The Gazette 1990

GAZETTE

PRIL

1990

S A D S I takes on

the wor ld

A SADSI team has just returned from Washington DC where it took

part in the World Semi-Finals of the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court

Competition. This is the largest moot competition in the world and

attracted 39 teams from the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe

(East and West).

The SADSI team represented

Ireland and the national squad was

composed as follows: Rosemary

O'Farrell and T. P. Kennedy both of

McCann FitzGerald; Monika Leech

of Liam Lysaght & Co.; Dermot

Cahill of Gerard O'Keeffe and Co.;

and Joseph Kelly of A&L Goodbody.

The format of the competition

was that teams were asked to

consider a fictional situation in

which waste was dumped in An-

tarctica. An international dispute

developed between the country

responsible and another state

which sought to enforce internat-

ional law prohibiting such dumping.

Each team which qualified for the

semi-finals was required to submit

detailed written pleadings for both

the applicant and respondent states.

The teams were then required to

travel to Washington D.C. to present

their best arguments, twice on

behalf of the applicant state and

twice on behalf of the respondent

state before a "court" of three

judges. The judges were lawyers or

academics with a background in

international law and we soon

discovered that there was one

sadistic pleasure that they found

irresistible — the use of their

extensive legal knowledge in frequent

questions. We soon came to relish

this battle of wits and even from

time to time gained the upper hand.

On arrival, we found that we had

been drawn against Australia,

Greece, Japan and one of the

American teams. The Australian

team (from the University of New

South Wales) were devastating and

gained the advantage over our duo

of Rosemary and Joe, with Monika

acting as Counsel.

However, we were somewhat

more fortunate to win more de-

cisive victories against Greece (the

University of Thrace) and Japan

(Rikkyo University). Unfortunately,

in our last round we lost to the U.S.

team (University of IOWA) on a split

decision by the judges.

We were very pleased to have

ended up in the middle of the points

classification table, most especially

when we were placed above our

near neighbours from the United

Kingdom. Is this a good omen for

June? The contest was won by an

American team from the Georgia

School of Law who beat the team

from the University of Toronto in

the final.

The rest of the week was given

over to receptions and parties,

seeing the sights and attending

sessions of the Conference of the

American Society of International

Law and the Congress of Internat-

ional Law Journals. One highlight

was a seminar given by the U.S.

State Department on the Legal

aspects of the recently declared

"War on Drugs". The chairman of

the Drugs Enforcement Agency

spoke as did one of the legal

advisors to George Bush.

Of equal interest was a reception

given by Covington and Burling,

one of the largest U.S. law firms.

The size of their offices made a

large impression, comparable to

Liberty Hall.

Of more importance to some of

our team were the parties and more

informal events. The Irish contin-

gent maintained the national

reputation for sociability and tall

tales. In the course of the week,

some of the team members

attained a startling proficiency in

Papuan and Greek drinking songs,

an accomplishment they were

anxious to display to their sleeping

colleagues at an early hour of the

morning. We departed Washington

with pleasant memories of internat-

ional gatherings and an increased

confidence in our ability as Irish

Lawyers to compete with the best

of our counterparts from other

jurisdictions.

In conclusion we would like to

thank the many people who

enabled us to enter the competition

and to compete effectively. Our

very special thanks go to Liz

Heffernan of the Law Reform

Commission and Eanna Mulloy, B.L.

for their invaluable assistance and

unfailing enthusiasm in coaching

the team. It is undoubtedly due to

their persistence and constant

encouragement that the team

managed to advance as far as we

did and we are most grateful to

both of them.

We would also like to express our

gratitude to our respective employ-

ers who were all most generous in

their personal encouragement as

well as their practical assistance.

Finally, we would like to pay

tribute to our sponsors without

whose contributions our trip to

Washington D.C. would not have

been possible: The Incorporated

Law Society of Ireland; Liam

Lysaght & Co., Solicitors; McCann

FitzGerald, Solicitors; A&L Good-

body, Solicitors; Gerard O'Keeffe &

Co., Solicitors; Eugene F. Collins &

Son, Solicitors; William Fry & Sons,

Solicitors; British Midland Airways;

Eugene Magee Travel; Eagle Star/

Shield Life; The General Council of

the Bar of Ireland; First National

Building Society; Bank of Ireland-

Stoneybatter; Bord Telecom Eireann;

Telecom Eireann Information

Systems;. Black Tie; Round Hall

Press; Diarmuid O'Donovan, S.C.;

T. V. Davy, S.C.; T. K. Liston, S.C.;

Eoghan Fitzsimons, S.C.; Feichin

McDonagh, B.L.; Peter Charleton,

B.L.; Maurice Gaffney, S.C.; Ultan

Stephenson, Solicitor; Paul Kearney,

Solicitor; Kevin Hoy, Solicitor; Dr.

Carmel Heaney.

We would also like to thank the

following persons for their most

gracious support in the run-up to

the contest. Thank you to one and

all: Mr. Charles J. Haughey, T.D.,

President of the European Council;

Eamonn G. Hall; Professor Richard

Woulfe; Ernest J. Margetson; Ms.

Sandra Fisher; Rayprint; SADSI;

Radio 2000/98FM; Mr. David Ensor

(Eugene F. Collins & Son); Ms.

Siobhan Williams; Ms Adrienne

Lougheed (Liam Lysaght & Co.) Ms.

Ruth Hutchinson-Blake; Ms. Aiffric

Egan and Ms. Carmel Kearney.

T. P. Kennedy.

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