Five three-student teams have been selected to take part on the basis of their knowledge of the law. While the legal case they will work on is purely fictional, they will face a panel of experts in a real court setting – the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The jury will comprise the head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Freetown, the legal adviser of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, a Sierra Leonean judge from the Special Court, a representative of the Women Lawyers’ Association and the legal adviser of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces. The students will be judged on their understanding of international humanitarian law and public international law, their capacity to use the instruments of law to argue their case, their teamwork and their speaking ability.

This ICRC-organized event will take place in the Special Court on the afternoon of 8 August. ICRC, Special Court and local experts in international humanitarian law will subsequently coach and train the winning students, who will go to Arusha, Tanzania in November under ICRC sponsorship to represent their college and their country in the international stage of the competition.