Moot Court Competition

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The international humanitarian law Moot Court Competition is usually held once a year in Wellington to raise awareness of the laws or war.

Competition aims

We hold the Competition every year and it's open to teams from each of the six New Zealand universities' law schools.

The purpose of the Competition includes:

enhancing knowledge and understanding of humanitarian law
developing capacity to apply the law in a practical and relevant manner to real-life situations,
supporting teaching humanitarian law in New Zealand universities, and
preparing participants for humanitarian law-related professional aims.

Entry criteria

The competition is open to students studying law at New Zealand law schools. Mooting societies select their team, and registration is at the discretion of the Dean of the law school.

For more information, contact your Dean or our team: ihl@redcross.org.nz

Preparing for the Moot

We coordinate with the Dean of each law school to organise and pay for travel and two nights' accommodation for participants. Participants can request different travel arrangements but must pay any difference in costs.

To prepare for the Moot, you’ll need the Moot Problem — which is fictional but deals with real issues — and the Moot Rules. The Moot Problem and specific rules for each year's competition will be published in July:

Teams must submit a Synopsis of Argument — separately for prosecution and defence — one week before the competition.

Useful resources

Fundamentals

Contemporary issues

ICRC position paper: IHL and Cyber Operations During Armed Conflicts
ICRC short papers on IHL and cyber operations during armed conflicts