The Manfred Lachs Space Moot Court Competition, to be held on 1 October, coincides with the International Astronautical Congress from 28 September to 2 October at the World Congress Centre. Mooting teams of law students from the universities of North Carolina and Helsinki will fight it out for the title of grand finalist at the Banco Court of the Melbourne Supreme Court at 2 pm on 1 October. The judges will be guests of Monash's Law faculty and will attend a formal lunch next Tuesday hosted in their honour at the university. The moot competition is widely known throughout the US and Europe. Finalists, a team from a university in the US and one in Europe, meet each year in a different location for the judging.
Plans are now under way to establish an Asian round of the competition.
The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs and the International Institute of Space Law established the competition in honour of the late Manfred Lachs, a world renowned jurist who was a member of the International Court of Justice until 1986 and a past president of the Court. Interested Monash staff are invited to attend the competition and a cocktail reception afterwards at the Supreme Court Library. The event is free, but participants must register to gain entry. Monash's Travel Liaison Office is presenting a series of information sessions for staff in October on the university's new travel arrangments. The sessions will run for almost an hour and American Express International, Kistend Travel Pty Ltd and Qantas Airways will be available to answer questions.