The CESL Vis team participated in the 17th annual Willem C. Vis(East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition, which was held from March 23 to March 29, 2020. Due to the Covid-19 virus, the competition was held online.

During the six-month preparation, the members of the CESL Vis team kept active, made efforts to overcome technical problems and successfully completed the online competition.

After winning the second prize of 17th “CIETAC Cup”held in November 2019, the team members immediately devoted themselves to preparing for the Vis Moot 2020.Throughextensive legal research, in depth discussions and repeated revisions of the arguments, the team submitted two final submissions by the end of 2019. The team then devoted themselves to preparing for the oral presentations.

Due to Covid-19, the team members were separated in different parts of the county and could only practice for the competition online, which posed some challenges. However, the team spared no effort to prepare.With the generous help of student coaches and professors,they conducted regular online trainings, where they supervised and encouraged each other, and each made great improvements in their mooting skills.

The student coach team, consisting of Tao Zhilin, Guo Jingjuan, Wang Chengyue, Wang Lulu and other senior students, provided the team with important guidance. The rigorous training and consistent feedback helped the members to improve their analytical and presentation methods.

(Daily training with student coaches)

Team coaches Professors Monty Silley, Susan Wintermuth and Monika Prusinowska shared their deep professional experience with the team. They actively engaged with the mooters in additional training. Practice sessions with other university teams were also planned. During the online pre-moots with Shantou University, Bond University in Australia, Hamburg University and Münster University in Germany, the CESL Vis team gained positive recognition and valuable suggestions for improvement. The CESL professors also offered practical guidance and valuable ideas, which helped the team to greatly improve their skills.

(CESL online pre-moot with the University of Hamburg)

In the first round of the competition, the CESL team represented by Ke Xi and Yi Chen faced Nagoya University. The CESL team won the recognition of the arbitrators, which constituted a good start of this year’s competition. In the second round, team members Zhang Shuyuan and Liu Lusheng faced Jodhpur National Law School of India. The Indian team's accent was a challenge for the members to follow online, but they overcame it. In the third round, Chen Weiqin and Jiang Jiaying pleaded on behalf of the applicant. The respondent was the German Heidelberg University. The two sides displayed their positions through answering extensive questions from the arbitrators. In the last round, Zhang Shuyuan and Jiang Jiaying faced Freiburg University in Germany, and the team ended with a solid performance.

(The second round represented by Zhang Shuyuan and Jiang Jiaying answered many arbitrator questions)

Although the arbitrators and opposing teams had sometimes very different styles, after receiving the guidance and feedback of senior students, the members managed to confront the challenge with better tactics.

Combining the invaluable guidance from the professors, the strong support from the student coaches, and the mutual encouragement of the team members created an unforgettable memory for each team member. The virus was a restriction to travelling, but not to the enthusiasm of the CESL Vis team. The team continues their mooting work and will strive for further achievements in this year's Vis offline competition.

(CESL Vis Team with coach Prof. Prusinowska)

CESL Vis Team