Three law students from Kenya, Uganda and Zambia have been crowned joint winners of the first ever Commonwealth Moot Court Competition.

The three-day tournament, which simulated the proceedings of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was held in London at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters, with a final round hosted by the United Kingdom Supreme Court.

Winners were:

• Irene Itol, Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda
• Muchinda Mumba, University of Zambia, in Lusaka, Zambia
• Muhavi Mugambi, Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya

Irene who is from the School of Law, Makerere University was awarded internship at the Hague-based ICC.

The first ever moot was held at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London from 25th to 27th June 2014.

Uganda was represented at the moot by Irene Itol and Elijah Enyimu. The moot drew participants from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa. Initially, six students from each country were given the chance to make written submissions to the Commonwealth Secretariat,from which the best 18 were chosen as finalists and invited to London to make oral presentations before a panel of Eminent Judges.

The judges were drawn from the ICC, Special Court for Sierra Leone, Supreme Court of the UK and the War Crimes Division of the High Court of Uganda.  Ms. Itol and Mr. Enyimu from the School of Law were both among the finalists.

In addtition to the internship, Itol and two other co-winners; Muchinda Mumba, University of Zambia and Muhavi Mugambi, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya will be taken on a tour of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

Itol’s and Enyimu’s participation in the Commonwealth Moot Court Competition was supported by the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC), School of Law.

PILAC promotes hands-on experiential learning and exposes students to real cases of individuals who have been confronted by the law in its varied manifestations. In this regard, PILAC regularly provides support to enable various moot teams participate in some of the most prestigious moots across the globe.