Haramaya University College of Law, which is known for representing our University in renowned international and regional moot court competitions, in collaboration with the office of vice president for academic affairs, conducted 5th Inter-Batch Moot Court Competition at resource center from March 9-12, 2022.
While this tough competition was held among eight groups of three members and one coaching staff each (law students from 3rd-5th year batches) , it was chaired by seven professional judges who are from different institutions and attended by invited guests from federal Justice Institute, Oromiya and Harari regional states justice offices, the college staffs and other staffs and students.
Professor Mengistu Urge, vice president for academic affairs, said at his opening speech that the purpose of the moot court competition is to foster and enhance the students’ engagement and awareness of the actual activities of the lawyers as some of the students are going to be lawyers in a near future.
Haramaya University law collage, which conducts such competition, is well known for its students’ exit exam results. In fact, about 97% of its students have passed the exit exam for the last five years. This result is because of dedicated teachers and students as have been seen in this completion, so the teachers deserve appreciations to keep it up for the future. Indeed, producing such nationally and internationally well competent graduates for the country is really meaningful and expected from reputable educational institutions like Haramaya University. Never the less, it is not a simple task to accomplish such achievements and quality education at large; it requires a lot of resources and tireless efforts. Taking this into account, the office of vice president for academic affairs will do its best, depending on the availability of resources, promised Professor Mengistu.
Dr. Richard Jeffrey Wentzell mentioned in his welcoming speech that this is the fifth moot court competation whose cases are given to students at international level and such kind of competitions develop students’ practical skills, increase critical knowledge, develop student’s stage chairing and expressing their own thoughts in front of people, and introduce students with real activities they face after completion schools. Moreover, mixing theories with practice in such competitions makes the learning easy, understandable and unforgettable, added Dr. Rechard.
Mr. Delil Workicho, associate dean of law collage, said that the College has been participating in national, regional, and international moot court competitions for more than a decade. In addition to its extraordinary participation in various national moot court competitions, the College has an impressive track record of participating in international moot court competitions over the last several years. Among other competitions are competitions annually held in the USA, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, India, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Mauritius, and Kenya, according to Mr. Delil.
Among its recent achievements, the College won the 2019 Ethiopian National Moot Court Championship spectacularly. It won the available awards such as Best Memorial, Best Orator, and Overall National Champion in a competition hosted by Wollega University School of Law. The College was also a winner of the Best memorial award and a runner-up team in a recently held National moot court competition hosted by Addis Ababa University, said Mr. Delil.
Dr. Yilfashewa Siyoum, academic programs directorate director, said at his closing speech that the college is giving free legal services for the community in addition to popularizing Haramaya University by participating and wining regional, national, and international moot court competitions which means that it increases the visibility of Haramaya University. Therefore, it is vital to encourage such colleges to work on teacher’s development and increase their numbers, added Dr. Yilfashewa.
“As it was my first time, the competition was really tough for me. It requires very hard working and devoting commitment even though the end result made me and the members happy and I am ready for such future competitions if there is any,” said Dibora Belachew, a 4th year law student and a winner who received many rewards, expressing her gratitude to all groups’ competitors and her adviser. She also recommended to the University that such competition should be conducted among other students because of its amicable use.
Finally, the competition came to end with the reward given to the winners and their coach, and to teacher and students who participated.
By: Aweke Ayalneh
Camera: Fuad Ahmed