African Heights Foundation, a Ghanaian youth-driven civic advocacy and leadership development foundation, recently organized the first edition of a Moot Court Competition on the three campuses of the Ghana School of Law (Accra Campus, Greenhill-Legon Campus and the Kumasi Campus).
This was the first major event of an OSIWA-funded project known as the "Ghana Debate Program" that runs until July 2015. The moot court attracted the participation of Ghana's Supreme Court justices, distinguished legal scholars, lawyers, law students, as well as students of the University of Ghana where the event was held.
Ghana School of Law
The host of the event, the Ghana School of Law, is an institution that dates back to 1958 and has produced some of Ghana's - and indeed the continent's - most highly regarded legal minds, including Professor Akua Kuenyehia (First Vice President of the International Criminal Court); Justice Sophia A.B.A. Akuffo (President of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights); and Professor E.V.O. Dankwa (Former Chairperson of the African Commission). The Chief Justice and all current judges of Ghana's Supreme Court were also educated at this school.
Notably missing on the School's repertoire of events however, was a moot court competition - something almost every law school, anywhere in the world "worthy of its name" normally runs. Thus, African Heights Foundation initiated this competition in partnership with OSIWA with its aims, among others, to encourage greater study of constitutional and human rights law; to promote public interest litigation and inculcate among aspiring lawyers a spirit of volunteerism to assist deprived communities; to popularize the use of the law as a tool for social progress and accountability; to promote legal reform; and to train law students to build their advocacy potential.
Moot Court Competition
At this Moot Court Competition, the hypothetical case litigated centered on an imaginary rural mining community. The people living here were seeking compensation and other orders from the Supreme Court against the government and a foreign mining company over damages done to its environment and livelihoods from the mining activities. This case highlights the complex and all-too-common plot of collusion that exists between big corporations and governments in the exploitation of natural resources - to the exclusion of local communities in the dividends of development. It is also a situation becoming the norm in Africa as a renewed scramble between emerging world powers, such as China, India and Brazil, has entered the fray.
The case also explored the position of Ghana's law on the use of illegally obtained evidence (such as secret recordings in breach of the right to privacy), which is an issue whose human rights dimensions is gaining global attention as big corporations and governments increase their capacity and eagerness to obtain and store data including private correspondence.
The eminent judges of the moot court included Justices Dotse and Gbadegbe, two sitting judges of the Supreme Court of Ghana who sat on the historic 2012 Presidential Election Petition, and one former justice of the Supreme Court-Justice S. A. Brobbey. Also on the panel was Dr S. Y. Bimpong-Buta, a former Director of the Ghana School of Law and editor-in-chief of the Supreme Court of Ghana Law Reports, as well as Mr. Joseph Whittal, Ghana's Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
Winners
In the end, the team from the Law School's Greenhill-Legon Campus, who were the first defendants, emerged winners of both the "Best Team" and "Best Memorial" awards (written submissions to the court). Araba Nunoo, a final year student of the Greenhill-Legon Campus, additionally took the award for "Best Oralist" for an outstanding display of advocacy skills and a profound mastery of the law on the issue of the justiciability of socio-economic rights (the right to development).
The event succeeded in empanelling and engaging some of the most influential judges, and lawyers in a public forum larger than any courtroom in Ghana; thus providing an opportunity for the general public to see justice at work in a transparent and demystified manner.
Lasting effects & Promoting law reform
Additionally, in preparing for the competition, a large number of students were encouraged to study constitutional and human rights law beyond the school curriculum. Their research was subsequently presented to an audience of over five hundred students and members of the general public under the guidance of eminent Supreme Court judges and senior members of the Ghana Bar.
The selection of issues was also meant to promote law reform on less settled areas of the law and to encourage judges and lawyers to adapt the law as a tool for social progress and accountability. The rules, challenges and prospects of public interest litigation were also elucidated and promoted with the event. It is expected that this would encourage more young lawyers to competently take up public interest cases after school for the benefit of marginalised communities and vulnerable persons.
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The competition also helped identify exceptional advocates who have been recruited into the African Heights Foundation as members to support its research and advocacy efforts, especially on matters of law, justice and human rights.
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African Heights Foundation organized the program in collaboration with the Students' Representative Council of the Ghana School of Law. Support was also offered by Diamond Capital and Advanced Legal Publications.
OSIWA is proud to drive this first moot court at the well-known law school and to be a part of the Ghana Debate Program. This program involves writing and public speaking events and competitions that expose students, at all level of Ghana's school system, to critical thinking, human rights issues, and citizens' civic responsibilities in a democratic society.
To learn more about the African Heights Foundation and follow its activities please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Afri...
