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On the 7th of December 2012 the 4th edition of the World Moot Court Competition began with an exciting and eventful opening ceremony in which the participants expressed their diversity by dressing in their respective countries’ traditional dress. Sixteen teams from the five UN regions were invited to attend the Competition.

After arriving at the university the students registered for the competition where after they attended the opening ceremony in which Professor Frans Viljoen welcomed the students and introduced Mr Marco Kalbusch from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights who was the keynote speaker for the evening. Mr Kalbusch, as well as Professor Frans Viljoen, addressed the students and provided some words of encouragement to the students before embarking on their journey towards the final of the competition. The evening drew to a close after a lovely dinner where all the participants and organisers had a chance to socialise and become more acquainted with each other.

On the second day of the competition, the preliminary rounds saw each of the teams arguing in four rounds, twice as applicant and twice as respondent. The day was fairly long and the competition was fierce but by the end of the day two universities, the University of Auckland and Norman Manley Law School, walked away with the privilege of facing each other in the final and vying for the coveted title of being the winners of the 4th World Moot Court Competition.

On the third day of the competition the participants were taken on a tour of Soweto. On the tour, the participants visited the Soccer City complex, the Hector Pieterson Memorial and the of the Soweto house formerly belonging to Nelson Mandela. The group then enjoyed an African style buffet lunch at the Sakhumzi Restaurant on Vilikazi Street.

The participants of the 4th World Human Rights Moot Court Competition will gather at 10:00 today in the Senate Hall of the University of Pretoria to watch the finalist argue to determine an overall winner to the competition.

The teams in the preliminary rounds were:

From the African Region:
University of Nairobi, Kenya and University of Namibia, Namibia. From the Asian Region: Universitas Trisakti, Indonesia and Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Indonesia.

From the Eastern European Region:
Charles University, Czech Republic, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland and West University of Timisoara, Romania.

From the Western European and Others Region:
Bond University, Australia, University of New South Wales, Australia, University of Auckland, New Zealand, University of Lucerne, Switzerland and Yale Univeristy, USA.

From the Latinamerican and the Carribean Region:
University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, University of Sao Paolo, Brazil and Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica.

The teams competing in the final round were:

Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica (Applicant) vs University of Auckland, New Zealand (Respondent)

The winning team of the 4th World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the Norman Manley Law School from Jamaica.

Congratulations to all the particpants!