Dar Al-Hekma University has recently hosted the launching ceremony of the first moot competition organized by the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) in collaboration with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) on Monday. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the university and the SCCA to train and prepare law students. The ceremony started with the SCCA speech entitled "A National Vision", which gave a brief overview of the SCCA's mission and vision. It was followed by Dar Al-Hekma University speech and CLDP speech entitled "Moot Story and CLDP Experiences in the Region". Dr. Suhair Al-Qurashi, president of Dar Al-Hekma University, said the commercial arbitration competition has become a global platform helping students to broaden their legal knowledge, especially in the field of commercial arbitration and dispute settlement around the world. "Dar Al-Hekma takes pride in hosting this event and this honorable competition, which enables students to acquire strong practical and legal skills and equip them with international commercial arbitration tools and train them how to deal with this field. It will help improve their capabilities and increase their chances in the labor market," Al-Qurashi said. She said she was confident that the Dar Al-Hekma Law Department students would excel as usual in this type of competitions because they won the first place in the competition for five consecutive years. The annual competition for commercial arbitration aims at developing the capacity of law students to absorb and understand the latest developments in the field of international commercial law and train them to deal with arbitration as one of the most famous means of settling commercial disputes worldwide. The competition is divided into two basic stages: the first is written and includes writing legal memorandums in Arabic or English about the plaintiff and the defendant in a case sent by the organizing committee for each team. The teams compete in this stage to qualify for the second stage, which will include oral arguments. The importance of this competition is highlighted in its effective contribution to improving the legal skills required by law students to plead before international arbitral tribunals and give them a full picture of what they are and its procedures and encourage them to study commercial international law and commercial arbitration and its system because of its international importance as an alternative means of settling commercial disputes. — SG
