The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) has a total of one hundred and twenty-three (123) State parties. Thirty-three (33) of the State parties are African States. Consequently, the African continent arguably produces the highest number of parties to the Rome Statute. In addition, most of the accused persons before the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been from African states. Further, one of the novel criminal tribunals, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was established to deliver justice to the victims of the  Rwandan genocide, an African county. Lastly, Africa has successfully adopted African traditional mechanisms to serve justice and ensure reconciliation including the magamba spirits  in Mozambique, Gacaca Courts in Rwanda and the bashingantahe in Burundi.

Despite the existence of and continued practice of the various forms of administration of international criminal justice in post-conflict African countries, not much has been done to mentor the next generation of scholars with an interest in the area. Most regrettably, no international criminal law moot court competition currently exists in the region.  

Accordingly, it is proposed that the Strathmore Law School establishes an inaugural Strathmore International Criminal Law Moot Court Competition to fill this existing gap. 

ABOUT THE SICLMC

The Moot Court Competition is a simulated hearing of disputes before the International Criminal Court. The teams prepare and analyse a fictitious case and present their arguments both for the Prosecution, the Respondent and the State in front of a Panel of judges who consist of International Criminal Law and the International Humanitarian Law experts.

 

The Principal Aims of SICLMC

The SICLMC is principally aimed at encouraging advocacy and scholarship in Public International Law (PIL) generally and more specifically in International Criminal Law (ICL) and by extension International Humanitarian Law (IHL) matters. Further, the SICLMC is aimed at creating a pool of African students with a keen interest in international criminal justice by exposing them to the procedures and practice of ICL and IHL in the ICC as well as special  criminal courts and tribunals.

PHASES OF THE SICLMC

In November 2021, we had a successful Internal moot competition that involved only Strathmore Law School (SLS) students.  The moot comprised of the written phase, wherein the participating students were required to prepare and submit written submissions; and the oral pleadings comprised of the preliminary rounds, quarter finals, semi-finals and eventually a final round.  The winners were awarded cash prices, sponsored by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the best overall speakers secured a two-month internship with the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).
Just a year after its inception, the Moot Competition advanced to the national level bringing together students from law schools all over Kenya. The structure of the moot was maintained as in the 1st edition. The rounds were adjudicated by various legal practioners and experts in ICL and IHL, with the final round being adjudicated by:
  1. Hon. Justice Rosario Salvatore Aitala - Judge of the International Criminal Court
  2. Hon. Justice Daniel Musinga – President & Judge of the Court of Appeal
  3. Hon. Lady Justice Grace Ngenye - Judge of the Court of appeal & Chair of the National Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms
  4. Prof. Githu Muigai - Senior Counsel & Former Attorney General of Kenya
  5. Mr. Hillary Kiboro - Legal Counsel, International Committee of the Red Cross
  6. Mr. Cecil Abungu - Lecturer, Strathmore Law School.
This Edition, the moot competition will advance to a regional level and bring together law schools from Anglophone countries across Africa.

Additional Information

For more information, please contact the Strathmore ICL Moot Court Competition Coordinators vide by email at strathmoreiclmoot@strathmore.edu.