Fltr: Nkateko Hlongwane, coach Lauren Webber and Comfort Ayelomi

The Faculty of Law (UP Law) at the University of Pretoria announces with pride and congratulates the winning team of the 16^th First-Year Kovsie Moot Court Competition which was hosted on Friday, 4 December 2020. The team consisted of Nkateko Hlongwane and Comfort Ayelomi, and was coached by Lauren Webber with the assistance of Abigail Ashfield.

The competition is an annual event for first-year law students to compete based on their knowledge of the law, their ability to apply the law and gain insight to the functioning of the law, and to early on develop mooting and legal skills.  The competition includes the compilation of heads of arguments based on the initial hypothetical case in the earlier rounds of the competition.  Rules of the competition include arguing the hypothetical case on behalf of both the respondent and applicant.  Finalists receive a new fictitious set of facts the night before the final rounds which they have to moot the next morning.

A proud coach Lauren Webber reported at conclusion of the competition as follows: “Nkateko Hlongwane and Comfort Ayelomi competed in their first moot court competition and victoriously claimed the winning title of the competition. The young ladies worked with tenacity and passion since September 2020, upholding UP’s mooting standard to the very end.’

According to the competition’s brochure, ‘Distance learning and virtual courts are rather new phenomena and we hope to seize on this opportunity to prepare students for the interface between technology and law in order to increase access to justice.’

A proud Dean Professor Elsabe Schoeman congratulated the team on behalf of UP Law, and expressed her appreciation for the 'team's efforts and dedication to the competition during the latter part of the year, including the examination period.  Our first-year UP Law mooters have always been our pride and joy, and bodes well for the future success of our Moot Society'.