Five law students of the University of The Gambia (UTG) recently took part in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition where they bagged the ‘Best New Team Award 2012’. This was disclosed to the media at a press briefing held on Monday at the Law Faculty of the UTG.

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which is the largest and most prestigious law school mooting competition in the world, gathered students from more than 80 countries in Washington D.C to compete against each other in vigorous and challenging debate.

The five Gambian law students -Sukai Bangura, Bubacarr Drammeh, Patrick Gomez, Banjugu Nyangado and Ya Amie Touray were among 1, 500 students from 500 universities in more than 80 countries throughout the world that took part in the competition.

A report delivered by Heather Keachie, team advisor and visiting lecturer of the UTG Faculty of Law who accompanied the delegation to the mooting competition described the performance of the Gambian students as commendable. “This was the first time UTG took part in such a competition. The team was awarded ‘The Best New Team’ out of all the teams that had first participated in the competition in the past three years,” she said.

She disclosed that The Gambia competed against China, Ukraine, India and Thailand in the first, second and third day of the competition. “Out of approximately 130 teams, only 32 advanced to the second round. This was based on the overall performance of the teams. 

Although our team performed quite well in our rounds and won two out of four, we did not advance to the next round,” she disclosed, and added: “In addition to this, one of our team members Sukai Bangura was listed as one of the top 100 in the competition out of more than 500 competitors.” Keachie finally thanked their donors for the support rendered to them.

For his part, Dr Abubacarr Senghore, dean of the Faculty of Law at the UTG dilated on the major achievements of the faculty, saying that the enrolment of law studentssignificantly increased from 60 students in January 2010 to about 400 students in May 2012. “A vibrant international mooting competition programme was created and so far the mooting team of the faculty has won three prestigious international awards and a local one,” he added.

Senghore hinted that the awarded participants will be given scholarships to cover their academic expenses at the UTG as a token of appreciation for putting the country’s name at the international arena.

Alkali Dibba, the president of the UTG Students Union described the trip as an amazing experience for the students as it paved the way for them to make lasting connection with law students from all around the world including those from the best law faculties. He advised the students to continue the hard work and thanked the UTG management on behalf of the students and other donors.