Remarks by Senior Minister of State Law and Transport Mr Murali Pillai SC, at the Vis Moot Opening Ceremony
Distinguished Vis Moot Directors Prof. Dr. Stefan Kröll and Prof. Dr. Christopher Kee
Ms Gloria Lim, CEO of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre
Ms. Judith Knieper, Legal Officer, UNCITRAL
Professor Christian Koller, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna
Ms Evanthia Kasioria, Co-President Moot Alumni Association
Distinguished arbitrators and practitioners
Participants of the Vis Moots
Ladies and gentlemen.
A. Welcome
1. A very good evening to you.
2. Thank you, Magistra Patrizia Netal for the introduction. It is my privilege to address you at the Opening Ceremony of the 33rd Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, in this magnificent place.
3. For over three decades, this competition has served as a beacon of excellence in legal education, bringing together the finest minds from across the globe.
4. Singapore has been a strong supporter of the Moot and this year’s edition is particularly significant.
5. SIAC Rules are being applied in the Vis Moot competitions, which is also a reflection of the growing internationalisation of arbitration practice.
B. Vis Moot Problem
6. As preparation for this trip, I took some time to delve into this year’s problem.
a. Vanilla orchids - a reminder that in our interconnected world, even the most seemingly ordinary or mundane commercial transactions can give rise to complex international disputes.
b. This single dispute weaves together multiple international instruments:
i. Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, UNIDROIT Principles, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and competing arbitration rules.
c. It also demonstrates how modern commerce operates across jurisdictions and legal frameworks.
C. Importance of Multilateralism
7. This illustrates the essence of law in underwriting multilateralism – legal rules and principles are a common language across jurisdictions.
8. This ensures that nations, regardless of size, participate as equals in the global economy.
9. International arbitration stands as a testament to this principle. The New York Convention, for example, has 172 Contracting States, close to 90% of the total UN membership.
a. Businesses invest and transact across borders not only when there is profit to be made, but when there is a predictable and reliable system of dispute resolution when disagreements arise.
b. For many in the audience who are considering a career in the legal or dispute resolution sector – you must master, not just English or your particular vernacular, not just the rules and technicalities of your legal system, but the principles of justice, ethics and fairness that stride across countries and histories and then apply legal reasoning as persuasively as possible to the issues you are asked to deal with.
10. Today, in an age of fragmentation and naked self-interest, we may will ask whether multilateralism retains its relevance.
11. History teaches us that - when the strong do what they wish, and the weak suffer what they must as Thucydides argued in the Melian Dialogue, victories are hollow and brief. This is a lesson the Athenians themselves learnt too late at the hands of the Spartans. The most enduring peace emerges when nations and parties commit to working within shared frameworks, and when they choose cooperation over confrontation.
12. All of us here today, members of the legal profession bear a special responsibility at this moment in our history.
D. Role of AI in the Practice of Law
13. This responsibility is heavy, because the world is in conflict, but also because of technological change and artificial intelligence.
14. Let me offer this perspective: throughout history, the legal profession has adapted to new tools while preserving its essential character.
a. For example, the launch of LexisNexis in the 1970s ended manual case law hunts in libraries, enabling keyword searches on vast databases.
i. This enhanced the quality of legal research, while preserving the human skills of analysis and persuasive argument.
b. AI represents an opportunity to offload routine tasks, so that we can focus on analysis, advocacy, and judgment.
c. But, and I say this as a strong caution for law students in this room, there is a balance to be struck. Law is a deeply human art, and mooting one of its finest aesthetic forms. To attain the highest levels of our profession, we must not aim for an effortless climb, with robotic exoskeletons strapped on.
d. Instead, even as we exploit AI in cognitive offloading, we need to retain some mental and intellectual stress on ourselves, so that we are always capable of wrestling with complex problems, of advocating with passion and precision. As new lawyers, you cannot do this without hard apprenticeship. You _have_ to struggle, to embrace the effortful and demanding work of real law.
E. Conclusion
15. Over the next few days, you will do just this: wrestle with complex legal problems, present arguments, and respond to questions from experienced arbitrators.
16. This is tough but this is how we learn. Since the industrial revolution, we have had less need for physical labour, but we still exercise, lift weights and swim – it is exhilarating, it is part of being human. So too is the demanding but satisfying work of law.
17. You will only have a brief time together. The vanilla orchid flowers only for a day, but its pods produce one of the most valuable and versatile spices used in the cuisines across the world.
18. So too in your brief time together, begin your mastery of the language of law. A language which relies, not on a limited vocabulary of war and destruction, but on all of us, understanding, promoting and underwriting the ideals of justice and peace, ideals which unite us all.
19. Thank you.