Harare (ICRC) – Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) and Midlands State University (MSU) will compete for the opportunity to represent Zimbabwe at the top African competition for law students on international humanitarian law (IHL) in the final round of the Zimbabwe National IHL Moot Court Competition at the High Court of Zimbabwe today. The two teams came first and second respectively in the preliminary round held on 16 September 2016 in Gweru.
Competing in a setting similar to a real life court room, the students are tasked with persuading a panel of expert judges that they know and can correctly apply IHL and their legal skills to fictional cases. The panel of judges is led by the Honourable Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe, Justice George Chiweshe.
"When university students are exposed to challenging competitions of this nature, the standard of legal practice in the country is enhanced. These same students will become our senior lawyers and judges tomorrow," said Justice Chiweshe.
"As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the competition, the ICRC continues to be impressed by the knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication that Zimbabwe's students brings to this competition annually," said Thomas Merkelbach, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation in Harare. "It is the hope of the ICRC that these students – who are future decision makers and community leaders – will be able to apply the law appropriately if the need arises."
The Zimbabwe National IHL Moot Court Competition was initiated by the ICRC in 2006. Since then it has grown through the support of the Office of the Judge President of the High Court of Zimbabwe and the Law Society of Zimbabwe. The preliminary round of the Competition was introduced in 2015 to increase the number of law students who could participate and benefit from the Competition. Previously, only teams from MSU and University of Zimbabwe participated in one round of the competition to determine the winner. The winning team represents Zimbabwe at the All Africa IHL Moot Court, hosted annually by the ICRC in Arusha, Tanzania.
For further information, please contact:
Tendayi Sengwe, Head of Communications, ICRC Harare, tel: +263 772240960; Twitter: @tendayi_sengwe