06.11.07

Minister of Justice Secretary General Mohammed Al Ghazo distributes the first place trophy to Mohammad Hammouri and Fadi Bouaneh, students from Yarmouk University.

On Saturday, May 5, 24 law students from three universities — Jordan, Yarmouk and Philadelphia — participated in Jordan’s First Moot Court Competition.  Eighteen judges and lawyers evaluated 12 teams as they participated in a round of legal arguments leading up to the final debate between teams from Jordan University and Yarmouk University.  The Ministry of Justice Secretary General delivered awards to the winning teams, including $1,400 in prize money. Students from Yarmouk University won first place.  Teams from Jordan University won the second, third and fourth place prizes.  

Jordan’s Legal Education team is working with local universities and other stakeholders to enhance legal education in Jordan.  Jordan experts (Dean Charles Doskow, Marc Sacks, and Michael Roake) and local staff developed the mock argument, the competition rules, and conducted intensive training sessions to prepare the students for the Competition, including presenting sample arguments in Arabic and judging students’ practice presentations. 

Moot Court and other extracurricular activities were introduced by ABA ROLI to enhance students’ practical skills.  The Competition was also an opportunity to involve judges and lawyers in the learning process.  The Competition was held at the Amman Palace of Justice, and the judges and lawyers who participated were amazed at the students’ performance.  Their success has encouraged support for expanding this program in Jordan, and to eventually organizing a regional Moot Court Competition.

For more information, please contact Seth Mondschein, at <smondschein@staff.abanet.org>.