Law students square up

Contesting: UCT's team of Emma Webber, Shingi Masanzu and Tongayi Masvikwa make their case in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, while co-ordinator Matthew Karabus (back) listens in.

University law students are locking horns at UCT in the national round of the prestigious Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, sponsored by law firm White and Case.

Working in teams of three to five members, the students submit written pleadings and present oral arguments to a panel of judges in a simulated International Court of Justice, providing them with legal experience in a courtroom setting.

This year's legal problem that students had to tackle deals with the treatment of detainees suspected of terrorist activities, and other issues of international law and human rights.

UCT is one of six universities taking part in the competition, which ends on 1 February. The winning team earns a spot at the world championships in Washington DC in April.

The UCT team is made up of Shingira Masanzu, Tongayi Masvikwa and Emma Webber. The judges include Judges Craig Howie and Ian Farlam of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Judges Nathan Erasmus and Dennis Davis of the Cape Provincial Division, and Tanneke Heersche of White and Case in Johannesburg.