UNIMA Law students excel in Ian Fletcher Insolvency Moot Court Competition

The University of Malawi has made it to the quarter-finals of the Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Moot Court Competition, thereby making it to the top 8 in the competition! UNIMA’s team consists of three 4th year law students, namely, Charles Dokera, Rashiedah Winesi, and Martin Chirwa.

The competition brings together law students, insolvency experts, and insolvency practitioners from all across the world in an effort to educate students on the highly technical area of law known as International Insolvency Law. The Competition is split into two formats - written and virtual oral. Only the top 16 teams from the written phase were invited to participate in the initial virtual oral round and among them, only the top 8 have been chosen to take part in the quarter-finals.

“It's been an exciting adventure exploring cross-border insolvency law and competing against other universities. It's been an enlightening process,” said Rashiedah Winesi, one of the team members.

According to Ms. Atupele Masanjala, the team’s coach, UNIMA’s feat of placing in the top 8 is only made more impressive by the fact that not only is this UNIMA’s first time taking part in the competition, but international insolvency law is not taught at undergraduate level at UNIMA.

While the students have shown excellent research and advocacy skills by making it this far, the team remains exceedingly grateful for the assistance provided by legal experts both in and outside of UNIMA. Notably, the team received both technical and financial assistance from the Kalekeni Kaphale Lawyers law firm and its founding partner Senior Counsel Kalekeni Kaphale, and financial assistance from Mbendera and Nkhono Associates.

The presentation of Oral Arguments for the quarter-finals is set to take place on Friday the 23rd of February 2024! We wish our team the best of luck as they continue in the competition!!

Although this marks UNIMA’s inaugural participation in the Ian Fletcher Moot Competition, the university boasts a rich history of engagement in international moot competitions. Over the past years, UNIMA has actively competed in esteemed events such as the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition in Geneva, the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition hosted annually in various African nations, and the John H Jackson International Trade Law Moot held in Kenya and Geneva. Notably, in 2017, UNIMA's team secured commendable positions, ranking fourth for their written submissions and eighth for their oral arguments at the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Competition. UNIMA team's exceptional performance in the Ian Fletcher Insolvency Moot Court Competition is therefore a testament to the university's enduring legacy in the realm of international moot court competitions.