2013 Niagara Tournament Kicks Off Next Week

Check out this press release on next week's 2013 Niagara International Moot Court competition.  And you can learn more about the competition at cusli.org.

This year's problem was co-written by Professor Michael P. Scharf and Professor Michael A. Peil, and centers on competing international legal obligations in the counter-terrorism context.

Fifteen teams from Canada and the United States will be competing to see who wins the final round.

UN Security Council Ombudsperson, Kimberly Prost, a former Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court, Ian Binnie, C.C., and the former head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, Judge Thomas G. Snow will judge the competition's final round.

If you can't make next week's competition in Toronto, stayed tuned to CUSLI Nexus for competition updates.

FP Talks Canada-U.S. Territorial Disputes, Let's Add Some Legal Context

By Keith Edmund White, Editor-in-Chief

12/03/2012 Update:  Josh Keating was nice enough to put up with my good-natured sarcasm to tell me the Moot Court link provide below doesn't work.  Not sure why this is, but http://www.cusli.org/niagara/2010_2011_archive.html is the full site, and it's available through cusli.org.  [Full instructions:  go to cusli.org; put your mouse cursor over "Niagara" on the sites top banner; click "Archives"; and then,finally, click "2011"; at which point, you shall see the materials for the 2010-2011 Niaraga Moot Court Competition involving an Arctic martime dispute between Canada and the United States.]  Sorry for the technical difficulties.

FP's Joshua Keating blogs on outstanding Canada-U.S. territorial disputes.  He correctly notes that while Machias Island may be attracting the NYTimes attention--and that of Stephen R. Kelly of the Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University--that the perhaps issue may be emerging maritime claims between these two strong allies.

Craving more than a Wikipedia listing of disputes, and some legal analysis for how two of these issues may be resolved?  Check out CUSLI's archives for the 2011 Niagara International Moot Court.  It's a fascinating moot case, written by CWRU law professor Michael Scharf, dealing with the legal status of the emerging Northwest Passage and the Canadian-U.S. Beaufort Sea territorial disputes.

P.S.  Law students, take heart, while you can't use Wikipedia as a source, FP bloggers can.  Yes, this should be mocked, especially since spending another 30 seconds Googling would have found this much better graphic and article from The Globe and Mail which is sampled below: 

Niagara International Moot Court Competition Takes D.C. By Storm

Dear Readers,

Sorry for our recent pause from posting.  But the Niagara International Moot Court competition, being held in Washington, D.C., has stolen the attention of the blog's staff this week.   The competition is sponsored by the Canada United States Law Institute, one of the projects of this rich partnership between Case Western Reserve University and the University of Western Ontario.

Law schools from across the United States and Canada have descended upon the American capital to debate a problem focusing on two critical issues:  (1) when and how nations can invoke self-defense to defend themselves from unconventional threats, and (2) what role does the Responsibility to Protect doctrine play in international law.  This question is particularly relevant as the international community confronts what a UN panel has considered Syrian crimes against humanity against their own citizens.

Tonight we’ll know the team winner, team awards for written memorials, and individual speaking awards.  But, whatever the results, this competition is an incredible learning opportunity for students, and also showcases the important relationship between the United States and Canada.  Special thanks to competition chair (noted arbitration attorney, founder of InvestmentClaims.com, and Columbia Law lecturer) Ian A. Laird, CUSLI board and members who have put on this incredible show, the incredible judges who have spent their Friday and Saturday listening to arguments, and Cox International Law Center director professor Michael Scharf who crafted such a relevant and nuanced problem.

A quick shout-out to the sponsors:  DLA Piper, Fasken Martineau, Baker Hostetler, King & Spalding, Crowell Moring, and the Government of Canada.   

And finally, just look at this esteemed panel of judges for the final rounds:  Former ICTY judge Patricia M. Wald, current Ombudsperson for Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee Kimberly Prost, and former Co-Prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Robert Petit.  Learn more about the competition here.