Moot Court Competition 2023: the Limitation Clause and the Principle of Proportionality

The winning team with its coach Ms Sihem Oueslati. Photo credit: International IDEA

On the 18th and 19th of March 2023, International IDEA's Tunis Office, organized a Moot Court Competition on the limitation clause of rights and freedoms in the Tunisian constitution and the principle of proportionality.

The teams were composed of trainee lawyers and two students from the Higher Institute of the Legal Profession. The competition was held in cooperation with the National Bar Association.

The teams were formed by drawing lots after the opening of the individual applications. The coaches, including a jurist, a lawyer, a law professor and a judicial judge, were selected and a random draw was conducted to assign a coach to each team.

The coaches were:

• Ms Sihem Oueslati: Former Secretary General of the Higher Institute of the Legal Profession
• Mr Abedelwahed Chitiwi: Lawyer
• Mr Kamel Ben Messaoud: Lawyer and Law Professor
• Mr Farid Ben Jha: Prosecutor and Spokesperson of the Sousse and Monastir tribunals

To guarantee the anonymous nature of the competition, each team was assigned a single code to be used for written submissions and correspondence with the steering committee.

A panel of two judges and a lawyer corrected the written submissions. The jury consisted of judges, lawyers, parliamentary advisors and law professors. Mr. Noureddine Ghazouani, a lawyer and university lecturer, chaired the jury.

Jury Members

• Noureddine Ghazouani, Lawyer
• Mourad Ben Mouelli, Administrative Judge
• Achref Mejri, Judicial Judge
• Ahmed Ouerfelli, Lawyer and Former Judicial Judge
• Dhaker Aloui, Lawyer
• Walid ben Rahma, University Lecturer of law
• Kaouthar Debbeche, University Professor of law
• Anwar Mnasri, Administrative Judge
• Lamia Zargouni, Judicial Judge
• Mouna Mhadhbi, Judicial Judge
• Wafaa Zaafrane, Parliamentary adviser
• Faten Khairallah, Judicial Judge

The semi-finals took place on 18th March 2023. The two qualifying teams performed in the final on 19 March 2023 in the presence of the German ambassador to Tunisia, Mr Peter Prügel.

A prize-giving ceremony took place at the end, during which the members of the jury expressed their satisfaction with the candidates' overall level and provided them with some advice.

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS/COLLABORATORS:

German Federal Foreign Office

Amel El Mejri is an Associate Programme Officer in Tunis Office, Tunisia.