he World Moot is open to undergraduate and masters students from all universities in the world. Teams of two students (gender diversity is encouraged) from every university in the world are invited to submit heads of argument for a hypothetical human rights case. The 50 teams with the highest memorial grades are invited to participate in the preliminary oral rounds and present their arguments to human rights experts and judges of international tribunals at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

The Moot Court Competition is the largest gathering of students, academics and judges around the theme of human rights in the world. The Competition is open to students around the world. A team of two students from each university – preferably one woman and one man (gender diversity is encouraged) – is invited to participate in the competition.

The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is organised by the Centre for Human Rights based at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa, in partnership with the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law, and the United Nations Human Rights Council Branch (HRCB) at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

About University of Pretoria

The University of Pretoria (UP) was established in 1908 with just four professors and 32 students, in a little house called Kya Rosa. Today, it is one of the largest research universities in South Africa. UP has transformed into a dynamic university community of staff and students who come from a range of diverse backgrounds and cultures showcasing South African and global societies. The University was born from a vision to create a space for quality education and for new ideas to flourish. Over the course of its existence, and through different phases of political power and social change

Requirements for University of Pretoria Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition Qualification

• The Competition is open to undergraduate and master’s degree students from all institutions of tertiary education in the world.

Interview date, Process and Venue for University of Pretoria Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition

Selection Criteria

• The best 10 teams from each UN region are then invited to participate in the online preliminary rounds. Teams then have to argue the two sides of the hypothetical case, representing, alternatively, both the Applicant and the Respondent before a ‘bench’ of human rights experts.
• The 16 best teams proceed to the in person Octofinal rounds, which is presided over by international human rights experts. The Competition is presented in English, French and in Spanish.

The Fifteenth Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition adopts a hybrid format, with the in-person final rounds scheduled to take place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 – 21 July 2023 and the preliminary virtual rounds (online) scheduled to take place from 20 – 27 May 2023.

Application Deadline

Not Specified

How to Apply

Registration is done in two phases:

Phase 1: Faculty Registration

In this phase, individuals must register the institutional information of their faculty, along with the details of the person responsible for the team. Such individual can be the faculty representative, in the event a team does not have a faculty representative such details can be of one of the team members.

Phase 2: Individual registration

In this phase, each of the two oralists, including the faculty representative (if applicable) must register so as to record their details. Individual registration is only for the 50 selected teams.

For more details,visit

University of Pretoria website