Africa's stage for young advocates. Argue an appeal before a hot bench, run a full trial with live witnesses, and learn the one skill no textbook teaches: answering the judge.
Lectures teach the law. Only a bench teaches you to argue it. The competition gives law students and young lawyers across Africa the room to prepare under pressure, face hard questions and think on their feet, with written feedback from practitioners after every round.
It’s part of our community work. Lex Veritas Africa, the company behind Manso, sets aside 10% of its profits for the competition, a women’s football team tied to education, and a women’s shelter. See all three.
Precise written memorials and disciplined oral argument.
Standing up to a hot bench and answering the question actually asked.
A pan-African network of advocates, judges and alumni.
A fictional appeal on procedure, evidence and substantive law. Teams file written memorials for both sides, then argue before a bench of three that interrupts, tests and pushes.
A full first-instance trial from a case bundle: opening statements, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, objections and closing. Civil and criminal problems alternate by round.
Dates are announced when registration opens. Stages and formats may be refined in the official rules.
Every judge scores against the same published rubric, so feedback is specific and comparable across rounds.
Fictional parties, real procedure. Each problem comes with the facts, the issues, the bundle and the questions a bench is likely to ask. Take any of them to the practice bench.
Preparing? Use the free Trial Toolkit: objections, cross drill, bundle builder and scoring sheets →
Pick a problem and a side, start the clock and make your submissions. The bench interrupts the way real judges do: asking for authority, pushing on weak points, and testing your answers. At the end you get a scorecard.
Preview bench: the judge follows a scripted question bank for each problem and reads your submissions for authority, structure and responsiveness. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
The top sixteen teams from the preliminary rounds meet in a single-elimination knockout. Results update here as each round closes.
Preview · sample bracket| # | Team | Track | Won | Memorial | Oral avg. |
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Open to law students and to lawyers in their first three years of call, across Africa. Teams register through their law faculty, law school or a group of individual members.
Law students (undergraduate and professional law courses) and lawyers within three years of call, from any African jurisdiction. Mixed teams from one institution are welcome.
Problems are set in a fictional common-law jurisdiction whose procedure and evidence rules track Ghana's High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules and Evidence Act. Teams from Nigeria and Kenya may cite comparable authority from their own jurisdictions as persuasive.
No. The competition is open to all eligible teams, and this practice bench is there to help you prepare.
The venue, dates and prizes are announced when registration opens.
Yes. Faculties and chambers interested in hosting preliminary rounds or supplying judges can register interest using the form above and choose “Both” as the track.