UCT WAS placed third at the recent 11th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, held at the American University in Cairo, with law students Justin Goldblatt and Kerry Williams voted third and 10th best English oralists respectively. The students argued a hypothetical human rights case before benches composed of academics and judges.
The students were chosen following a preliminary round held in the Law Faculty's Oliver Tambo Moot Court in May this year. Lecturer in the Department of Private Law Mohamed Paleker said that he had been particularly impressed by the standard of the competition. "Universities obviously take the competition very seriously and dedicate a considerable amount of time and resources to prepare students for it. We have every reason to be proud of Justin and Kerry. Faculty representatives kept coming to me to tell me how impressed they were by the UCT team."
The finals were held on August 12 in the ornate general assembly chamber of the Arab League in Cairo. The finalists, the universities of Pretoria (English), Morocco (French), Nairobi (English) and Reunion (French), appeared before an august bench of eight international law academics and judges. Winners were the universities of Nairobi and Reunion, announced at a "spectacular" dinner hosted by the South African Embassy in Egypt. Thanks go to the Attorneys Fidelity Fund who provided sponsorship for the trip.