Russian Team Removed from Competition – Bar of Ireland Request

03 March 2022

Participating Russian team advised that they no longer can participate in forthcoming Moot competition.

The Third Dublin Pre-Vis Moot Competition due to be held at the Dublin Disputes Resolution Centre (DDRC), owned and operated by The Bar of Ireland, as been advised by The Bar that the Russian team may no longer participate and rely on their services.   

Chair of 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.  We have asked the organisers to communicate to the Russian team, in no uncertain terms, that their removal from the competition is a mark of our condemnation.

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 UCD is part of an international series, overseen by a governing body in Vienna – Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.  A decision on whether to exclude Russian teams by the Vienna organisers is awaited.

McNally added:

“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.