The organisers of an international lawyers’ competition due to be held in Dublin have been told by the Bar of Ireland that a Russian team may not participate in the event.
The third Dublin Pre-Vis Moot Competition, due to be held at the Dublin Disputes Resolution Centre, owned and operated by the Bar of Ireland, has been advised by the Bar that the Russian team may no longer participate in the event and rely on the Irish body’s services.
The chair of the Council of The Bar of Ireland, Maura McNally SC, said: “We have to take a principled stand in light of the bloody invasion occurring in Ukraine; any opportunity to send a signal of disgust to society in Russia must be harnessed.”
The Bar has asked the competition organisers to communicate to the Russian team, “in no uncertain terms”, that their removal from the competition “is a mark of our condemnation”, she said.
“We have advised the organisers that the Bar of Ireland will not in any way facilitate a Russian team.”
The Dublin round of the competition, led by University College Dublin, is part of an international series overseen by a governing body in Vienna, Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.
A moot competition involves lawyers taking part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings.
In a statement, Ms McNally said it is awaiting a decision by the Vienna organisers on whether to exclude Russian teams.
“That the Vienna organisers have yet to make a decision on this, and join the global condemnation of Russia’s actions, is wholly unsatisfactory. The Bar of Ireland call on the Vienna organisers to definitively state their position in respect of the ongoing competition, and to exclude all Russian teams as a matter of principle. This is not a political stance. It is a humanitarian stance.”
The competition will proceed with participants from across Europe, Asia and South America.
