34th Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition
University of Cape Town
29 June - 5 July 2025
Cape Town, South Africa
The 34th edition of the Christof Heyns African Human Moot Court Competition will be hosted by the University of Cape Town on 29 June – 5 July 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the largest gathering of students, academics and judges around the theme of human rights in Africa. This annual event brings together all law faculties in Africa, whose top students argue a hypothetical human rights case as if they were before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Competition continuously prepares new generations of lawyers to argue cases of alleged human rights violations before the African Court.
Since its creation in 1992, 183 universities from 47 African countries have taken part in this permanent fixture on the Africa legal education calendar. The Moot has been a catalyst for the establishment of the leading programmes in the field of human rights teaching and research in Africa.
In 2024, the 33rd edition was hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali, Rwanda. 61 teams from 18 African countries participated in 2024.
The Hypothetical case for the 34th edition in Cape Town will tackle issues on migration and human rights, statelessness, and civil and political rights.
The Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition will be held in English, French and Portuguese
Site Français Sitio Portuguese
About the Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition
The Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Competition is the most important gathering of students, scholars and judges on human rights in Africa. This annual event brings together all the Faculties of Law in Africa, whose best students plead a hypothetical case on human rights as if they were before the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. The Christof Heyns Moot Competition aims to continuously prepare new generations of jurists to prosecute cases of alleged human rights violations before the African Court.
Since its creation in 1992, the Law Faculties of 183 universities from 47 African countries have participated in this essential event on the African university calendar. The Competition has played an invaluable role in establishing the most important programs in the human rights education and research field in Africa.
In 2024, the 33rd edition of the Christof Heyns Moot Competition was organised in partnership with the University of Rwanda and took place in Kigali, Rwanda on 22 - 27 July 2024.
Conditions of participation
Each university must register two students and one faculty representative. Teams may however be accompanied by ‘observers’ (who are not official team members and do not form part of the team.
Students participating to the Moot should not have completed their first degree in law. It is the responsibility of the universities to ensure the smooth preparation of all travel arrangements. Faculties assume full responsibility for the arrangement and cost of travel to the venue and accommodation during the Competition. The organisers (the Centre for Human Rights and the host university) undertake to assist participating teams by negotiating, on their behalf, with service providers to obtain reduced rates on accommodation. The organisers will continue to support all teams by providing local transport and meals during the duration of the Competition.
The normal precautions applicable to international travelling should be taken. Valuables, especially memorials, should not be put in check-in luggage as this is sometimes lost by the airlines. Instead, they should be kept in hand luggage. It is strongly advised to leave a copy of the important pages of your passports both in your home country and in your room at the Moot in case you lose the originals.
The organisers will help to facilitate access to medical care where needed, but cannot assume responsibility for such costs. It is the responsibility of participants and participating institutions to make sure they take out medical insurance in advance or have other plans in place to cover such costs. It is advisable to travel with some medications such as pills for diarrhoea and painkillers.
Participants are required to keep themselves informed about the Moot by regularly visiting the website: www.chr.up.ac.za/moot
