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TuksLaw Team seizes National Round of the 53rd Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition at Wits University, South Africa

 The TuksLaw team walked away with the laurels at the National Rounds of the White & Case Jessup Cup which was hosted by Wits University from 2 to 4 February 2012.

The team was ranked first after winning all four of their matches during the preliminary rounds and then went up against the team from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in the Final Round which was argued in the Constitutional Court in front of a bench consisting of Constitutional Court Justice Edwin Cameron, South Gauteng High Court Judge Kathy Satchwell and Advocate Gilbert Marcus SC from the Johannesburg Bar.

After commending both teams on their performance during the Final Round, the judges announced that they were unanimous in deciding that the UP team, who argued on behalf of the Respondent, had won. All the judges commented that they were highly impressed by the UP team's command and control of the relevant international law and the facts of the Compromis. Not only did the TuksLaw team walked away with the South African Jessup Cup in the National Rounds, but Khomotso Moshikaro (final year LLB) and Petronell Kruger (penultimate LLB) were also placed first and second respectively in the Best Oralist Section. "The team also obtained second place in the Best Memorials Section," said their delighted coach, Louis Botha (an LLM student).

This achievement entails that the Faculty of Law of the University of Pretoria now holds the 20th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition (2011) title and is also the South African Champions of the 53rd Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (2012) - two of the most prominent moot court competitions held on the African continent.

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world's largest moot court competition, with participants from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries. The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. One team is allowed to participate from every eligible school. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.

This season's Jessup Problem addressed the legality of the destruction of a cultural site, who may represent a State after a coup detat, and State responsibility for a regional operation. Most students must first compete in national and regional competitions (mostly held from January to March) to earn the right to advance to the White & Case International Rounds, which will take place in Washington, D.C. from 25 to 31 March.

News article, Pretoria News, 15 February 2012.

Click here to visit the ILSA website for more information on this competition: http://www.ilsa.org/jessuphome/national-rounds