The International ADR Mooting Competition is an international mediation and arbitration competition that is open to all universities. It is conducted by City University of Hong Kong in association with the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Columbia University (New York).

Professor George Bermann of Columbia Law School, Professor Michael Reisman of Yale University, and Justice Wan Exiang, Vice President of the Supreme People?s Court of the People?s Republic of China, have agreed to serve as Honorary Patrons of the Competition.

This Competition is also supported by a number of Universities and Organizations as Member Institutions, including School of Law of Tsinghua University, College of Law of Korea University, School of International Law of China University of Politics and Law, School of Law of Hunan Normal University, Murdoch University through the West Australian Institute of Dispute Management and the Mediation Centre of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The International ADR Moot is a competition for law students, either undergraduate or postgraduate. Because it is a competition that involves both mediation and arbitration it provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in the practice of these two important areas of dispute resolution.

In each round teams will be engaged in both mediation and arbitration. The sequence followed will be that the dispute will be arbitrated followed by mediation. At the conclusion of the arbitral hearing the two legal counsel for each side will divide their duties during the mediation with one acting as client and the other as attorney/legal counsel.

A third student from each university competing will act as an arbitrator and mediator for a different moot in which two other universities are competing. This student will serve initially as an arbitrator (one of three) sitting as the arbitral panel. Then the student will personally conduct the mediation that follows the arbitration.

This competition is unique in how it combines mediation and arbitration. We aim to provide students with an opportunity to develop a high level of skills in both mediation and arbitration.

While competition will be intense we also strive to develop values of collegiality between teams who will come together in an atmosphere of friendship and respect. We hope that both professional contacts and relationships of friendship will be established during the competition.