South African National Schools Moot Court Competition

The South African National Schools Moot Court Competition is an annual moot court competition established in 2011 aimed at creating greater consciousness and understanding in South African schools and communities about the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the values embodied by it through the active participation of learners in a moot court competition.

The finalists automatically qualify to represent South Africa at the International Schools Moot Court Competition, hosted in the Hague, in the Netherlands. South African law school.

Format

Semi-final oral rounds are held at the University of Pretoria.

University of Pretoria Faculty of Law building

The final oral round is held at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Constitutional Court of South Africa courtroom

The moot is divided into written and oral rounds. All secondary schools in South Africa are invited to send a team of two grade-10 or 11 learners to submit two short essays, each arguing the opposing view of the set fictional question. A panel of experts evaluate the submissions and select the four best submissions from each of South Africa's nine provinces which are then invited to the semi-final oral rounds held at the University of Pretoria, with the winners arguing in the final round at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Johannesburg. In the inaugural competition, 32 teams competed in the provincial rounds. However, as of 2019, the Moot problem has been made a part of the school curriculum, reaching a potential 2 million learners.

The moot court is organised and supported by the Department of Basic Education, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, South African Human Rights Commission, and University of Pretoria Faculty of Law.

Judges

Year	Judge	Position
2011	Justice Dikgang Moseneke (Presiding)	Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court
	Justice Johan Froneman	Justice of the Constitutional Court
	Justice Kenneth Mthiyane	Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Acting Justice of the Constitutional Court
	Justice Zak Yacoob	Justice of the Constitutional Court
	Yanine Poc	Regional representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Southern Africa
2012	Justice Bess Nkabinde (Presiding)	Justice of the Constitutional Court
	Justice Edwin Cameron	Justice of the Constitutional Court
	Ms Yasmin Sooka	Director, Foundation for Human Rights
	Dr Zonke Majodina	Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Committee
	Prof Ann Skelton	Director, Centre for Child Law, University of Pretoria

Winners

Year	Winner	Runner-up
2011	King Edward VII	Hoërskool Richardsbaai
2012	Thengwe High School	Springfield Convent School

See also

• Moot court
• List of law schools in South Africa
• World Human Rights Moot Court Competition
• African Human Rights Moot Court Competition