During the opening ceremony 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 provided advice and words of encouragement to the students about to begin the competition finals.

On the second day of the competition, the preliminary rounds saw each of the teams arguing in four rounds: twice as the applicant and twice as the respondent. After a day of fierce competition the University of Auckland and Norman Manley Law School remained to face each other in the final and vie for the coveted title of being the winners of the fourth World Moot Court Competition.

On the third day the participants were taken on a tour of Soweto. During the tour, they visited the Soccer City complex, the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Nelson Mandela’s former house. The group then enjoyed an African-style buffet lunch at the Sakhumzi Restaurant on Vilikazi Street.

On the fourth day the participants gathered in the Senate Hall of the University of Pretoria to watch the duelling finalists.

The teams in the preliminary rounds were:

Africa:
University of Nairobi, Kenya; University of Namibia, Namibia

Asia:
Universitas Trisakti, Indonesia; Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Indonesia

Eastern Europe:

Charles University, Czech Republic; University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic; Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland; West University of Timisoara, Romania

Western Europe and others:
Bond University, Australia; University of New South Wales, Australia; University of Auckland, New Zealand; University of Lucerne, Switzerland; Yale University, USA

Latin America and the Caribbean:
University of Buenos Aires, Argentina; University of Sao Paolo, Brazil; 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 fourth World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the Norman Manley Law School from Jamaica.

Congratulations to all the participants!