UNAIR NEWS – A state may impose an international policy that sometimes inconsistent with its international obligations. This condition will in turn creates disputes between states. If not settled, any dispute between states can escalate into a higher level, or in a certain situation may involve the use of forces.
The United Nations Charter encourage states to use peaceful means to settle international disputes, one of which is through negotiation. Negotiation is one of the most important mechanisms in the international forum. It is used by states not only to the settlement of border disputes but also in trade, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, refugees, to the issues of climate changes.
To improve negotiation skills of international law students, ILSA Chapter UNAIR organised the 4th INTENTION (International Dispute Negotiation Competition) on the 13-15th September 2019. A competition which has been held since 2016, was attended by team delegation from 11 universities. Among these universities are Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Padjajaran, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Mulawarman, and an international delegation from the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia.
Josua Iskandar as the Committee Coordinator of this competition said “participants are given the task to negotiate real cases currently disputed by states”. Some of these cases are plastic waste import and the trade dispute between Japan and South Korea.
Apart from the increasing number of participants, the competition for the Triyono Wibowo Cup gain supports from more institutions. Present as Jury were Ms. Martje Bekius from the Embassy of The Kingdom of The Netherlands in Jakarta; Dr. Paul Zeccola from the Consulate General of Australia in Surabaya, and Mrs. Shanti Utami Retnaningsih from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs RI. In its opening remarks, Ms. Martje Bekius emphasised that “this competition is very important to improve students’skill in negotiating international disputes”.
“I am very impressed with the students’ability to negotiate, they possess good language ability, proper gesture, and well prepared in using different strategies in different cases” added Martje Bekius.
Likewise, Mrs. Shanti Utami Retnaningsih, a diplomate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs RI express her appreciation. “I see a huge potential in this competition, these students may become good diplomats in the future, representing their countries,” said Shanti.
Succeeded as a winner of this competition was negotiation team from the Faculty of Law UGM, followed by UNAIR as the 1st Runner-up, and Universitas Brawijaya as the 2nd Runner-up.
Before closing this competition, Dr. Iman Prihandono, the Head of International Law Department was hoping that “as the only negotiation competition in Indonesia, this competition should continue to be held, and participation from all law schools must be encouraged”.
Writer : Sandi Prabowo
Editor : Khefti Al Mawalia
