News & Events

Section Navigation Toggle

Washington College of Law Hosts 28th Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition 

The Yearly Event Trains Law Students To Use Inter-American Legal System To Address Human Rights Violations  

Judges and students listen as a participant argues their case.Magnify Photo
Judges and students listen as a participant argues their case.

Students from across the globe gathered in the Stephen S. Weinstein Courtroom to participate in the 28th annual Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition.

The competition is a unique trilingual (English, Portuguese, and Spanish) event established to train law students on using the Inter-American human rights legal system as a legitimate forum for redressing human rights violations. 

A participant in the Moot Court Competition argues their case to the panel of judgesMagnify Photo
A participant in the Moot Court Competition argues their case to the panel of judges

Since its inception in 1995, the competition has trained over 4900 students and faculty participants from over 365 universities from the Americas and beyond. Written on a cutting-edge topic currently debated within the Inter-American system, the hypothetical case operates as the basis of the competition, as students argue the merits of this case by writing legal memoranda and preparing oral arguments for presentation in front of human rights experts acting as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

This year's Moot Court Competition was named in honor of WCL Professor Elizabeth Abi-Mershed. Learn more about the Moot Court competition.

Story by Brice Helms.