UPSA Law School has been selected to host the 21st edition of the African Regional Round of the prestigious John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition.
The global competition, organised across six continents by the European Law Students Association (ELSA) with the technical assistance of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is a simulated hearing of the WTO settlement system.
The competition is aimed at enhancing knowledge of international trade law and WTO dispute settlement procedures as well as the capacity for meaningful engagement with multilateral states over the long term.
In 2014, ELSA, in cooperation with academic stakeholders in Africa, the WTO, and private donors, launched the inaugural African Regional Round, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the University of the Witwatersrand.
UPSA Law School will host 16 participating teams from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia, and Lesotho in the African Regional Round from March 8th to 12th this year.
Participating teams analyse a fictive case and present their written submissions, following which they argue their case on behalf of the complainant and respondent before a panel of judges made up of WTO and other trade law experts.
At the end of the regional competitions, the best 24 teams from across the continents progress to participate in the Final Oral Round that will take place in June at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Dean of UPSA Law School, Prof Ernest Kofi Abotsi says “the right to host the competition is historic and presents UPSA an opportunity to showcase its place and position on the legal educational map of the continent.”
