2010-2011 Moot Season Initial Team Placements

Philip C. Jessup, Int’l Moot Court Patrick Turinawe
Mercy Grace Kisinza
Nantongo Angela
Silver Kayondo
Roland Yongera

World Human Rights Moot Kiconco Judith
Kiwana Jonathan

ICRC Team 1 Masiga Colline
Sevume Semanya Jospeh
Natamba Juliana

ICRC Team 2 (If Permitted) Emuron Gerald
Asiimwe Fred Johnson
Nalule Vickie

East Africa Human Rights Moot Zeere James
Brian Kambaho

African Human Rights Moot Daniel Gasatura
Nakato Immaculate


Description of the Moots and general explanation on selections and the selection process:

Philip C. Jessup, Int’l Moot Court: This Moot requires an exceptional commitment on behalf of the competitors. Jessup Moot team members remain on campus for the majority of the Christmas/New Years break to complete two large briefs of the highest quality possible. There is no guarantee that our team will be invited to Washington, D.C. to compete in the International Rounds as only one team from Uganda is invited. However, over the past three years UCU is the only Law School that has been able to field a team that completed the briefs and that was able to travel to Washington D.C. The International Rounds will take place next year in mid to late March. The second year team members will not be traveling to D.C. unless they are able to make their own arrangements to cover the cost of air travel from Entebbe to Washington, D.C. However, third-year team members who substantially contribute to brief writing on this year’s team will be given priority for selection to the 2012-2013 Jessup team as fourth year students. Team members were selected based on their combined demonstrated ability in written and oral advocacy, their commitment and leadership demonstrated in extra-curricular activities, and their experience in past mooting exercises.

The Jessup Moot Court problem will be released in September of 2011. The Jessup Moot Committee has agreed that this year’s problem will address the following issues: 1) a dispute between two States over the destruction of a cultural site of great significance; 2) the question of who may represent a State internationally in the immediate aftermath of a coup d'etat; and 3) international responsibility for the use of force by a State while taking part in a regional operation to bring about democracy. Team members should meet in the near future to begin a strategy for researching these relevant topics.

World Human Rights Moot: The World Human Rights Moot will take place in Pretoria, South Africa on the 8th and 9th of December 2011. In order to be invited to South Africa team members must submit “heads of argument” on the basis of a hypothetical case by 9 September, 2011. The top three submissions from each of the five UN regions will be invited to participate in the moot. As a result of the threshold writing requirement team members were selected based on demonstrated oral and written advocacy skills. The hypothetical case can be downloaded at:
http://web.up.ac.za/default.asp?ipkCategoryID=11341&subid=11341&ipklookid=10

ICRC National Moot: The ICRC Moot focuses on oral advocacy, improvisation and teamwork. ICRC team members were selected largely based on their demonstrated skills in oral advocacy. Over the past two years UCU has been able to register two teams for this moot. However, based on the growing number of law schools in Uganda we may be limited to one team this year. If the second ICRC team is not permitted to participate we will endeavor to provide those students with another mooting opportunity. In order to prepare for this moot it is important to master the International Humanitarian Law. Team members should work on obtaining materials to study over the next few months in order to prepare. The Competition normally takes place in October with the winning team from Uganda going on to Arusha to compete against other teams from Africa in late November. Fourth year students are selected for this moot based on their anticipated enrollment in International Humanitarian Law.

The East Africa Human Rights Moot (Rw.): This is a Human Rights moot that takes place in Rwanda that UCU has participated in twice. The timing of the event fluctuates. This year it took place in February. This moot emphasizes both written and oral skills and the team was selected on that basis. Fourth year students are selected for this moot based on their anticipated enrollment in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

The Africa Human Rights Moot: This Moot normally takes place in July or August. Therefore we have selected second year students for this moot. The location for the moot has yet to be announced. It is important for students in this moot to being acquiring a knowledge and understanding of Human Rights Law Internationally and in Africa. Students were selected based on their written and oral performance in UCU’s 2011 Intra-University Moot Court Competition.

Other Possible Moot Opportunities: The Faculty of Law at Uganda Christian University is willing to pursue other mooting opportunities based on available funding and accessibility. In the past UCU has competed in a national moot hosted by APILU. UCU would certainly want to participate in such a moot if it was to be held during the 2011-2012 school year. In addition, UCU is working on the development of a future moot focusing on the East African Community issues. It would be great if such an event could take place during the 2011-2012 academic year although it does not look likely at this point.

Note to Selected Students: If you were selected for a competition but you would prefer not to participate or you have found a selected student that would like to switch with you please contact Brian Dennison at dbriandennison@gmail.com

Note to Students Not Selected: If you are a rising third-year student who participated in the 2011 Intra-University Moot and you were not selected please do not be discouraged. Hopefully, there will be opportunities for you to compete on the national and international level during the 2012-2013 Academic year. However, if you are interested in being selected for such competitions next year you would be wise to compete in the 2012 Intra-University Moot. Also, there is a possibility that students not selected this year will be asked to join national and international teams of the course of the 2011-2012 academic year. Such ad hoc selections may not be as formal as the process used to choose these teams or the current 2011 African Human Rights Moot Team. Therefore it is important to make your interest in competing known in order to make sure you receive due consideration. It is presumed that all students that competed in the 2011 Intra-University Moots have an interest in competing at the national and international level.

Thank you to everyone for your commitment to excellence in moots at UCU!

Brian Dennison