By Karen Mills, Board member
Each year ArbitralWomen provides support for a number of teams competing in the Vis and Vis East Moot competitions, in Vienna and Hong Kong, respectively, by covering the registration fees for such competitions. Teams may apply if they are constituted of at least half female participants, and the awards are given to those applicants with the greatest need, normally teams from developing countries that do not have sufficient funding or resources.
The Vis competitions provide law students with an invaluable opportunity, effectively to handle a major international commercial arbitration, from pleadings to argument, invariably involving tricky issues, both procedural and substantive. The students who are chosen by their Universities to compete work very hard, over long hours, on top of their normal curriculum. Many of our members assist as coaches in their jurisdiction, and/or sit as arbitrators in the competitions, and are always impressed by the quality of these students’ work and performance. Hundreds of teams compete in both competitions. Originally the competition was held only in Vienna, but 13 years ago one of ArbitralWomen’s founders, Louise Barrington, initiated, and continues to administer, a second Vis, the Vis East, in Hong Kong, to make it easier for Asian teams to attend. The success of the Vis competitions is such that teams from all over the world now compete in both Vienna and Hong Kong every year.
While in the first few years we were able to fund only a few teams, in the past two years we have received some support from law firms, other organisations as well as individuals which has allowed us to assist more teams. Another innovation in the past two years is the “President’s Award”, which is sponsored by our President, Rashda Rana, for an all-female team. Last year the President’s Award went to University of Indonesia’s all-women team, competing in Vienna, which scored extremely well both for the team itself and some of its oralists. This year the President’s Award was given to Gujarat National Law University, who will also compete in Vienna. Rashda, together with Karen Mills, have administered these awards each year, this year with the assistance of Bronwyn Lincoln as well.
The recipients, and sponsors, this year were:
For Hong Kong’s Vis East:
1. Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, award sponsored by Lara Pair, ArbitralWomen member;
2 & 3. Two awards were sponsored by Ashurst (thanks to Ben Giaretta): National Law School of India in Bangalore and Kyoto University.
And for Vienna’s Vis:
4. Kyoto University’s Vienna team, award sponsored by FTI Consulting (thanks to James Nicholson);
5 & 6. Two awards were sponsored by Perkins Coie (thanks to Paul Cohen): Washington University School of Law (in honour of the late Arthur Marriott), and University of Costa Rica; and
7. Gujarat National Law University received the President’s Award (thanks to Rashda Rana).
We wish, once again, to thank the sponsors for their very kind assistance, which has made it possible for these teams to participate.
We look forward to hearing good reports of our sponsored teams, and hope that more international law firms will consider participating in this highly valuable program by helping ArbitralWomen sponsor more teams in the future.
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Policy on Funding Moot Competition Teams
Each year ArbitralWomen provides support to a number of Teams who participate in dispute resolution competitions, such as the Vis or Vis East International Arbitration Moot by covering their registration fee.
Following are the conditions for the funding:
Any qualified team requesting financial assistance must complete an application form providing details of the teams, resources, and the reason for the requested assistance. The application form is available on the website, and may be amended from time to time as the Board deems appropriate.
The Board, through its Moot Bursary Committee, shall consider all applications received and decide which team(s) shall be supported through payment of its(their) registration fee to compete. In general, teams selected will be from different countries. Applications filed after the deadline will be disregarded.
Criteria of selection:
The team must reflect ArbitralWomen's mission of promoting the participation of women in dispute resolution, i.e. at least half of the members of a team must be women.
The team must demonstrate the need for financial assistance.
Priority will be given to teams:
who have not previously participated, and whose school has not previously participated;
who have no support from their universities or no coach;
who come from developing countries or jurisdictions which, in the sole discretion of the Board, are in the greatest need of support for the advancement of women in dispute resolution;
of smaller number of students composing the team (for example 4 students as opposed to 8).
An all-female team may be awarded the ArbitralWomen President’s Bursary if the other requirements are met.
Nothing in this Policy prevents a team, which has already received funding in one year, from applying in future years. The Board shall treat each application on its merits and in relation to other applications received for that particular year.
The Board shall effect payment to the final payee rather than directly to the team. In the event the team for any reason cannot participate, the Board at its sole option may request a refund from the organising authority, may request the organising authority to apply the funds to assist another team in that year, or may request that the funds be used to pay for another team in the following year.
Funding will, in the first instance, be sought from external sponsors, who shall be identified and introduced to the sponsored team(s). Further funding by ArbitralWomen itself in any given year will be contingent upon the existence and maintenance of sufficient funds in the account of ArbitralWomen. Each year, the Board will decide the number of awards to be given in that year. Nothing in this Policy obliges the Board to provide funding in any given year.
Although the ArbitralWomen Moot Bursaries are limited to payment of the registration fee, as mentioned above, there is nothing to prevent the chosen sponsors from providing additional assistance to the teams assigned as their "fundee", but any such arrangement will be made directly between the sponsor and the applicable team.