Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University New Law College, Pune had organized the “Justice P.N. Bhagwati 2^nd International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights” between 25^th and 26^th February, 2012.

The Competition is one of its kind in India in which top law schools from outside India and top National Law Schools from India participate in large number. The competition is named after Hon. Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati who was former Chief Justice of India and is a living legend of law.

Justice P.N. Bhagwati 1^st International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights received an overwhelming response from all parts of the country and teams from outside India also participated in the same.

Justice P.N. Bhagwati 1^st International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights was inaugurated by Hon. Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, the then Union Minister for Law & Justice in the august presence of Hon. Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Former Chief Justice of India & Member, UNHCR and H.E. Gudmundur Eiriksson, Former Judge at International Tribunal for the Law of Sea & Ambassador of Iceland to India.

This year’s competition was inaugurated by Hon’ble Dr. Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, Judge, Supreme Court of India in the august presence of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abhay M. Thipsay, Judge, Bombay High Court, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Narayan Chandra Sil, Chairperson, West Bengal State Human Rights Commission, Hon’ble Dr. Adish C. Aggarwala, President, International Council of Jurists, Hon’ble. Prof. Dr. A Lakshminath, Vice Chancellor, CNLU, Patna while the valedictory function and prize distribution ceremony was blessed by the benevolent presence of Hon’ble. Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Former Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Dr. Justice V.S. Malimath, Chairman, Law Commission of Karnataka, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kshitij R. Vyas, Chairperson, Maharashtra State Human Rights Commsission and other dignitaries.

Now in its 2^nd year, the competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries on the issues of international human rights before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. Five teams from outside India Viz. University of Mauritius, Mauritius; University of Reading, UK; School of Law, De Paul University, Chicago, USA; Vistula University, Poland; and University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland and 25 teams from top law schools within India have participated. The competition rounds were judged by renowned legal experts which included the acting chairpersons of several State human rights Commissions, judges and eminent personalities from National law Schools.

RGNUL, Punjab was adjudged as the winner team while the GNLU, Gandhinagar was the runner up in the Competition.

One of the unique features of this competition was the Law School from the University of Reading, participated through video-Conferencing. This was for the first time that any team from abroad would have participated in such a manner.

Recently re-accredited with NAAC ‘A’ Grade, this event had added more feathers in the institution’s cap of glory. The institution positively aspires to promote the great cause of human rights and hope that this initiative will be a firm step towards achieving excellence in legal academics.

 

This post was sponsored and written by New Law College Pune. The views herein are those of New Law College Pune. Comments are subject to moderation.