ELP Director David M. Forman ’93 and Associate Dean Denise Antolini, along with Professor Nicholas A. Robinson and Jullee Kim of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in New York, convened the first Tony Oposa Intergenerational Moot Court at the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court yesterday, on the first day of the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress. Law students from France, Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines, and the U.S. (New York and Hawaiʻi) made oral submissions before a panel of mock judges representing the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The question presented for an ICJ Advisory Opinion concerned “the responsibility of States under international law to address the global climate crisis for the benefit of present and future generations.”

A video of the Tony Oposa Intergenerational Moot Court presentation is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i7wgFg_t6Y&feature=youtu.be (start just before the 23 minute mark)

The team’s written submissions are available online at: https://portals.iucn.org/congress/session/9695

Photos of the event taken by Spencer Kimura ’96 can be viewed via the following link:  https://goo.gl/photos/wnTY6wucVSpdkA7V6

An edited version of the proceedings will be screened at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center on Monday, September 5th beginning at 8:30am.  A law student panel will then elaborate on their experiences, followed by a panel of international environmental jurists and academics, and a facilitated Q&A session with IUCN attendees, before closing with a presentation on next steps by Professor Robinson.  The proceedings will be live streamed into the Hawaii-Pacific Pavilion, as well as recorded by ʻOlelo Public Television for subsequent showings.