National IHL Moot Court Competition brings together law students from across Zimbabwe
By: Ashley Muza, Junior Programme Officer, Harare Office
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Harare office in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hosted the 2026 Edition of the National International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Moot Court competition from 5-7 August 2026 in Harare. The competition brought together 15 students from the five law faculties in Zimbabwe (Great Zimbabwe University, Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University and Africa University), with the aim to increase the knowledge and skills of participating students on international humanitarian law and practical legal skills.
The competition kicked off with a boot camp where the students were trained by selected legal practitioners and advocates of the superior courts, on International Humanitarian Law, as well as advocacy and legal drafting skills. The boot camp was followed by a preliminary round where the top two teams proceeded to the final round held on 7 August 2026 at the High Court in Harare.
The University of Zimbabwe emerged as the winner of the final round of the moot court competition against the Midlands State University. The Deputy Judge President, Mr Justice Mawadze presided over the final round together with Captain Ezekiel Madovi from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Legal Services and Ms Mutsa Mugangavari from the International Committee of the Red Cross. The National IHL Moot Court Competition falls under the Zimbabwe Human Rights Capacity Development Programme 2024-2026, with funding from the Embassy of Sweden in Zimbabwe.
Learn more about RWI’s Zimbabwe programme here