Dar Al Hekma University crowned as the winner of the 8th Annual Middle East Vis for the fifth year in a Row

The Dar Al-Hekma University Law Team, for the 5th time have been crowned the best Law team in the Middle East by winning the 8th Annual Middle East Vis International Commercial Arbitration Pre Moot’s  ‘Regional Champion Award’. This accolade cements their position as the best Law school in the Middle East once again!

Not only did the Dar Al-Hekma University Law Team win the overall competition, they won a further 3 out of 5 awards. The team were awarded, in addition ‘Best Claimant Memorandum’, ‘Best Respondent Memorandum’ and student Bashayer Binyamin was awarded the ‘MENA Chambers Award’. This award recognises one promising young lawyer of the future, from all the participating countries, who showed exceptional talent, character and flair.

The Dar Al-Hekma University Law Team consisted of  students Dana Al-Aqeel, Ragad Al-Faraidy, Yara Al-Sayegh, Bashayer Binyamin, Rana Mudarris and Hadeel Tayeb. They were coached by Duaa Amer and Wid Massoud supported by alumnae Jude Jamjoom and Dara Sahab. The Dar Al-Hekma University Law Team Faculty advisor for the competition was Sairah Narmah-Alqasim.

Dr. Suhair Al Qurashi, the President of Dar Al-Hekma University, expressed her happiness and proudness of such an amazing achievement, she said: “I am delighted that the hard work put in by faculty members and students of our law team has been resulted in winning this important competition for the 5th year in a row. It's amazing to see just how far we have come as a University and hopefully this will continue in the following years”.

Moreover, She noted that Dar Al Hekma is proud to win this award for Saudi Arabia.

The Dar Al-Hekma University Law Team, were an all female team and the only team from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The team competed against 17 teams from 11 different countries. The participating countries this year were; the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan and Iran. The competition was held at the Royal University for Women in Bahrain on 19-23 February 2018.

The Annual Middle East Vis International Arbitration Pre Moot is an International Commercial Arbitration competition  organised and supported by amongst others; the United Nations (UNCITRAL), CLDP (Commercial Law Development Program) part of the United States Department of Commerce, USAID (United States Agency for International Development), the United States Department of State, MENA Chambers, CILE (Centre of International Legal Education, University of Pittsburg), BCDR-AAA(Bahrain Chamber of Commerce) and Wolters Kluwer.

The Pre- Moot competition is preparation for the 25th Willem C.Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna Austria in March 2018. The competition involves legal analysis and strategy as well as oral advocacy, where students prepare and present a case as if they were qualified lawyers and practitioners in the area of International Commercial Arbitration.