Posted by What Is Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition?
The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the only global moot court competition explicitly dedicated to human rights. It is co-organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, the Academy on Human Rights, Washington College of Law, American University, and the United Nations Human Rights Council Branch (HRCB), at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The Nelson Mandela Moot Court Competition is an annual event in which students from around the world come together in Geneva to argue a hypothetical human rights case.
What Are The Details Of the Opportunity?
- Eligibility: The World Moot is open to undergraduate and masters students from all universities in the world. Teams of two students (gender diversity is encouraged) from every university in the world are invited to submit heads of argument for a hypothetical human rights case.
- The best 10 teams from each of the five UN region are then invited to participate in the online preliminary rounds.
- The 50 teams (with the highest memorial grades) have to argue the two sides of the hypothetical case, representing, alternatively, both the Applicant and the Respondent before a ‘bench’ of human rights experts and judges of international tribunals.
- The 16 best teams proceed to the in person Octo-final rounds, which is presided over by international human rights experts. The Competition is presented in English, French and in Spanish.
- Team Composition:
- Each university should register two students and one Faculty Representative.
- Faculty representatives accompanying students do not have to be members (staff) of faculty such as lecturers or professors. They can be students and or individuals accompanying the two students (oralists). In addition, it is not compulsory that a faculty representative accompany the two students to Geneva. Team members will not be penalised in the event that they are not accompanied by a ‘faculty representative’.
- Please note that: Teams are welcome to bring three (3) individuals as observers. The names of such individuals should be communicated to the organisers by no later than 1 May 2023.
- Who Should Prepare The Memorial: The writing of memorials should be done by the students themselves under the supervision and guidance of the Faculty Representative. Under no circumstances should the Faculty Representative be directly involved in the writing of memorials. Memorials must be submitted strictly according to the guidelines provided in the Rules. Each team must prepare memorials for the Applicant and the Respondent. These memorials must be emailed to eduardo.kapapelo@up.ac.za by the relevant deadline which can be found on the Calendar.
- Registration is done in two phases:
- Phase 1: Faculty Registration: In this phase, individuals must register the institutional information of their faculty, along with the details of the person responsible for the team. Such individual can be the faculty representative, in the event a team does not have a faculty representative such details can be of one of the team members.
- Phase 2: Individual registration: In this phase, each of the two oralists, including the faculty representative (if applicable) must register so as to record their details. Individual registration is only for the 50 selected teams.
- About The Oral Round:
- Both team members must act as oralists during all rounds. No team may argue for longer than 30 minutes (including rebuttal) during the oral preliminary, quarter-final, semi-final or final rounds. Time for rebuttal should be drawn from the 30 minutes mentioned above and rebuttal should not exceed 5 minutes. Only the Applicant has the opportunity for rebuttal. Respondents do not have the opportunity to rebuttal and should divide their 30 minutes accordingly.
- Faculty Representatives should ensure that both students are prepared to deliver the full argument for the team. In the event that one of the students falls ill or unforeseen circumstances occur, the other participant should be able to argue the case ex parte.
- Rules Of The Competition: CLICK HERE for the details.
- Travel-Related Matters:
- It is the responsibility of each university to ensure the preparation of all travel documents its participants will need. Universities should make sure that the students they select have a valid passport at least two months before the competition and that the expiration date of the passport is not within less than three months of the date of arrival in Switzerland. The organisers will provide the necessary documentation for the visa application. The visa application process itself should commence as soon as faculties receive the relevant documents, organisers are not responsible for the application and tracking of visas.
- Participants are responsible for booking and funding their own travel to and from Geneva. Participants should provide the organisers with their arrival and departure information as per the calendar. In the event that a team encounter any transport cancellation or delay, the organisers should be contacted immediately, and the new itinerary should be sent to the organisers as soon as possible. The organisers are not responsible for any delay, cancellation of travel or the failure of the participants to reconfirm their travel. If this involves financial costs, participants must take full responsibility and contact the airlines directly.
- All information relating to the Programme will be sent to participants a few weeks before the Competition. Participants should read this information carefully and note all the relevant contact details.
- NOTE: Although no registration fees are charged, participants must cover all their own costs (air tickets or other transport, accommodation, meals and medical insurance, etc).
- As participants have to cover all their costs, they are encouraged to begin fundraising as soon as possible. Donors may include embassies, the UN and EU, bar associations and law firms, corporate donors and their own universities.
- Health Insurance: When travelling abroad, health is one of the most important things travellers should bear in mind. The organisers are not able to take responsibility in case of any health problems. Participants should therefore ensure that they have the relevant medical insurance. Participants who take regular medication should ensure they bring this specific medication.
- Important Dates:
- Faculty Registration
Faculty registration opens 15 December 2023
Registration closes 21 Apri 2024 - Release of the hypothetical case to be argued
15 January 2024 - Request for clarification of facts
Submit by 15 February 2024 - Response to requests for clarification of facts
Publicised by 11 March 2024 - Submission of memorials
Submit by 21 April 2024 - Announcement of the 50 qualifying teams
7 May 2024 - Preliminary Rounds (online)
14 to 21 May 2024 - Quarter-finals and Semi-finals and Final Round (in person)
15 – 19 July 2024
- Faculty Registration
For More Information:
Please contact the Nelson Mandela World Moot Court Competition Coordinator. Mr Tapiwa Mhuru: tapiwa.mhuru@up.ac.za.
CLICK HERE For The Brochure
CLICK HERE For The Notification
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