What is the Vis East Capacity Building Project?
The Vis East CBP brings the skills and knowledge of international arbitration to law students in countries where these resources are limited or non-existent. Last year, our pilot project began in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where we worked with students from five
law schools to educate, train, and set up a sustainable structure for the study of international arbitration and the rule of law.
What is the current situation?
With international arbitration becoming the primary way to resolve disputes between people from different countries, those lawyers and law students in countries without the expertise and knowledge are at a serious disadvantage. Many students don’t have access
to books, internet or professors who have experience in international arbitration. Arbitration isn’t part of the curriculum at their schools. So when, as lawyers, they must participate in an international arbitration, they have no experience on which to base
their presentation. Thus many parties who have a strong legal case may lose out because they don’t know how to prepare for and conduct an arbitration.
Some of the more fortunate students get the opportunity to learn and practice international arbitration abroad in countries with more modern legal education systems. But often these students stay and work abroad, so that their home country loses some of
their brightest students and continues to lack the expertise it requires.
Our Answer
Phase 1
In September 2015, we will send a team of volunteers and coaches back to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to facilitate a 10-day intensive course, including sources of law, international organisations and treaties, and international commercial law and techniques. The
programme includes a two-day programme on international arbitration law and practice. In early October, when the problem for the moot is released, the visiting coaches get the students started on preparations and give them a timeline for the various tasks
they need to accomplish before going to Hong Kong for Phase 2. Last year, during our pilot project, while we lost some of the less resilient students, we ended with 28 proud survivors.
Phase 2
In Phase Two, one or more school teams from Cambodia fly to Hong Kong to participate in the Willem C. Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moot. In the spring of 2016, the students will join the other competitors in Hong Kong where they will participate
in the 13th Willem C. Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moot. There they will be able to showcase the skills they have learned, while simultaneously learning from the other competitors. The Moot is not only a competition but also a chance
for the students to build a network of support and friendship with the brightest law students from around the world.
What is the Moot?
The Moot is an educational exercise for law students in the form of a competition. Using a problem based on the Convention on the International Sale of Goods, the students learn by doing, the most important skills for working in international law.
This year, the 12th Vis East Moot will host 108 law schools and over 1200 participants. The students are doing legal research, legal analysis, drafting, practicing their advocacy skills and learning how to work as a professional team. The teams
prepare for the moot for a period of six months in which they present both written and oral phases of the competition.
In the spring of each year, the students gather in Hong Kong for the orals week where they present their cases before seasoned international arbitrators who judge their performance and give them valuable tips on how to improve. The students who join us in
Hong Kong will not only learn skills which will help them to be successful but will also make contacts and friendships that will last many years after they leave the competition.
Call to Action
While many of us have access to the resources we need to create a successful career, some students are hampered by poverty, civil unrest and civil wars. Whether you can give $100, $500, or the change in your pocket, every donation helps us give these students
the opportunity to gain the knowledge and experiences that will not only help them but will also help better prepare their home country in the field of international arbitration.
