By Fasika Kenea/ College of Law
Haramaya University College of Law participated in the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition which took place from September 1-6, 2014 University of Nairobi, Kenya.
The College was represented by two students, Dawit Gudeta and Yisak Zewdu, and a coach from the staff, Fasika Kenea. The team got an average mark of 76 out of 100 and also gained a lot of experience on African human rights system.
The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is an annual event organized by the Centre for Human Rights, based at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in collaboration with a partner university in another African country.
The event brought together law students, academicians and judges from more than half of Africa’s 120 law faculties to argue a hypothetical human rights case in a mock courtroom. For the past 22 years the Moot Court Competition has been held in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria and Benin.
The objective of the competition is to educate future African lawyers on the African system of human rights protection. In this regard, the students argue a hypothetical human rights case under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights before benches of law lecturers and human rights experts. The competition equally involves a one-day conference and offers a singular opportunity for exchange between African law faculties.