National University of Singapore LLM Student wins International Aviation Writing Award

Steven Dejong, a current student in the NYU@NUS dual degree program, won the 2012 Constance O’Keefe Legal Writing Competition run by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The Competition is open to students from around the world pursuing aviation law, with professors from various universities invited to submit entries from students for consideration by the judging panel. Steve’s entry, “Hot Air and Hot Heads: An Examination of the Legal Arguments Surrounding the Extension of the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to Aviation”, considered the European Court of Justice’s recent decision (delivered on 21st December 2011) validating the extension of the EU ETS to aviation. In his paper, Steve argued that the Court’s decision was ill-conceived from a legal standpoint but nonetheless meritorious to the extent that it advanced debate on the best means of regulating carbon emissions from airlines, a problem that 15 years of diplomatic talks have failed to find a solution to.

This year’s competition was sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based international law firm, Squire Sanders LLP. In presenting Steve with the competition award, Marshall S. Sinick, Esq., Managing Partner of Squire Sanders’ international aviation practice group, praised Steve’s essay as an exceptional paper that easily stood out in the competition.

In accepting the award, Steve acknowledged the influence of Professor Alan Khee-Jin Tan, Professor of Aviation Law at NUS and Director of the NYU@NUS program. Steve thanks Professor Tan for introducing him to aviation law and for encouraging him to submit his essay to this year’s competition. Professor Tan was in attendance at this year’s IATA Legal Symposium as an expert invited to speak on competition law developments in Asia.