THE INAUGURAL NASIRU DEEN TEJAN-COLE MOOT COURT COMPETITION GETS HIGH PRAISE

Historical events do not just go away! They set the stage for excellence and good practice. Moot Court Competition in Sierra Leone? Unbelievable right? We thought the same and had to go past the raving reviews on twitter to delve deeper into the simulated court experience.

Sierra Leone’s first Director of Public Prosecutions, Nasiru Deen Tejan Cole, was honoured with a Moot Court Competition held at the Multi-purpose Conference Hall at Fourah Bay College (FBC), University of Sierra Leone from the 1st – 4th September 2020. It was well organized with great participation and good turn out,  by the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) in partnership with the Law Society at Fourah Bay College.

According to Mohamed Wurie Bah, President of the Law Society. “This competition aims to provide training for Sierra Leonean law students that will improve their participation in regional and international competitions. It provided an opportunity to debate on a cutting-edge topic in the law as well as recent developments in policy. Students were given a hypothetical case, and they argued for both applicant and respondent in the case by writing legal memoranda and preparing oral arguments for presentation in front of a panel of judges” 

“Moot competition has been part of the process of training lawyers for centuries and plays an important role in legal education. It is a specialised application of the art of persuasive advocacy that we hope to make an integral part of legal training in Sierra Leone,” says Basita Michael, one of the founders of Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ).

The judges in the preliminary rounds of the competition, which took place on 1st and 2nd September 2020, consisted of prominent legal practitioners and academics including Nancy Sesay, Nicky Spencer-Coker, Sally Khatumal, Ibrahim Sorie Yillah, Rhoda Sufian Kargbo, Emmanuel Saffa-Abdulai, Rashid Dumbuya and Hon. Hindolo M Gevao.

In the final round, the judges were recognised experts in international and human rights law, including Justice Glenna Thompson, Supreme Court Judge, Honourable Justice Viviane Solomon, and President of the Court of Appeal; Honourable Justice Reginald Fynn.

Honourable Justice Glenna Thompson of the Supreme Court gave the teams a 1-hour training session on advocacy skills.

Eligibility of persons who participated in the moot court debate was limited to only students who are part of the Law Department, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, FBC, USL.

Four (4) teams of at least three members registered for the moot court debate and  contested for the various prices.

The event generated immense interest on the part of law students who were eager to showcase their knowledge and understanding of different areas of the law as well as their research and oral argument skills.

THE COMPETING TEAMS WERE:

1. The POSITIVIST :  Farouk Sulaiman Taiwo, Adedoyin Habert, Baker Mustapha Dauda

2. The IDEALIST:  James Ade Williams, Naomi, Nathaniel Jones

3. The FRADAL: Adel Bull, Alpha Amadu Bah, Fedrick Ishmael Bockarie

4. The ERUDITES: Fatmata Binta Jalloh, Marie, Vandy

NASIRU DEEN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

NOW FOR THE RESULT REPORT

The result below is reflective of the three days of oral pleadings submission presented by counsels of the respective teams.

All of them were graded independently by the respective judges empanelled and it is that which was cumulated to get the oralists standings. 

By that token, the percentages of the teams were as a result of the scores of the respective counsels.

Here are the percentages of the oralists :

1. ALPHA AMADU BAH – 83%

2. JAMES ADE WILLIAMS – 81%

3. ADEL BULL – 77%

4. MARIE KARGBO – 66%

5. NAOMI MANSARAY – 65%

6. FAROUK ADEDOYIN – 61%

7. FATMATA BINTA JALLOH – 59%

8. HERBERT BAKER – 55%

MEMORIAL STANDING

1. TEAM POSITIVISTS

2. TEAM FRADALS

3. TEAM IDEALISTS

4. TEAM ERUDITES

NOTE: THE MEMORIAL WAS THEIR WRITTEN ARGUMENTS. 

NDTC 2020 CHAMPION

TEAM IDEALISTS – THE APPLICANTS

RUNNER UP- TEAM FRADALS

The respective winners for the different categories of awards:

• BEST MALE AND OVERALL ORALIST – ALPHA AMADU BAH

• BEST FEMALE ORALIST –MARIE KARGBO

• BEST MEMORIAL – TEAM POSITIVISTS

• CHAMPIONS- TEAM IDEALISTS

THE ABOVE IS A SUMMARY REPORT OF THE RESULT AND OUTCOME OF THE FIRST NASIRU DEEN TEJAN COLE MOOT COURT COMPETITION.