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Secretary General's visit to Australian law school

Congratulations to winners of Stetson moot court on international environmental law

At the invitation of the Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, the Secretary General, Peter Bridgewater, visited the faculty while recently on leave in Australia. During the visit, which included brief discussions with the faculty on their recent win at the Stetson University international environment moot court competition, held in Florida in October 2004.

With Secretary General Bridgewater are Coach Dr. Stan Palassis, Sarah Wheeler, Matthew Day, Daniel Posker, and Dean David Barker.

According to their coach, Dr. Stan Palassis, “What put us a stride in front of the other teams was not only our brilliant oral performances, including Matthew Day’s Best Oralist Award, but also a superior level of understanding and use of the law. We were also able to win on creative alternative arguments that other teams had not thought of and could not even respond to”.

The Secretary General notes, "While this also concerns a moot exercise, it does suggest that for the future the convention and its decisions and texts could be used in a more strictly legal framework to test environmental management in wetland and water resource situations. A challenging future indeed, if we have sharp legal minds like those who won in Florida! Again we wish all the best in their careers to these students."

For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). Posted 14 December 2004, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.