By Raihan Rahman Rafid

The 3rd Bangladesh Qualifying Round of Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, 2019 was held at Independent University Bangladesh from 21-23 February. The University of Dhaka team emerged as the new champion and Eastern University became the runner-up of the national round of Jessup Bangladesh 2019 from the 31 participating universities.

Jessup moot court competition is the most prestigious moot court competition of law students that gather participants from more than 100 countries in the international round. Jessup Bangladesh Competition is the national round of the international competition, which is the fifth largest qualifying round.

Ms. Psymhe Wadud from the University of Dhaka bagged the Best Advocate award for her excellent performance. The University of Dhaka team also received the Best Memorial award. On the other hand, BRAC University and Jagannath University were respectively awarded the Second Best Memorial and Third Best Memorial awards. North East University and Northern University were jointly recognized with the Spirit of the Jessup Award. Jahangirnagar University was announced as the Best New Team.

This is the third season of the national qualifying round held in Bangladesh. International Law Students Association Bangladesh (ILSA) in association with the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) – U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), TEER- City Group, Independent University, Bangladesh, and Bangladesh Chapter of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL Bangladesh), have jointly organized the most reputed moot court competition in Bangladesh.

Attorney General for Bangladesh, Mahbubey Alam declared the competition open in the inauguration ceremony on 21st February held at the hotel the Amari Dhaka. Mahbubey Alam was the Chief Guest of the ceremony. The competition rounds started from 22nd February and the final rounds of the competition were held on 23rd February.

The final round was adjudicated by Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, Honorable Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed,  and Justice Mamoon Rahman, honorable Judge of the High Court Division.  In the closing session, the guests highly appreciated the noticeable participation of female law students in the competition and applauded the equal representation of women.

Mr. Eric Opanga, Resident Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of Justice, OPDAT, U.S. Embassy Dhaka, thanked all the organizers and the collaborators for their endeavor. Mr. Md. Forhad Hossain, Head of Sales of City Group, said ‘We have a dream for Bangladesh’ and wished for the success of the participants. He hoped that the participants will make a great contribution to the country.

The session was chaired by Professor Dr. Borhan Uddin Khan, Advisor, Department of Law, IUB and President, AsianSIL Bangladesh.

The two finalist teams of the Bangladesh qualifying round will be participating in the international round of the 60th Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition to be held in Washington DC.