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SL team emerges victorious at the John H Jackson Moot Court Competition for the first time

29 Jun 2021

In an unprecedented development, a team from Sri Lanka has won the Final Round of the John H Jackson Moot Court Competition for the first time in history, The Morning learnt. The winning Sri Lankan team representing the University of Colombo comprised of Mr. Avishka Jayaweera, Ms. Adithya Ramanitharan, Mr. Sandun Batagoda and Ms. Saheli Wikramanayake, who were coached by Harish Balakrishnan and Harrison Mbori. Ms. Wikramanayake, who clinched the title of best orator of the Grand Final told The Morning that participating in this tournament was an incredible learning experience, beyond just the legal skills acquired. “The support we received from so many people, both from Sri Lanka and abroad, has been very inspiring, and none of what we achieved could have been possible without all their help. I hope our achievement paves the way for even more law students in Sri Lanka to try their hand at mooting, because it has been such a rewarding experience,” she stated. Meanwhile, Avishka Jayaweera was judged the Best Orator in the Quarter-final Rounds. In addition to winning the 19th edition of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition, the team also took home the awards for the Best Written Submission on behalf of the Respondent at both the West & South Asia Regional Rounds and the Global Final Rounds of the same. The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition is a simulated hearing under the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement system involving exchanges of written submissions and adversarial hearings before panelists on international trade law issues. The competition is organized by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) with the technical support of the WTO. In 2018, the competition was named after John H. Jackson, an eminent scholar and a forefather of the multilateral trading system.


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