Petra University wins 5th edition of National Moot Court Competition

AMMAN — The fifth edition of the National Moot Court Competition in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) concluded on Wednesday with a team of law students from the University of Petra taking first place.

Organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with the aim of promoting and developing IHL, the bi-annual competition’s preliminary round started on October 20, with the participation of 16 Jordanian universities, of which five were public.

During the final ceremony, head of the ICRC delegation in Jordan Sarah Avrillaud said: “I congratulate the winners and appreciate the good challenge posed by the runners-up.” 

She expressed her appreciation of the ICRC to the coaches for their work in guiding and teaching the teams for this “highly contested competition”.

Talking about 2022, she added that the ICRC will once again convene a Faculty Roundtable at which the 20 universities that teach IHL will have the opportunity to interact, review the progress of teaching the subject and share best practices to promote IHL and expand the network of experts on this body of law.

The final round was held in the Judicial Institute of Jordan (JIJ), and heard from a team of three law students from the Middle East University, and two students from the University of Petra.

Regarding the Award for the Best Speaker, Hera’a Sha’aban from Yarmouk University, Rakan Al Wazani from World Islamic Science University and Raghad Hadawi from Applied Science University won the first, second and third places, respectively.

“Moot court provides students the opportunity to develop the art of appellate advocacy, teaches them time management skills and legal argumentation,” said JIJ General Director Judge Nawal AlGohary.

Gohary added that the competition has provided competitors the opportunity to hone their skills.

The ceremony saw the presence of representatives from embassies, international organisations, ministries,  Jordanian universities, as well as representatives from the ICRC and Jordan Red Crescent, in addition to media representatives.

The winners of the competition will represent Jordan in the Regional Moot Court Competition that will be held in Cairo next year, according to an ICRC statement.