ICJ Showcase Round

By Emerson Harned

The ICJ program finished their hard work at this conference with the showcase rounds. The International Court of Justice Showcase round is arguably the highest level of debate offered at KUNA, and four justices are given less than 24 hours to prepare their argument. This whole new way of debate requires trust, teamwork, and confidence.

In this case, Claire Klein, Tucker Payne, Lauren Pappalardo, and Lizzie Scheetz prepared arguments for the sides of Japan and Australia. Claire Klein and Tucker Payne were the side of Australia and Lauren Pappalardo and Lizzie Scheetz were the side of Japan. In this case, “Australia accused Japan of using a whaling program as a front to sell a certain species of whale. That whale had a no-catch limit instituted on it by an organization called the International Convention on the regulation of whaling, so if Japan wanted to sell the meat, they needed a workaround.” Each side was given fifteen minutes to present their case, with the applicant (Australia) being able to reserve up to five minutes for their rebuttal.

Klein described this showcase as “both exhilarating and terrifying” as justices can interrupt the defendant to ask questions. But, with hard work always comes reward, and Klein says that as stressful and terrifying as it may be, it is 100% worth it. And no matter who wins the showcase, each advocate worked so hard, and has so much work to be proud of.