National Schools Moot Court Competition 2011/12

Grade 10 and 11 learners from all secondary schools in South Africa were invited to participate in the second National Schools Moot Court Competition.

A Moot is a role-play exercise in which participants play the role of lawyers in a fictional court case.

All secondary schools in South Africa were invited to enter a team of two learners, preferably one male and one female. A fictional problem involving a constitutional issue was set. Learners were expected to write two short essays setting out the opposing sides of the case. The essays were evaluated by a panel of experts.

The best nine submissions in each of the nine provinces were identified and the selected learners were invited to participate in person in the provincial oral rounds, in the nine provinces. Lists of teams that will participate in all provincial rounds are attached as Annexure A.

The best four teams from each province will then participate in the national oral rounds at the University of Pretoria on 27 to 28 April 2012. The two provincial winning teams with the highest scores will compete against each other to determine an overall winning team in the final round on 29 April 2012 in the Constitutional Court.

The Moot is a joint venture of the Universities of Pretoria, Venda and the Western Cape, The South African Constitutional Literacy and Service Initiative (CLASI), Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, University of Cape Town and the Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development and Basic Education, the South African Human Rights Commission and the Foundation for Human Rights.

The Competition is aimed at creating greater awareness of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and the values that it embodies.

The Schools Moot provides a singular opportunity for the entire legal profession of the country to be engaged with the promotion of the Constitution and of the role of the law in our society. Practising attorneys, magistrates, law clinics and university lecturers and students reach out during the Moot to schools in their neighbourhood and encourage them to participate – and provide assistance to the learners who are interested in participating in the Competition.

According to the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Mr Enver Surty: “The Moot Court Competition places learning at the forefront by creating the opportunity to enhance the learners’ ability to think critically, improve their analytical skills and increase their negotiation and communication skills. The Moot Court Competition helps to embed human rights into the curriculum where the three pillars of knowledge, skills and attitudes are the core for the department”.

Prof Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions OHCHR is of the opinion that “the Schools Moot has proven itself to be a highly enjoyable as well as an educational way of promoting the values of our Constitution among learners and their communities. We hope that it will expand to reach all schools in the country. This is how we can make our society work for all of us”.

For more details on the competition, please see www.up.ac.za/law or contact the organisers, Cherryl Botterill, at cherryl.botterill@gmail.com or Phindi Ngcobo, at ngcobo.p@dbe.gov.za.

Second National Schools Moot Court Provincial oral rounds: March to April 2012