Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition 2024

Are you an undergraduate or master’s student looking for an opportunity to showcase your knowledge of human rights law on an international platform? Look no further than the Sixteenth Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition! This competition is open to all students from universities around the world. Teams of two students, with gender diversity encouraged, are invited to submit heads of argument for a hypothetical human rights case. The top 10 teams from each of the five UN regions will then be invited to participate in the online preliminary rounds.

The 50 teams with the highest memorial grades will move on to argue both sides of the hypothetical case, representing the Applicant and Respondent before a bench of human rights experts and international tribunal judges. The 16 best teams will then proceed to the in-person octo-final rounds, which will be presided over by international human rights experts. The competition is presented in English, French, and Spanish, so all students with these language skills are encouraged to participate.

The competition is adopting a hybrid format, with the in-person final rounds scheduled to take place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from July 15-19, 2024, and the preliminary virtual rounds (online) scheduled to take place from May 14-21, 2024. If you’re interested in participating, faculty registration opens on December 15, 2023, and registration closes on April 21, 2024. The hypothetical case to be argued will be released on January 15, 2024, with requests for clarification of facts due by February 15, 2024. Publicized responses to requests for clarification of facts will be released by March 11, 2024. The deadline for submissions of memorials is April 21, 2024. The announcement of the 50 qualifying teams will be on May 7, 2024, with the preliminary rounds taking place from May 14-21, 2024, and the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final rounds taking place from July 15-19, 2024.

To apply, simply register your faculty information along with the details of the person responsible for the team. If you don’t have a faculty representative, one of the team members can serve in that role. After faculty registration, each of the two oralists, including the faculty representative (if applicable), must register to record their details. Individual registration is only for the 50 selected teams. For more information, visit the University of Pretoria website. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to showcase your skills and knowledge on an international stage!