Addis Ababa — Eleven African law students have qualified for the final oral round of the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organization (WTO) law, which will be held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva from 7 to 12 June 2016.
The ELSA Moot Court Competition is an academic simulation of judicial procedures by law students, helping to foster their awareness and experience in international trade negotiations. It is also a forum for students to acquire practical experience on how to prepare and present legal arguments and how to debate current legal and social issues.
The African Trade Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) sponsored teams from Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda in the third African Regional Round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition from 29 March to 2 April 2016, which was hosted by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. The purpose of this initiative is to support the continuing participation of African universities in a student competition designed to enhance knowledge of international trade law and WTO dispute settlement procedures, with a view to enhancing capacity in Africa in the long term. This year's winning teams are from South Africa's Rhodes University, the Oliver Schreiner School of Law of Witwatersrand University, also in South Africa, and the Kenya School of Law. The students in the winning teams come from Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the United Republic of Tanzania.
"Trade negotiation is crucial for States, trade-supporting institutions as well as companies to understand the processes, rules and commercial implications of trade agreements," said ECA in a statement.
"Helping to foster awareness and experience among students of trade negotiations serves to enhance learning opportunities for the upcoming generation who will go on to have careers in international trade law, business, academia and as government officials."
The ELSA Moot Court Competition is a simulation of a WTO panel proceeding conducted in English. Each participating team represents both the complainant and the respondent in the fictional case and prepares both written and oral submissions. Oral pleadings are made before panels consisting of WTO law experts. The competition provides students with the opportunity to put theory into practice, thereby complementing their legal education and improving their litigation, research and writing skills.
The participating teams first compete in a regional round. The best teams from the regional rounds advance to the final oral round held in Geneva. The winning team will be selected following a final pleading before WTO law experts. The ELSA Moot Court Competition involves teams from universities in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.
According to ECA, "the ELSA Moot Court Competition is a powerful capacity-building activity that it will continue to support as it seeks to contribute to legal education, foster mutual understanding and promote social responsibility of law students and young lawyers".
The students who qualified for the final oral round are as follows:
Oliver Schreiner School of Law of Witwatersrand University
Ms. Iva Gobac (South Africa)
Ms. Alexandra Rakitzis (South Africa)
Mr. Kelvin Kajuna (United Republic of Tanzania)
Mr. Mxolisi Ngulube (Zimbabwe)
Kenya School of Law
Ms. Saweria Wanjiru Mwangi (Kenya)
Ms. Maryanne Wairimu Kamau (Kenya)
Mr. Kevin Wanjala Walumbe (Kenya)
Rhodes University
Mr. Declan Williamson (South Africa)
Ms. Moya Vaughan-Williams (South Africa)
Ms. Stephanie Stretch (South Africa)
Ms. Nkosazana Dweba (South Africa)
