The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition forms part of the University's centenary celebrations

The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition will take place from Monday 30 June until Saturday 5th July. This 17th Moot is hosted by the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria, and it forms part of the University’s centenary celebrations.

The Centre for Human Rights each year organises the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition (Moot) in partnership with a faculty of law in Africa. The aim of the Moot is to foster a generation of African lawyers who are knowledgeable and competent to submit cases to and present arguments before the recently established African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

It is expected that this court will hear its first cases soon. At the Moot, students argue a hypothetical case, based on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, before a bench made up of human rights experts. This year’s case involves the topical and contentious issue of the right not to be poor.

With its broad African representation and aspirations, this event could this year serve as a counterweight to the recent wave of xenophobic violence that engulfed Pretoria and the Gauteng province, in particular.

The Opening Ceremony will be held in the Auditorium of the Law Faculty Building on Monday, 30 June 2008 at 17:00 p.m. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister of Social Development.

The preliminary rounds will take place from 08:00 – 17:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday, 2 and 3 July, in the Faculty of Law building. The Final Round and Closing Ceremony will be held in the Auditorium of the University of Pretoria Groenkloof Campus at 09:00 on Saturday, 5 July 2008.

The panel of eminent international jurists who will judge the final round include South African Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Justice Gerard Niyungeko, and Ms Sanji Monageng, Chairperson of the African Commission. The keynote address at the Closing Ceremony will be presented by Mr Jody Kollapen, Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission.

In the final round, winners from the different language groups in the preliminary rounds combine to form teams consisting of all the competition’s official languages. This year, for the first time, a Portuguese team will be represented in the final round. Simultaneous translation is provided. Last year’s winners were the Université Libre de Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the University of the Free State, South Africa.

The Moot has become the largest annual gathering of students and lecturers of law on the continent. An estimated 81 faculty teams, comprising 167 students and 81 lecturers from 28 countries across Africa are expected to attend. In addition to all the South African universities which have law faculties, the following countries will be represented: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (DRC), Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In 2006 UNESCO awarded its prestigious Prize for Human Rights Education to the Centre, partly for the contributions of the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition to the realisation of human rights in Africa through education.

Copyright © University of Pretoria 2024. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Corona Virus South African Resource Portal

To contact the University during the COVID-19 lockdown, please send an email to [email protected]

FAQ's Email Us Virtual Campus Share Cookie Preferences