Kathmandu School of Law (KSL) emerged undisputed champion of the Henry Dunant Memorial Moot Court Competition on International Humanitarian Law held in Kathmandu, Nepal, on August 20-21. The team from KSL bagged the winner’s trophy for the 11th year in a row while National Law College (NLC) finished a close second after putting up a tough fight at the recently-concluded national rounds.

IMG_3182

While four law institutions from Kathmandu valley participated in the competition like last year, one more institution – Prithvi Narayan Campus, Pokhara – participated as an observer. This was the first instance where a law institution from outside the valley appeared at the moot court. The participating colleges included Chakrabarti Law College, National Law College, Nepal Law Campus and Kathmandu School of Law. Ms Dragana Kojic, head of the ICRC delegation in Kathmandu, delivered the opening remarks at the event attended by about 70 students.

In the preliminary round, the four participating teams were divided into two groups through a draw system. Each team was provided with the opportunity to argue on behalf of both the prosecution and the defence – albeit against different teams. The two teams with highest scores in the preliminary round made it to the next one — the finals.

Judging this competition were experienced law practitioners and renowned legal experts of the country. While one judge was tasked with the job of memorial evaluation, 10 more judges were present at the competition – three each for two different rounds at the preliminary and four in the finals. Ms Kojic congratulated and encouraged the students at the closing ceremony and distributed the trophies, prizes and certificates to the winners and runners-up. The winners and runners-up will now participate in the regional rounds of the competition scheduled to take place later this year. The Moot Court Competition is the most popular academic contest on International Humanitarian Law in South Asia. In terms of participation in Nepal, the response has been extremely reassuring.