The importance of mooting and of moot competitions in undergraduate law education has been established globally. Moot competitions provide crucial opportunities for law students to develop their argument skills and their confidence in presentation. To support the development of strong skills amongst UCT Law students, the UCT Moot Society was established in 2017.
This provided the platform for the new Moot society to present the inaugural UCT Intervarsity Moot Competition. This first effort was a major success for several reasons, including the support received from high-profile legal professionals such as practising attorneys, advocates of the Cape Bar and former Constitutional Court Justices. These practitioners have since included attorneys, advocates, academics, and former and current Constitutional Court Justices - including Justices Sachs, Cameron, Moseneke, Kollapen and O’Regan.
Former ConCourt Justice Kate O’Regan (UCT LLB Class of 1980) adjudicated the final round of the 2017 competition - and to commemorate the success of the event, and in recognition of Justice O'Regan's contribution to the field of legal practice, the competition was named after her - the Kate O'Regan Intervarsity Moot Competition.
Testimonies of previous UCT teams and other past participants, show that this is a great opportunity to broaden a student’s legal understanding to include areas of law not usually covered in the LLB degree. As a prestigious and highly competitive competition, the best emerging legal talent in the country has an opportunity to participate in this annual event, where each competition is focused on a specific area of law.
The moot was held in person in 2017, 2018 and 2019 - and switched to online during the covid period.
Listen to an interview with Justice Kate O'Regan and then-Moot Society member, Navjothi Raju, about the value of moot competitions.
Interview conducted by Gillian Mitchell at the 2019 Kate O'Regan Intervarsity Moot Competition.
Kate O'Regan Intervarsity Moot Competition 2024
The 2023 competition rules, dates and deadlines, and other key information are available here for easy download: