Simbarashe Chigumira, Ivy Madziwo, Blissful Dzimiri and Kudakwashe Muzenda
Blissful Dzimiri
MASVINGO – Great Zimbabwe University (GZU)’s Herbert Chitepo Law School has again made another mark after it was ranked among the top 100 best law schools in the world at the prestigious White & Case International Law Philip C Jessup Moot Competition held in Washington DC at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on April 9-15, 2017.
This was GZU’s first ever participation in this competition, and judging by its performance, certainly not the last.
The competition, which begun in 1960, is the largest moot competition of law schools in the world, and the oldest one dedicated to international law.
It is hosted by the International Law Students Association (ILSA) and sponsored by White & Case, an international law firm which specialises in international law.
The 2017 edition of the Jessup Cup attracted the participation of approximately 700 law schools from all over the world.
Participants were presented with a fictional case grounded in real life and on-going international disputes as a means of testing the students’ knowledge of international law.
Each law school was required to submit written memorials outlining heads of argument and the legal authority supporting the arguments presented therein.
After a rigorous elimination process, the hosts of the competition announced the teams that had advanced to the oral leg of the tournament, that is, the World Championship rounds.
The GZU team, represented by Kudakwashe Muzenda, Blissful Dzimiri, Ivy Madziwo and Simbarashe Chigumira, was among the teams that proceeded to the World Championship rounds in Washington DC though the Jessup Cup was ultimately won by the University of Sydney from Australia.
In coming up with the final rankings of the tournament’s best teams, ILSA combined the results of both the written memorials as well as the oral submissions made by each team. So despite winning the tournament, University of Sydney ranked fifth amongst the list of best 100 law schools in the entire tournament.
Herbert Chitepo Law School was ranked the ninety-eighth best law school in the entire tournament. There were only four other African teams to make it onto the list; University of Pretoria from South Africa; Kwamwe Nkrumah University of Science & Technology from Ghana; The Law & Development Centre from Uganda; and The American University in Cairo from Egypt.
“This tournament was by far the most competitive one that GZU has ever taken part in. The level of competition we witnessed there was simply out of this world, which is why I am proud of GZU’s performance as evidenced by being ranked amongst the 100 best law schools at the tournament. Believe me, that was no mean feat,” said Tawanda Zvobgo of Dube, Manikai & Hwacha, who attended the tournament as the GZU’s team coach/advisor.education
