Foreign Direct Investment International Arbitration Moot
Regionals and National Rounds
Regionals and Nationals facilitate (reduceed fees, financial support) teams' access to the FDI Moot. Teams from outside the regions below continue to participate directly in the Globals and remain eligible for financial support subject to the usual considerations (availability of funds, HDI index of home country, number of team members travelling, travel costs, etc).
All Africa Regional, video-conference hearings, 4-9 Aug 2020
The 2020 FDI Moot All Africa Regional will be held 4-9 August as a virtual round, judged by renowned international arbitrators. The video conference hearing times for the All Africa Regional will be each day 4-9 August at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM UTC.
has sponsored (2017, 2019-21) a USD1500 annual prize for the winner of the All Africa Regional. This multi-year sponsorship now gives us a solid foundation from which to seek additional support to give international opportunities to promising young lawyers in Africa.
has been a prize sponsor for the Africa Regional in 2016 and 2018 and has now agreed to sponsor a USD500 annual prize for the Best Advocate of the Final Match (2019-21). The prize is awarded in the name of late International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) President Noël Ferris.
has committed USD3000 to the 2020 Wälde Fund earmarked to support the top teams advancing from All Africa Regional. Three Crowns is also delighted to announce that it will provide coaching assistance (by videoconference) to the winner of the FDI Moot’s All Africa Regional. The initiative is part of Three Crowns’ larger commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in international arbitration.
Sub-regional/National Rounds in Africa
Due to uncertainties associated with covid-19, the 2020 EAC (Kenya), ECOWAS (Nigeria/Ghana) and SADC (South Africa) and Ethiopia Sub-regionals (Nationals) and the Egypt National will be
- held as virtual (video-conference) rounds and
- integrated into the 2020 All Africa Regional (AAR) at the beginning of August.
CILS and the Sub-region organisers will jointly organise the integrated AAR.
The top 3 teams of the AAR will advance to the 2020 FDI Moot Globals; the top 2 teams will receive financial support toward their travel to and accommodation at the Globals. In addition to the top 3 teams of the AAR, in 2020 the top team from each Sub-region will be identified and advance to the Globals with financial support from the sponsors of each Sub-region.The platform for the virtual AAR will be ZOOM. Teams/team members and arbitrators need only free “Basic” Zoom accounts; the Zoom video-conferences will be hosted on the "Professional" Zoom accounts of the AAR organisers.
The reduced 2020 AAR registration fee is EUR45 / team.
Ethiopia National Round
Dates, venue, organiser, Reduced registration fee: TBD.
Ghana National Round
Dates, venue, organiser, Reduced registration fee: TBD
Kenya/East African Community (EAC) Round
16-17 July 2020, Africa Nazarene University, Law School. Reduced registration fee: EUR45 per team.
Nigeria National Round
Dates, venue, organiser, Reduced registration fee: TBD
South Africa/Southern African Development Community (SADC) Round
15-16 July 2020, Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) Sandton, Student Litigation Society (SLS).Reduced registration fee: ZAR750 or EUR45 per team.
Virtual New Delhi, 28-30 August 2020
Hosted via Zoom at The Indian Society of International Law and organised by the Center for International Legal Studies (email: southasia@fdimoot.org)
Teams from the South Asia Region must participate via the New Delhi Regional, with the top Regional teams from each advancing to the Globals and eligible for support from the Thomas Wälde Team Fund.
The South Asia Regional host has arranged for subsidised Registration Fees for teams from India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan and for teams from Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
Teams not among the top performers in New Delhi may still top up their registration fees to take part in the Globals (no access to TWF support).
Indication of the wish to top up and participate in the Globals has to be sent to the FDI Administration within 10 days following the completion of the Regional Orals and may be subject to overall capacity restrictions at the Globals, in which case such teams will be accepted to the Globals according to the Regional ranking and first-come, first serve.
No 2020 Asia-Pacific Regional
Asia-Pacific teams participate directly in the Seoul Globals. National opportunities (practice, financial support) available - see below.
China National Round
The China National Round (teams from HKSAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan are also eligible) will be organised by SHENZHEN COURT OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION (SCIA). JINCHENG TONGDA & NEAL (JT&N), a leading full-service law firm in China and Asia, is the National Sponsor of the Shenzhen FDI Moot. Together they are organising attractive financial support for teams advancing to the Globals; coaching by expert practitioners, academics, in-house counsels, and judges; priority internship opportunities; and honours for the winning teams and top advocates.
In 2020, Chinese teams may participate directly in the Global Rounds and will be eligible to participate in the Shenzhen FDI Pre-Moot, 16-18 October, to gain practice, to network and to win financial prizes. Interested teams may contact 邓凯馨 DENG Kaixin (Legal Counsel of International Cooperation and Development Department, SCIA), also via FdiMootSZ@scia.com.cn. Please see our Official Release
Vietnam National Round
18-20 July 2020 to be organised from Hanoi as a virtual (video-conference) round. Specific hearing times to be announced in May.
Thomas Wälde Fund
All teams advancing from a Regional to the Global Rounds and eligible for support from the Thomas Wälde Fund, i.e. from low or medium income (HDI) countries, must return the completed application for monetary assistance form before the Claimant Memorial deadline. Untimely applications will not be considered.
All eligible and timely applications remain subject to the usual considerations: availability of funds, HDI index of home country, number of team members travelling, travel costs, etc., and will be notified within a fortnight after the deadline.
Memorials
All registered teams (regardless of participating or advancing through a Regional) may submit full memorials to compete in the written awards. Teams advancing from the Regionals to the Global must submit full memorials.
