From September 29 to October 3, the University of Montevideo (UM) held the 9th Edition of the International Arbitration Competition. Students from over 50 universities worldwide traveled to Uruguay, including representatives from the Universidad Europea International Relations Degree program who made it to the final phase of the competition.
The competition was founded by the University of Buenos Aires and the University of El Rosario, Colombia, in 2008. It is a competitive educational initiative that aims to foster the study of international trade law and including arbitration as a means of resolving disputes. Participants, who simulate attorneys, compete against each other by putting forward the arguments of their hypothetical clients, in writing and orally, to arbitration courts comprised of leading arbitrators and academics who assess their presentations.
In this latest edition the competition brought together around 400 students, 125 professors or mentors, and 130 arbitrators. The teams, including the Universidad Europea, were formed by a total of four speakers and two or three assistants, guided by one or more professors. In the case of the Universidad Europea the students were led by Jesús Alfonso Soto, professor and researcher in Commercial, Competition and Consumer Law.