After a competing vigorously in the preliminary rounds, the 54 teams participating in the 22nd African Human Rights Moot Court Competition were cut down to the 6 teams competing in the final for the first prize.
This year, the following teams advanced to the final round of the Moot Competition: University of Stellenbosch (South Africa), Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique) and Université Libre de Kinshasa (DRC) as Applicants and Moi University (Kenya), Catholic Universidade de Angola and Université des Lagunes CIDD (Côte d’Ivoire) as Respondents.
The winning team of the 22nd African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the joint team that argued the case for the Respondent with 80%.
- Universidade Catolica de Angola: Mr Cláudio Izequias TCHIVINDA & Ms Fatima Gerónimo SOUSA
- Université des Lagunes CIDD, Côte d’Ivoire: Mr Mohamed Tidiane Abou Ramadan FOFANA & Mr Legnimin OYODE
- Moi University, Kenya: Mr Jonathan Ombati OBWOGI & Ms Njeri MWATHI
The runner-up team of the 22nd African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the joint team that argued the case for the Applicant, with 78%.
- Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique: Mr Anisio XERINDA & Mrs Georgina Deodato FUEL
- Université Libre de Kinshasa, RDC: Ms Joelle LUBOMBO RIZIKI & Mr Yves MUKALA NSENDULA
- Stellenbosch University, RSA: Ms Alma DIAMOND & Mr Simba RODZE
The final round was held at the Civic Centre in Cape Town. Madam Justcie Kate O’Regan (former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa) presided over the bench consisting of Madame Maya Sahli-Fadel (Commissioner at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights), Justice Bernard Ngoepe (Judge at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights), Dr Benyam Dawit Mezmur (Chair of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child), and Dr Anastacio Npassoa. Dr Orquidea Palmeira Massarongo-Jona had to recuse herself from the bench, following her team’s (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) progression to the final.
The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition aims to bring together law students from all over Africa to argue a hypothetical human rights case as if they are doing so in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Judges in the preliminary rounds are lecturers from the participating universities. The best teams advance to the final round where they merge to form two new combined teams with English, French and Portuguese-speaking students on each side. The judges in the final round are international human rights lawyers of the highest standing and simultaneous translation is provided. This year, a total of 54 teams from across the African continent participated in the event. Thirty-seven English teams, six Portuguese teams and eleven French teams competed in the preliminary rounds, which were held at the Great Hall Building, University of the Western Cape.
The idea of the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is to create awareness among African law students – and the broader public – about the existence of and possibilities presented by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This Court, located in Arusha, Tanzania, was established in 2006 but up to date, only a few cases have been brought against states. The Moot Court can be seen as an educational tool to equip a new generation of lawyers with the skills and experience to submit cases before the Court and to hold governments accountable for human rights violations.
Each year, a hypothetical problem relevant to human rights in Africa is drafted and students have to prepare and present their arguments to the Court. This year, the case dealt with a complex set of facts enshrining issues around the right to education, disability rights and children’s rights.
The 22nd competition was presented in collaboration with the University of the Western Cape, who has been a long-time partner of the Centre for Human Rights. The moot will be hosted by the University of Nairobi in Kenya in 2014.
On 9 October 2012, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the oldest human rights body of the African Union, awarded its first ever NGO Prize for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to the Centre for Human Rights. The prize recognises the Centre’s contribution to realising human rights in Africa.