2011 TuksLaw Internal Moot Court Competition

2011 TuksLaw Internal Moot Court Competition

 
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The 4th Annual Internal Moot Court Competition took place on 23 and 27 September 2011. For the first time, the competition took place with the assistance of a sponsor, top law firm Norton Rose Inc. As was the case in the past, the purpose of the competition was to provide TuksLaw students the opportunity to put their oral, research and writing skills into practice. The competition was open to any law student who has not represented the University in a moot court competition.

 

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Norton Rose Inc, there was the added incentive of a
R2 000 cash prize for the best Afrikaans and English teams and a prize of R500 for the best oralist in each of the Afrikaans and English Divisions.

 

This year’s set of facts dealt with the issues of defamation, freedom of speech and the loss of a breadwinner. Prophet Joel Neytiri, a spiritual and church leader, suffered a stroke and lost most of the members of his congregation, when a video was posted on the website of the Blue Moon Media Company showing a man with a cape, similar to the one Prophet Joel wore while performing faith healing, involved in an explicit sexual act and subsequent comments were made on the website by various persons.

 

Students had to pair up and submit heads of argument on behalf of Prophet Joel and his dependants, the applicants in the matter, and on behalf of the Blue Moon Media Company, which was the respondent in the matter. Each team also had the opportunity to represent the applicants and the respondents during the oral rounds of the competition. Teams were allowed to approach members of the Moot Society to assist them in writing heads of argument and workshops were held on writing heads of argument and on presenting an argument.  Each team had the opportunity to attend oral training sessions during which members of the Moot Society assisted them with the presentation of their arguments.

 

Five teams took part in each of the Afrikaans and English divisions. What was most notable about this is that this was the first time that more than two teams had participated in the Afrikaans division of the competition. After the conclusion of the preliminary rounds, the team of Marli Güldenpfennig and Lonika Heyns and the team of Suzanne Booyens and Leanda Els were announced as the finalists in the Afrikaans Division, while Ruhan Robinson and Dawie Coetzer went up against Karabo Maboa and Prosper Nkala in the English final.

 

The Afrikaans Final was adjudicated by Prof Anton Kok, Acting Dean, Mrs Liesel Kok from Norton Rose Inc and Adv Gretha Engelbrecht from the Johannesburg Bar. The English Final was adjudicated by the above persons, as well as Mr Lerothodi Mohale from Norton Rose Inc and Adv Omphemetse Mooki from the Johannesburg Bar.

 

After all was said and done, Marli Güldenpfennig and Lonika Heyns were announced as the winners of the Afrikaans Division while they also received the prize for the Best Heads of Argument with Marli also walking away with the Best Oralist prize. The English Division was won by Ruhan Robinson and Dawie Coetzer. They also received the prize for the Best Heads of Argument and Dawie was the Best Oralist.

 

A big thank you goes out to all staff members and Norton Rose Inc candidate attorneys who adjudicated the Preliminary Rounds of the competition, the judges in the Final Rounds and all the Moot Society members who assisted students with their preparation and the organisation of the competition.

 

Special mention should also be made of Emile Zitzke and Hermann Pretorius, who were responsible for the drafting and translation of the set of facts under Organising Committee member Daniel Keevy; Katherine Harding, for presenting the workshops on heads of argument and oral presentation; Octavia Pletschke, for all the logistical arrangements and Serena Kalbskopf, for dealing with all the administrative matters surrounding the competition.

 

The Society wishes to express its gratitude to Norton Rose Inc for their involvement.


- Louis Botha,
2011/12 Chairperson of the TuksLaw Moot & Debating Society

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