Child Law Moot Court Competition

The Centre hosts its annual Moot Court competition, challenging the sharpest minds in South African law schools to argue a child rights case before a panel of legal experts, putting their research, public thinking, and critical thinking skills to the test.

Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition 2024

The Centre for Child Law hosted the 13th Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition on 20 – 21 September 2024. This year’s moot court theme was based on children in conflict with the law. It concerned the disparity in sentencing between children and adults for offences related to the possession and consumption of prohibited substances.

The competition aims to raise awareness of children’s rights, promote public interest law among undergraduate students, and expose students to child law issues.

Teams representing 13 South African universities participated in this year’s showdown, including  North West University, Rhodes University, University of Cape Town, University of Fort Hare, University of the Free State, University of Johannesburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Limpopo, University of Pretoria, University of South Africa, University of Venda, University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Zululand.

The final bench presiding officers were Former Dep. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr John Jeffery, practising Magistrate Teresa Horne and UP’s Prof. Fagbayibo.

Finalists:  University of Cape Town v University of Fort Hare 

Winning Team: University of Cape Town

Best Speakers: This year’s installation produced three best speakers, demonstrating the quality and intensity of the argumentation delivered during the rounds: Naledi Nyama (Wits); Hemal Heeralal (UKZN) and Amogelang Molefi (UCT).

Best Heads of Argument: Wits University 

We congratulate all the winners and extend our appreciation to all who participated, making this another exciting and impactful event.

Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition 2023

The Centre for Child Law hosted the 12th Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition on 22 – 23 September 2023. The theme was ‘Access to Education for Undocumented Learners and the Concurrent Rights and Duties of Private Schools’.

This year 12 teams participated, representing the following universities from across South Africa, namely: 

University of Cape Town, Rhodes University, University of South Africa, University of Venda, University of Western Cape, University of Witwatersrand, Walter Sisulu University, University of Fort Hare, University of Free State, University of Johannesburg, University of KwaZulu Natal, University of Pretoria

The competition was hosted at the University of Pretoria’s Law Faculty.

The presiding officers for the final round were Dr Faranaz Veriava:  Head of Education, SECTION27; Irene De Vos: Acting Judge in the Pretoria High Court and Dr Elvis Fokala: Head of the Child Rights Unit, Centre for Human Rights.

Finalists: University of Cape Town v University of Witwatersrand 

Winning team: University of Cape Town team: Khanya Dambuza and Jay Krok

Best Speaker: Litha Myataza (Wits)

Best Heads of Argument: Rhodes University

The Centre wishes to express gratitude to all the participants, coaches, bailiffs and judges for making the 2023 Child Law Moot Court Competition possible.

Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition 2022

The Centre for Child Law hosted the 11th Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition on 23 – 24 September 2022. The theme was children’s environmental rights in the context of sustainable
development and climate change.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre could not host the annual Moot Court Competition which has been held annually, for the past 10 years. However, after the 2 years hiatus, the Centre finally held its
11th Annual Child Law Moot Court competition which saw participation from 12 Universities from across South Africa (North West University, Fort Hare, Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of Free State, University of Johannesburg, University of KwaZulu Natal, University of Pretoria, University of South Africa, University of Western Cape, University of Witwatersrand and alter Sisulu University).

Finalists: University of the Witwatersrand v University of Pretoria

Winning team: University of Pretoria

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Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition 2019

The Centre for Child Law will be hosting its 10th Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition on 18 and 19 October 2019.
Please Note: The Moot Court facts will be put up on the website by 15 July 2019 (information updated 3 July 2019).

Information Document 2019: PDF
Schedule 2019: PDF (updated 3 July 2019)
Competition Rules 2019: PDF
Competition Facts 2019: PDF (added 22 July 2019)
Contact: zita.hansungule@up.ac.za

Second International Children’s Rights Moot 2019

The University of Leiden (Netherlands) hosted the second International Children’s Rights Moot from 3 to 5 April 2019.

The Centre for Child Law assisted a team from the University of Pretoria to take part in the competition. The team was made up of Sasha Lordan and Snethemba Luhabe who were coached by Nyambeni Davhana.

Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition 2018

The Centre for Child Law successfully hosted its 9th Annual Child Law Moot Court Competition on 19 and 20 October 2018.

The aim of the competition is to develop in law students an awareness of children’s rights and child law and expose them to problem-solving and litigation in the field of child law.

The 2018 competition dealt with the question of whether the legal framework regulating protest action in South Africa sufficiently enables or protects children’s participation in protests. The competition was attended by teams representing 9 Universities: the University of the Western Cape, Walter Sisulu University, North West University, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Pretoria, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of South Africa and Stellenbosch University.

The final round was held at the High Court, Pretoria in the Palace of Justice, with Judge Jody Kollapen presiding with Advocate Emma Webber and Advocate Jatheen Bhima. The University of the Witwatersrand and Stellenbosch University argued before the final bench and the University of the Witwatersrand emerged as winners of the competition.

First International Children’s Rights Moot 2014

The University of Leiden (Netherlands) and UNICEF hosted the first International Children’s Rights Moot from 18 to 20 November 2014.

The moot was part of the Children’s Rights week organised by the University of Leiden, UNICEF and the city of Leiden to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The University of Pretoria’s team mentored the Centre’s attorneys, Karabo Ngidi and Carina du Toit, won the prize for Best Applicant. The team members were Stephen Buabeng Baiboo and Thandeka Khoza, both second year law students.

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