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The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is a moot court competition on international human rights law. In 2009 the University of Pretoria Faculty of Law's Centre for Human Rights, with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, organised the inaugural World Human Rights Moot Court Competition. The oral rounds of the competition are held annually on 8th and 9 December in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa.
Contents
Moot format
The moot involves a written round after which teams are selected for the oral round. Teams argue a hypothetical case on issues of international human rights law in either English or French as if it will be adjudicated by a hypothetical International Human Rights Court, on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other applicable (such as regional) human rights instruments. A winner is announced for each United Nations world region.
Judges
The regional rounds are judged by distinguished legal academics and legal professionals from around the world. In the final round, the panel is made up of eminent jurists and judges from international tribunals and bodies such as the different regional human rights courts and UN human rights treaty bodies. The inaugural presiding judge was Navi Pillay and Judge Mark Villiger of the European Court of Human Rights presided in the 2010 final.