Strathmore wins prestigious international trade law award

Strathmore University Law School has beaten Harvard University to win the prestigious John Hopkins Jackson Moot Court award at a competition held in Geneva, Switzerland.

By clinching the prestigious award, Strathmore becomes the first African team to bag the prize, the highest distinction for students in the field of international trade law and international law in general.

HARVARD

The John H Jackson Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organisation (WTO) Law is a student-run moot court competition organised annually by the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA).

This activity is organised in partnership with the World Trade Organisation as a simulation of WTO Panel dispute settlement proceedings.

The aim is to build awareness of the WTO dispute settlement systems by providing law students around the world with legal knowledge and skill to build global legal capacity.

The international round of this competition took place at the premises of the WTO Saturday night.

Strathmore won in front of a panel constituted of high-ranking officials of the WTO, including the WTO Appellate Body chairperson Hong Zhao.

PRELIMINARY STAGES

Strathmore University, which was being coached by Christian Vidal-Leon and Harrison Mbori at the competition, qualified for the international round in April after being the only African team in the contest.

In the preliminary stages, Strathmore beat teams from Netherlands and India to advance to the next level. 

They would face and dispatch another Indian team in the quarter-finals before trouncing a Colombian team in the semi-final to set up a sensational final with the globally acclaimed Harvard University.

"Amazing team. Proud of you," said Strathmore Law School Dean Dr Luis Franceschi in a tweet.