 100 applications from the teams to join the Pre-Moot, but only 53 teams from Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Indonesia, India, Poland, Turkey, Serbia, Italy, China, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Netherlands, USA, Guatemala, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Singapore, Slovakia and Iran were admitted as participants.
More than 150 arbitrators expressed a desire to participate in the biggest Moscow Pre-Moot in its history, and another 20 arbitrators acted as emergency arbitrators.
We, more than 40 organisers and volunteers who administered the rounds, would like to thank all the teams and arbitrators for accomplishing our cherished goal to make the Moscow Pre-Moot a valuable platform for the teams to advance into elimination rounds in Vienna or Hong Kong and for the future career of the participants as international lawyers.
The Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration is grateful to UNCITRAL for its support. The Institute would also like to thank its partners: KIAP, Dentons, Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners, Lidings, and information partners: Global Arbitration News and Transnational Dispute Management.
In just one weekend, the Moscow Pre-Moot brought together more than 600 people!
