MUNOFS 2017

From November 3rd to 5th, there was a MUN conference held in OFS. I was in ICJ (International Court of Justice) as a judge, and it was my first time in this committee. Before the conference, I was a little nervous since I did not understand the procedures that much, and was not familiar with the case, which was about consular access that was denied by Pakistan to a Indian ex-Navy officer. Throughout the conference, the judges are only allowed to ask POIs (point of information) to the advocate or witness, so it required me to be actively listening and be critical to what the others are stating. The challenges were that, judges needed to be unbiased on the case, and it was particularly hard because this case involved the violation of basic human rights. Furthermore, Pakistan had a more realist point of view and argument, whereas India proposed many liberal measures, therefore it was difficult for me to look at the evidences and witnesses without any biased lenses. Also, judges were not allowed to talk with their personal belief, for example, judges cannot say that liberalism approaches are more effective than realism today.

I was very glad to be allocated into ICJ because I am interested in studying law in university, and I got to learn the obligation that are given to nations that signed or ratified such international conventions/treaties/agreements, and also the power capability between the UN and individual sovereign states. Moreover, I developed my skills of active listening, taking notes and asking questions critically. I think I was able to develop those skills since people in my committee were experienced, therefore was able to produce a fruitful debate.

Since the case was an actual ongoing case in ICJ, we were required to discuss with ethical consideration, keeping in mind that there is a man whose behind the bars today. It involved issues such as torture, human rights, espionage and sovereignty, thus I was able to look at this topic from different perspectives. And because this case includes the above, it is a very sensitive and significant topic for the international community.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the conference, and once again made me more interested in law and international relations. In addition, it made me want to engage more in MUN and upcoming conferences.

LO1: Identifying own strengths and develop areas for personal growth

LO2: Demonstrates that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefit of working collaboratively 

LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of significance

LO7: Recognise and consider the ethnics of choices and actions

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