October 4, 2018 – Bremen, Germany

At the 69th International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany, the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) organized the Final Rounds of the 2018 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. Altogether, world-wide teams participated in the four Regional Rounds.

As the outcome of the pleads, an African team – made up of students from the University of Pretoria – has won the International Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition.

The World Finals on 4 October 2018 were judged by three sitting Members of the International Court of Justice (ICJ): H.E. Judge Hanqin Xue, H.E. Judge Peter Tomka, and H.E. Judge Kirill Gevorgian.

The problem, entitled Case Concerning Cyber Attack and Liability Issues (Neapilia v. Kalvion), on issues relating to activities in outer space carried out in parallel by two States, planetary protection, and outer space security, was authored by Dr. Marco Ferrazzani and Dr. George D. Kyriakopoulos.

The 2018 Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition Winning Team — (c) Melissa K. Force

Winner of the World Final of Manfred Lachs Moot Court competition and recipient of the Lee Love Award:

University of Pretoria (South Africa), Simon Botha and Mr. Simon Motshweni

Runner-Up:

Symbiosis Law School in Pune, India (AP), Shraddha Dubey, Someny Singhal and Malay Srivastava

Semi-Finalists:

Louisiana State University (North America), Zach Miller and Max Roberts

Belarusian State University (Belarus), Darya Bohdan and Alena Laurenava

Best Memorials, Eilene Galloway Award:

Belarusian State University (Belarus), Darya Bohdan and Alena Laurenava

Best Oralist, Sterns and Tennen Award:

Mr. Simon Botha, University of Pretoria (South Africa)

Semi-Final Judges:

Oral Pleadings

Prof. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz (United States), Dr. Marco Ferrazzani (France), Dr. George D. Kyriakopoulos (Greece), Leslie I. Tennen, Esq. (United States), Asst. Prof. Tanja Masson-Zwaan (Netherlands), Professor Jose Monserrat (Brazil), Prof. K R Sridhara Murthi (India), Sumara Thompson-King, Esq. (United States)

Memorials

Prof. Melissa deZwart (Australia), Adv. Phetole Sekhula (South Africa), Dr. Marco Ferrazzani (France), Chuck Dickey (United States), Dr. Catherine Doldirina (Italy),Prof. Steven Freeland (Australia), Dr. George D. Kyriakopoulos (Greece)

Final Judges:

H.E. Judge Hanqin Xue, International Court of Justice

H.E. Judge Peter Tomka, International Court of Justice

H.E. Judge Kirill Gevorgian, International Court of Justice

Brochure:

Please see attached.