The Sunday Mail
Bridge Reporter
The Great Zimbabwe University Herbert Chitepo Law School has once again made a tremendous achievement on the international arena by qualifying for the prestigious Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Competition which shall be held this year at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on 18th and 19th July 2016.
The international tournament is held every year as a means of strengthening human rights education and awareness. It is open to law schools from all five (5) United Nations regions, and is open to both undergraduate as well as masters law students.
The competition attracts the participation of more than one hundred law schools the world over. The competition is divided into two phases. The first phase involves the submission of written memorials or heads of argument by competing universities. Distinguished human rights scholars from various jurisdictions then convene to assess these, and choose 25 of the best written memorials. The law schools whose written memorials would have made the cut are then invited to take part in the oral rounds, which are the second phase of the competition.
GZU’s team comprises of two undergraduate second year law students – one gentleman, Kudakwashe Muzenda, and one lady, Blissful Dzimiri. The participants have been preparing for the international tournament under the guidance of team coach Tawanda Zvobgo, a legal practitioner and litigator from leading law firm Dube, Manikai & Hwacha legal practitioners based in Harare.
Reads part of the letter addressed to the GZU by Professor Frans Viljoen, the director of the Centre for Human Rights, “We are pleased to inform you that your team has been selected to proceed to the next phase of the competition – the pre-final rounds – to be held at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 18 and 19 July 2016.
“Congratulations on this achievement. We look forward very much to welcoming you to Geneva, and to sharing this singular experience with you.”
The oral phase of the completion will be presided over by esteemed international judges including Judge Raul Pangalangan of the International Criminal Court, Judge Fatsah Ouguerzgouz of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Judge Dragolijub Popovic of the European Court of Human Rights.
Commenting on this achievement, Tawanda Zvobgo said, “This is a highly prestigious international tournament, and to have been selected as one of the 25 best teams in the world is no small achievement. It speaks volumes about the kind of training and education students are receiving at Hebert Chitepo law school. However, we are still far from completing the job. The written memorials phase was the easy part. Now our students shall go head to head against some of the best law schools in the world as they hold their own in the oral submissions phase of the tournament. We shall continue to train hard and prepare our contestants to showcase Zimbabwe’s talent on this international stage.”
The Vice Chancellor of Great Zimbabwe University, Professor Rungano Jonas Zvobgo, was ecstatic about the news and proud of the strides that Herbert Chitepo law school is making in establishing itself as a household name for excellence in legal education locally, regionally and internationally.
Said the Vice Chancellor, “The University could not be more proud of the achievements that the law school is making in placing both the university and Zimbabwe at large on the world map. The students’ efforts speak for themselves. Great Zimbabwe University is a force to be reckoned with. On behalf of the university, I would like to congratulate our students and wish them the very best as they now commence preparations for the second leg of the tournament which shall be held in Geneva, Switzerland.”
Earlier in March this year, GZU law school made waves as it came 3rd out of 51 participating teams from across the world in the 2016 International Law School Mediation tournament that was held at Loyola University School of Law in Chicago, United States of America.
