Thirtieth African Human Rights Moot Court Competition adopts hybrid format, with final rounds scheduled to be hosted by the Faculty of Law, Stellenbosch University, South Africa on 26 - 31 July 2021.
After considerable consideration and wide consultations with all stakeholders, the organisers of the 2021 African Human Rights Moot Court Competition are pleased to announce that, while the preliminary rounds of this year’s competition will be held virtually, the quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds of the 30th edition of the Moot Competition will take place from 26 - 31 July 2021, in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the organisers to reconsider the format of this continental event for 2021. The ‘hybrid’ format (with a part presented virtually, and a part taking place in person) has been adopted in compliance with current Alert Level 3 lockdown regulations in South Africa.
The African Moot Competition has, over the past 29 years, been an invaluable human rights platform for thousands of law students, academics and human rights activists across the continent. It has fostered lasting relationships and networks that have shaped the regional legal community. Bearing this in mind, the organisers have decided to adopt an approach that allows the spirit of the Moot to persist without compromising the safety and health of participants.
The first phase, comprising the online preliminary rounds, are scheduled to be held by early June. Qualifying teams will then be invited to proceed to the in-person quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds in Stellenbosch.
Hosting the 2021 African Moot Competition in Stellenbosch marks an important milestone for each of the co-organisers. The Centre for Human Rights is celebrating the 30-year milestone of the African Moot Competition as it marks its own 35-year anniversary. The host, the Faculty of Law, Stellenbosch University, in 2021 commemorates its centenary.
The Competition will be held in English, French and Portuguese.
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About the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition
The 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, 175 universities from 50 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 2020, the 29th edition of the Moot CourtCompetition was organised in collaboration with the Université Virtuelle de Sénégal and Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar and was held virtually due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. 36 teams from 12 African countries participated in the 2020 edition.
In 2021, the Moot Competition will be hosted by Stellenbosch University in South Africa from 26 to 31 July 2021. A hybrid format has been adopted to mitigate the risks of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The Hypothetical case will tackle issues relating to Gender-Based Violence, gender identity, sexual minority and children rights.
