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Kenyan law students beat Harvard law counterparts in Global Law Competition

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Three students from Kenya’s Strathmore University School of law emerged winners in the John H. Jackson Moot Court competition on World Trade Organization (WTO) Law that was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The students Mishael Wambua, Kandalla Maleehah, and Catherine Penda made history by beating Harvard Law School in the final of the competition.

The win makes them the first African team to win the competition  that was formerly known as the European Law Students Association Moot Court Competition on WTO Law.

The Dean Strathmore Law School Luis Franceschi took to twitter to celebrate the historic win.

The competition that attracted students from 90 law schools globally requires the participants to prepare and analyze a fictive case and present their arguments both for the Complainant and the Respondent in front of a panel which comprises of WTO and trade law experts.

Regional rounds are first conducted in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the America with 20 best team proceeding to participate in the Final Oral Round, which is held in Geneva.

{ Read: Flamboyant lawyers not among Kenya’s finest }

This big win comes as the Senate launches investigations of increasing failure of students sitting the Bar examination at the Kenya School of Law (KSL).

The probe comes after a petition filed by Mr Elkana Kitur and Mr Abdalla Suleiman.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) is also investigating the matter.

The committee chaired by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Samson Cherargei will investigate KSL structures and systems.

In January 2018, a task force released a report that revealed the massive failure of law students seeking to be admitted as advocates of the High Court in a period of eight years, 2009-2016.

In the report 7,530 students passed the bar examination while 8,549 failed implying to a failure rate of 53 percent.

{ See Also: Dream come true for young lawyer who escaped early marriage }

There have been allegations that the examination is a cash cow for Council of Legal Education (CLE).

A unit at the KSL costs Sh 5,000 and a students is required to take nine units translating to Sh45,000.

Remarking of a paper costs Sh15,000 whereas a resit costs Sh10,000.

“There seems to be a disconnect between the way lawyers are trained and the exams they sit at the KSL. There’s need for thorough audits,” said nominated senator Agnes Zani.

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Brenda Gamonde
Brenda Gamonde
Brenda Gamonde is reporter with Business Today. Email: [email protected]
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