Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition 2007 organised (final rounds) at NALSAR on 27th September, 2007 in collaboration with the International Astronautically Federation (IAF) and International Institute of Space Law (IISL). Perhaps for the first time in the history of any Law School, three sitting judges of the International Court of Justice-Hague (ICJ) visited NALSAR. Their Excellencies Abdul G. Koroma, Peter Tomka and Hisashi Owada initially made brief presentations about the various legal issues that are being dealt at the ICJ and thereafter had a long interaction with the students of NALSAR. Students from various universities across the globe participated in it.

Named after late Judge Manfred Lachs, ex-president of the International Court of Justice, the competition is organized annually by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). Regional Competitions are organized in April at Europe, North America and in the Asia-Pacific. The Competition is in the form of a hypothetical dispute before the International Court of Justice. Participating teams are required to submit a formal written argument called a Brief for both the Applicant and Respondent state on the legal issues involved in the problem.  The presentation and the discussion primarily dealt with the issues pertaining to International Law, International Crimes and compliance of ICJ judgments. The Judges opined that the enforceability of Judgments of ICJ would never pose a problem because no State within the United Nations would like to appear to be a lawless state. Prof. Ghanshyam Singh, Registrar- NALSAR welcomed the gathering, which was presided over by Prof. Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor-NALSAR. Prof. V. Balakista Reddy proposed the vote of thanks. Later on the three ICJ Judges interacted with the faculty members and went around the picturesque Justice City campus of NALSAR. After interaction with the NALSAR students and faculty, the ICJ Judges presided over the International Finals of the prestigious 16th Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. In all 38 teams from world over participated.

Final Teams:  1) George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. Members: David J Western, Margin T Puig-Monsen and Carlos F. Laboy.  Coach: Prof Henry R Hertzfeld.  2) University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia. Members: Rola Lin, Brieanna Hamilton, Alexander Meaney,  Coach: Mr. Mathew Jones. These two teams won their semi finals held on 26th September 2007 at Hyderabad International Convention Centre, India.  During the finals held at NALSAR, George Washington University, USA won the competition and was awarded the Manfred Lachs Trophy. Queensland University, Australia emerged as the Runners Up. Ms.

Lynn was adjudged as the Best Oralist. Eilene M Galloway Award for Best Written Brief was given to Queensland University

Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition 2012 (Asia-Pacific Regional Rounds)

The Asia-Pacific  Regional  Round  of  The  2012  Manfred  Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition was organized by the Centre for Air & Space Law ( CASL), NALSAR University of Law on 22-23 June, 2012, in collaboration with the International Institute of  Space Law (IISL), Paris and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Manfred Lachs Moot Court competition comprised four regional rounds, namely- Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America Regional Rounds. The major objective of the Competition was to present a unique opportunity for law students to engage in  matters of public international law of contemporary relevance to outer space,  to  develop  their  legal  advocacy  skills  with  other  top  universities  from  throughout the world, and to interact in a unique forum for intellectual and cultural exchange.

The 2012 Asia-Pacific Regional Round has participation of eighteen teams from five countries throughout the Asia –Pacific Region. An impressive number of high quality judges for the written and oral proceedings of the competition from various countries include Mr. Michael Davis (Australia), Prof. Nipant Chitasombat, (Thailand), Mr. Kr Sridhara Murthi (India), Mr. Virgiliu Pop (Romania), Ms. Jessica Los Banos (Philippines), Prof. (Dr.) Gur Bachan Sachadeva (India), Mrs. Rajana Kaul (India) , Prof. Toshio Kosuge (Japan), Prof. Dr. (Mr) Doo Hwan Kim (Republic Of Korea), Ms. Simona Rocchi  (Italy), Ms. Matxalen Sánchez (Spain)  , Prof. (Mr.) Bob Youmans (USA).

The team from National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India was declared winner of this regional round. This is the same team that lifted the trophy for world champions of Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition 2012. Attached appreciation letter from Mrs. Tanja Masson-Zwaan, President, IISL, Paris.

NALSAR STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW,

AIR AND SPACE LAW MOOTS:

The Centre has endeavoured to promote opportunities for students to refine their knowledge and expertise in the field of International Law, Aviation Law and Space Law through exercises such as moot court competitions. As a measure for encouraging the detailed study of International Law, Aviation Law and Space Law and providing students with a diversity of legal resources and other tools for specific learning, the Centre for Air and Space Law, NALSAR, headed by Prof. V. Balaksita Reddy has been advising and encouraging many students to participate in various International Law related Moot Court Competitions including Air and Space Law. NALSAR students earned accolades in several Moot Court Competitions relating to International Law, Aviation Law and Space Law. Few important among them are:

Participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held from 27th to 30th January, 2000 at Chennai.

Participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Regional (India) Moot Court Competition held at Pondicherry. in January. 2001.

Won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (National Rounds) held at Chennai in January, 2006 (Team : Mr. Raghavendra P. Shankar, Mr. Rohan Kaul and Ms. Anuradha Agnihotri)

Semi-Finalists at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (Shearman & Sterling International Rounds) held at Washington D.C., U.S.A. in March, 2006 (Team : Mr. Raghavendra P. Shankar, Mr. Rohan Kaul and Ms. Anuradha Agnihotri)

Semi-Finalists at the Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot Court Competition (National Rounds) held at Bangalore in March, 2006 (Team : Mr. Santosh Krishnan, Mr. Aniruddha J and Mr. Dhananjaya Chak)

Octa-Finalists and ranked 5th in the Preliminary Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (Shearman and Sterling International Rounds) at Washington D.C., in April, 2007. (Team: Ms. Sowmya Rao, Mr. Vinay Kesari and Mr. Sandeep Challa). The team also bagged the Hardy C. Dillard award, got the 2nd Best Memorial award, the Alona E. Evans award and the 3rd Best Memorial In the International Rounds. Mr. Vinay Kesari was adjudged as the Best Oralist for Jessup from a Non-US Team.

Third Place in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (National Rounds) at Chennai in January, 2007 (Team: Ms. Sowmya Rao, Mr. Vinay Kesari and Mr. Sandeep Challa). The team bagged the Best Memorial. Mr. Vinay  Kesari got the 2nd Best Speaker award and  Ms. Sowmya got the 4th Best Speaker award.

Won the  Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (South India Rounds) held at University of Madras, Chennai in January, 2008 (Team : Dhananjaya Chak, Vasanth Padaki  and Swati Tripathi) Mr. Dhananjaya Chak was the Best Speaker of the finals and has been awarded a scholarship to pursue LL.M. Degree at the National University of Singapore.

Runners Up at Phillip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (South India Rounds) held at Chennai by Surana & Surana International Attorneys, during January, 2010.

Best Memorial at 13th Annual M.M. Singhvi Memorial Bar Council of India International Law Moot Court Competition, 2010 held at NLU, Jodhpur from January 28-31, 2010. (Team: Shruthi Chandrasekaran (Third Year), Jyotika Kaushik (Fifth Year), and Ms. Maria Khan (Fourth Year).

Runners Up at Phillip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (South India Rounds) – during January 28 -30, 2011, (Team: Mr. Aditya Singh, Mr. Rohan Saha, Mr. Malak Bhatt).

Won the Bar Council of India International Law Moot, 2011 held at KIIT, Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa in February 9-12, 2011 (Team: Mr. Mirza Saaib Beg, Mr. A.S. Vishwajith and Mr. Shrishail Navalgund). Mr. Mirza Saaib Beg  is Best Advocate in the finals.

Runners up in the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition, 2011 (ISRO National Funding Rounds). (Team- Jagdish John Menezes, RidhiKabra and Priyanka Vora).  Jagdish John Menezes won Best speaker.

Second Runners up and Second Best Memorial in the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition, 2011 (Asia- Pacific Rounds (Jakarta)):. (Team- Jagdish John Menezes, RidhiKabra and Priyanka Vora).  Jagdish John Menezes won Best speaker.

Mr. Abhay Raj Varma, Mr. Abhilaksh Grover and Mr. Palash Meena, fourth year students of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad participated in the national rounds of the Second Leiden International Air Law Moot Court Competition held at Chandigarh on the 29th of January 2011. The team was adjudged runners up of the competition, falling short of National Law University, New Delhi. The International Rounds were held at Dubai from March 12-15, 2011.

Semi – Finalists at the Sixth International Air Law Moot Court Competition held at Bucharest, Romania in March, 2014 (Team: Utkarsh Mishra, Dipankar Das and Ajey Karthik)

Octo-finalists at the 55th Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held at Washington, U.S. from April 6-12, 2014 (Team: Chinmayi Sharma, Ravishankar Krishnan, Debarpan Ghosh, and Srimukundan Narayanaswamy).

Runners up and Best Memorial in the India rounds of Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition 2016 (Team: Ms. Chinmayi Sharma, Mr.Debarpan Ghosh, Mr. Ravishankar Krishnan and Mr. Srimukundan N) Ms. Chinmayi Sharma was adjudged the third best student advocate held on January 29-31, 2016.

Won the Indian rounds and represented India in the international rounds at the International Law Moot Court Competition for Future International Lawyers in Asia (Asia Cup), 2017 held from August 22 to 23, 2017 at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan and the Nippon Foundation.  Team: Harsh Mahaseth, Anirudh Ramakrishnan, Mukbang Pertin and Vinoothna Vinjam.

Stood 8th at International Law Moot Court Competition for Future International Lawyers in Asia (Asia Cup), 2018 at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan and the Nippon Foundation held from August 27-28, 2018. Team – Shubhankar Ray (2017-5LLB-108), Mansi Meena (2017-5LLB-91), Archita Prawasi (2017-5LLB-09) and Khushboo Agarwal (2017-5LLB-86)