Four students from Shanghai's Fudan University yesterday secured a place in the finals of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the largest and most prestigious international competition of its kind in the world, giving legal studies in China a strong boost.
The four winners will fly to Washington DC to participate in the finals to be held from March 31 to April 5, where hundreds of teams from more than 80 countries will also gather.
The First Chinese National Round of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which closed yesterday, attracted law schools from the nation's 10 top universities, including Renmin University of China, Peking University, Nanjing University, Nankai University and Fudan University.
After facing off against the other nine teams, Fudan University's team proved to have the winning combination. They beat their challengers while debating a hypothetical dispute involving war time rape.
"The competition will inspire Chinese law school students to improve their calibre and capability," said Ji Baocheng, president of Renmin University of China -- the university which sponsored the event.
Founded in 1959, the annual Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, dubbed the Olympics of international law, brings together students from more than 700 law schools from over 90 countries.
(China Daily February 25, 2003)