All-Africa IHL competition boosts competence among future legal professionals

DAR ES SALAAM: THE All-Africa Competition in International Humanitarian Law (IHL), organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is said to cultivate more competent students and professionals in the field.

Speaking at the finals of the Tanzanian National IHL Moot Court Competition in Dar es Salaam recently, Ms Joyce Buyachamo, Legal Adviser and Head of Mission for ICRC Tanzania said that the competition’s main goal is to translate the laws of war from theory into practice.

“The main objective of this competition is to take the laws of war off the pages and into real-world application, significantly developing students capable of working in this area of law,” said Ms Buyachamo.

She noted that nearly 90 per cent of educators teaching the laws of war have benefited from participating in previous IHL competitions.

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“Various experts in matters related to the laws of war have emerged from these competitions, with some opting to pursue further studies and conduct research in this field,” Ms Buyachamo added.

On his part, Colonel (rtd) Aloyce Laiser, an advocate and volunteer legal adviser to the Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) said that another goal of the competition is to try to guide university students on IHL.

Mr Laiser said: “Because the subject of Humanitarian Law hasn’t been part of university curricula for long, in conducting training at universities we aim to establish a system that aligns with academic standards and balance in this subject.”

He said that there is a gap in the way universities aligned in the level of teaching and understanding of this subject of International Humanitarian Law and what we do in these competitions is to bring changes and balance.

Mr Laiser said that ICRC wants the understanding of IHL to be the same and its application to be consistent as well because all use the same platform in war crimes courts.

Furthermore, Mary Isack, a law student competing in the finals, said that the competition serves as a valuable platform for them to deepen their understanding of the laws of war.

The Tanzanian National IHL Moot Court Competition features teams from eight Tanzanian universities, each consisting of three members, competing for a chance to advance to the All-Africa Moot Court Competition finals, which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in November for English-speaking African countries.