The 9th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is currently underway at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva headquarters. After the submission of written memorials, 36 teams from 23 countries coming from the 5 United Nations regions progressed to the pre-final rounds that are held annually in the human rights capital of the world.
The opening ceremony was held on 17 July in La Salle de Pas Perdus where the welcoming address was delivered by H.E. Ambassador Amr Ahmed Ramadan, Vice-president of the United Nations Human Rights Council and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva. Welcoming remarks were also delivered by Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Maxakato-Diseko, South African Permanent Representative to the United Nations at Geneva, Mr Eric Tistounet, Chief, Human Rights Council Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty mechanisms, OHCHR, Geneva and Mr Norman Taku, Assistant Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
On International Nelson Mandela Day, celebrated each year on 18 July, the South African Permanent Mission Geneva, held a lunch-time celebration of the anti-apartheid icon and former President of South Africa. Participants of the World Moot Court were welcomed by Dr Michael Møller, Director-General of United Nations Geneva, Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Maxakato-Diseko, South African Permanent Representative to the United Nations at Geneva and Professor Christof Heyns, Member of the UN Human Rights Committee and Professor of human rights law at the University of Pretoria.
The pre-final rounds will conclude on 19 July 2017, and the finalists will be announced on 20 July, after the conclusion of a conference on current human rights developments. The final round will take place on 21 July 2017 at 09:00 in Room XX at the Palais des Nations. The judges in the final round are:
- Ms Kate Gilmore
United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights (Australia) - Justice Albie Sachs
South African Constitutional Court (Retired) (South Africa) - Dr Raul Pangalangan
Judge, International Criminal Court (Philippines) - Prof Manfred Nowak
Secretary-General, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) (Austria) - Prof Jane Connors
Director International Advocacy Programme, Amnesty International (Australia) - Dr Veronica Gomez
Chairperson, Global Campus of Human Rights (Argentina)
Ms Kate Gilmore will deliver closing remarks after the conclusion of the final round while Justice Albie Sachs will deliver a keynote address on Nelson Mandela.
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The 9th Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in partnership with the Global Campus of Human Rights with the financial support of the European Union, the Mission Permanente de la Suisse auprès des Nations Unies à Genève and the South African Permanent Mission Geneva.
