Following the preliminary rounds on 3 and 4 September, the African Human Rights Moot Court competition held at the University of the Western Cape, draws to a close with finalists announced yesterday.

During the preliminary rounds, faculty representatives were acting as judges, with participants arguing a hypothetical human rights case before this bench of legal academics. The case was argued in French, Portuguese and English.

Following intense and scathing sessions in the courts, the finalists who will meet at the final are:

Finalists (who will argue for the Applicant):

University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)

Université Libre de Kinshasa (DRC) and

Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique)

Finalists (who will argue for the Respondent)

Moi University (Kenya)

Université des Lagunes CIDD (Côte d'Ivoire) and

Universidade Catolica de Angola (Angola).

Finals will be held at the Civic Centre in Cape Town from 09h00 on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The judges for the finals are:

Mr Justice Bernard Ngoepe (South Africa)

Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Madame Maya Sahli-Fadel (Algérie)

Professeure et Membre de la Commission Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples

Dr Benyam Dawit Mezmur (Ethiopia)

Chair of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Madam Justice Kate O'Regan (South Africa)

Retired Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

Dra Orquídea Palmira Massarongo-Jona (Moçambique)

Faculdade de Direito, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Moçambique

The closing ceremony of this, the biggest educational initiative in Africa, will be held at 12h00 with the Rector of UWC, Prof Brian O’Connell, UWC Dean of Law, Prof Julia Sloth-Nielsen and Director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Pretoria, Prof Frans Viljoen, as guest speakers.