Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition
Institut Universitaire d’Abidjan and Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Yamoussoukro
25 July - 02 August 2026
Abidjan and Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
The 35th Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition will be co-hosted for the first time by two institutions: the Institut Universitaire d’Abidjan and the Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët Boigny. The event will be split between two cities in Côte d’Ivoire, with the inaugural conference and preliminary rounds held in Yamoussoukro and the final in Abidjan. This marks the competition's second time in Côte d’Ivoire, following the 8th edition in Abidjan in 1999.
The 2026 edition will be a significant celebration of two major milestones: the 35th anniversary of the Christof Heyns Moot Court Competition itself and the 40th anniversary of the Centre for Human Rights.
As the largest annual gathering on human rights in Africa, the event brings together top law students to argue a hypothetical case before a simulated African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The 2026 Hypothetical case will tackle issues on business and human rights, corruption, and digital rights. Since its inception in 1992, the competition has been a cornerstone of African legal education, conducted in English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic, and has involved 205 universities from 47 countries.
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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 205 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 2025, the 34th edition of the Christof Heyns Moot Competition was organised in partnership with the University of Cape Town and took place in Cape Town, South Africa on 29 June - 5 July 2025.
Conditions of participation
Each university must register two students and one faculty representative. Teams may however be accompanied by ‘2 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
