RigWorld International Services Limited, a Ghanaian Upstream Oil and Gas Service Company sponsored the ultimate award for the just concluded Ghana Qualifying Round of the Philip Jessup International Moot Court competition with a whopping US$10,000.

The award which was won by the representatives of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Faculty of Law included a coveted trophy and other items.

Participating were representatives from the law faculties of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Central University, University of Cape Coast and the Lancaster University Ghana (LUG).

These five schools participated in the qualifying rounds which GIMPA won the rights to organize from February 7 to February 9, 2017, with each school/faculty presenting one team (of 5 Oralists).

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the oldest, largest and the most prestigious international moot competition in the world, is organized by the International Law Students Association (ILSA).

The competition entails a simulation of a fictional dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) between two fictional countries.

This year’s problem, which is officially titled “The Case Concerning the Sisters of the Sun”, involved a dispute of shared water resources and the protection historic artefacts of joint heritage.

Faculty of Law of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology picked up the ultimate national award sponsored by RigWorld for emerging the wining team.

The KNUST Faculty of Law also received the Linda Omolehinwa Best Memorial Awards, for the team with the highest memorial score for either Applicant or Respondent.

Ms Ethel Sowah of Faculty of Law, University of Cape Coast picked up the Kimathi & Partners Best Oralist Award, for the Agents with the highest cumulative score in the oral rounds. Other sponsors of the Ghana round of the 2017 competition were EPP Books Services Limited, GHOne Entertainment Television and Mr Augustus Obuadum (Goozie) Tanoh.

Opening the final round on Thursday, Kofi Abotsi, Dean of the Faculty of Law at GIMPA expressed the hope that Ghana would work hard to win the global competition this year.

“The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is a very important competition in legal education, and for the first time this year Ghana has been given two slots in the global competition so we need to work hard to win it, for the first time,” Abotsi urged.

The seven member panel of judges for this year’s final round was chaired by The Hon. Prof. Justice Samuel K. Date-Bah, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana.

Others included The Hon. Justice Anin Yeboah, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana; The Hon. Justice Anthony Benin, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and former Judge of the Ecowas Court of Justice.

The rest were Hon. Dr. Dominic Ayine, former Deputy Attorey-General; Naval Captain, Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, Research Director at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College; Mr Anees Ahmed, Chief of Legal Affairs, United Nations Mission, Liberia; David Asumda, Dean of the Faculty of Law Zenith University College.