Among over 70 teams representing universities from various countries, the UGM delegation secured fifth place in the oral finals (5th place oral finals) and 18th place overall (18th place memorial and oral submissions combined) in the 2024 Foreign Direct Investment International Arbitration Moot (FDI Moot), held in Berlin, Germany, from November 1-4, 2024. The 2024 FDI Moot was hosted by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, one of Germany's leading law universities.
The UGM team for FDI 2024 was represented by six undergraduate students from the Faculty of Law, consisting of five delegates and one manager. The five delegates were Terry Josephin Ellia Mahulae, Aliyka Annafi Gewang, Elizabeth Jessica Manullang, Lawrence Singal, and Nabiel Harits Pratama. The five delegates were accompanied by Grace Helda Lumban Tobing, who served as their manager. Five of these six students were first-year (second semester) students when the FDI 2024 competition timeline began.
In addition to UGM, four other Indonesian teams competed in Berlin. These teams came from Diponegoro University (Undip), Airlangga University (Unair), the University of Indonesia (UI), and Brawijaya University (UB). Three Indonesian teams made it to the top eight: UGM, Unair, and UI.
Before competing in Berlin, the Indonesian teams warmed up at the FDI Pre-moot Indonesia, organized by the Indonesia Young Arbitration Community (IYAC) in Jakarta. In this pre-moot, the UGM team won first place and earned the Best Oralist (Aliyka Annafi Gewang) and an Honorable Mention for the Best Advocate (Elizabeth Jessica Manullang).
In the FDI 2024 position case, the main topic of the case was the nationalization of foreign investment in the form of creeping expropriation. Furthermore, FDI 2024 also raised the issue of temporal jurisdiction (jurisdiction ratione temporis) as an exception to the arbitral tribunal's authority in position cases.
FDI 2024 also addressed two procedural issues. The first issue concerns the order of security for costs based on the existence of third-party funding. The second issue concerns the use of adverse inference to compensate for a party's failure to present evidence ordered by an arbitral tribunal.
FDI Moot sendiri merupakan kompetisi simulasi proses arbitrase (arbitration moot competition) mengenai penanaman modal asing (foreign direct investment). Kompetisi ini berfokus pada pengembangan pengetahuan seputar hukum investasi internasional dan prosedur arbitrase internasional.
In this competition, participants assigned a case are required to prepare argumentative files (memorial/written submissions) and present arguments (oral submissions) as if they were in an arbitration hearing. The FDI Moot is targeted at undergraduate, graduate, and professional law students.
However, the FDI Moot is also open to students from other study programs, provided they obtain written permission from the organizing committee. The host country of the FDI Moot rotates annually. The countries involved include Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and India.
For 2025, the FDI Moot will be held in Boston, United States. Recruitment for the UGM team for FDI 2025 will open soon. Information about recruitment and the UGM team's achievements in previous years' FDI Moots can be found on the FDI UGM Instagram account (@ugm.fdimoot) and the Community of International Moot Court UGM (@cimc_ugm).
Author : Lawrence Singal, Aliyka Gewang (Delegates)
