A Bacolod lawyer will serve as a judge in the International Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. in April.
Lawyer Ralph Sarmiento, former dean of the College of Law at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City, was selected as one of the five recipients of the inaugural Rusty Dalferes Memorial Fund to serve as a moot court judge.
“I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the International Law Students Association (ILSA) and the Rusty Dalferes Memorial Fund Committee and I am thrilled to be a part of this prestigious event, especially as it marks the first in-person international rounds in four years,” Sarmiento wrote on his Facebook page.
The other recipients are Prof. Lu Shegay, national administrator of Jessup Kazakhstan, Prof. Ivonei Souza Trindade of Brazil, SJD candidate Oluwateniola Akinbodewa from the United States, and Ramiz Husaini, the director of the Jessup Alumni Association in Afghanistan.
The Jessup is the largest moot court competition, with participants from around 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions. To reach the international rounds, a team must win their national qualifying rounds, Sarmiento said.
The Jessup 2023 Competition problem concerns the interpretation of a peace treaty, deadly attacks in allegedly occupied territory, the imposition of unilateral economic sanctions, and the legal consequences of failing to dispose of hazardous waste properly, he said.
Sarmiento is an accomplished academic in the Philippines with extensive experience in Public International Law, ILSA said.
He is the author of a Bar Reviewer on Public International Law and has served as a Bar reviewer and lecturer on International Law for many years.
Sarmiento was the dean of the USLS College of Law from 2010-2017 where he earned his Juris Doctor degree Magna Cum Laude in 1997 and placed 10th in the Philippine Bar Examinations.
He has been closely involved with the Jessup for many years, serving as National Administrator of the Philippines, as well as a judge.
Saemiento also served as a William Fulbright Institute Fellow at Temple University, a Swiss Institute Du Fédéralisme scholar at Fribourg University, and a consultant to the ASEAN Regional Forum.*