Winners and Runners-up of ALSA Singapore Moot Competition 2023 pictured with the Guest of Honour, corporate sponsors and judges. From Left to Right: Mr Kalidass Murugaiyan, Mr Wong Kok Weng, Assoc Prof Ferlin Jayatissa, Ms Luo Ling Ling, Nur Rashida Binte Sabtu, Mohamed Harith Iskandar bin Mohamed Anwwar, Prof Andrew Simester, Mr Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir SC, Prof Leslie Chew SC, Chua Jun Sheng Hansel and B Kausalyah.
Our heartiest congratulations to the SUSS School of Law students for winning all categories at the Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) Singapore Moot Competition 2023. Chua Jun Sheng Hansel and B Kausalyah were crowned Champions in the Team category while Nur Rashida Binte Sabtu and Mohamed Harith Iskandar bin Mohamed Anwwar brought home First Runner-up in the same category.
In addition, SUSS Chua Jun Sheng Hansel clinched the best speaker prize while Mohamed Harith Iskandar bin Mohamed Anwwar was the runner-up for best speaker.
Open to all law students in Singapore, the ALSA Singapore Moot Competition 2023 is their inaugural mooting competition. This competition is practice-based with the theme being criminal law and focuses on the sentencing of the accused, providing participants with the opportunity to emulate the work of criminal lawyers.
The moot comprised three rounds held in a hybrid format, simulating the nature of advocacy in Singapore today. The preliminaries and finals were judged by panels comprising experienced academics from the National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Social Sciences, defence lawyers from Kalidass Law Corporation and Luo Ling Ling LLC, and Prosecutors from the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Mr Wong Kok Weng, Chief Public Defender, graced the finals as the Guest of Honour.
Reflecting on their success at the competition, Hansel shared, “Participating in the ALSA Singapore Moot Competition 2023 was one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had in law school. The ability to put into practice the substantive knowledge I gained from being in SUSS law, and from working as a paralegal at Covenant Chambers, was exciting, as it gave me a taste of what practice would be like after graduation. Although the anxiety was often high before the deadlines for our written submissions, the constant debates between my teammate and I had when tried to decide on the best case to run, were extremely exhilarating. I really enjoyed the oral advocacy portion of the competition as it gave me the platform to justify my legal arguments in the face of tough, but valid questions thrown at us by the judges. Overall, it is undeniable that this competition prepared me for the rigours of actual legal practice. Furthermore, winning the competition gave me more confidence in my decision to become a litigation lawyer in the future.”
His teammate, B Kausalyah ruminated on their experience, “This was our first mooting experience. We entered this competition not knowing what to expect and emerged pleasantly surprised and grateful for how enriching and enlightening this experience had been. The competition offered me a glimpse into advocacy in real life and the judges’ comments are very helpful in helping me improve my advocacy skills.”