General Sir John Kotelawala Memorial Moot Court Competition organized by the Moot Court and Debating Society of the Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (MCDS-KDU) was held on the 20th, 21st and 26th of April 2024. This is the only local moot court competition focusing on Domestic Criminal Justice System of Sri Lanka aiming to provide a platform for enthusiastic Law Students from all Law Schools in the country to sharpen their advocacy skills and an opportunity to explore the intricacies of the domestic legal system.
Preliminary and Semi-Final Rounds of the Competition took place on a virtual platform, while the two outstanding teams that made it to the Finals, were hosted at the FGS Auditorium. The result of several months’ efforts by the Society, the Competition involved participants from many Law Schools in Sri Lanka, including those from General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, University of Colombo, University of Jaffna, Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Law College, Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT), Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) and National School of Business Management (NSBM )
Over thirty competitors put up a spirited battle for the Championship, with the team from University of Cololmbo ultimately emerging as Champions in the Oral Rounds with the team from APIIT Kandy emerging as Runner-up of the Competition. Ms. Ridha Tharik from APITT Kandy received the Award for the Best Oralist while Lakshadi Navodya from University of Jaffna received the Award for Best Oralist Runner-up. The team C KDU received the Spirit of the Moot Award. Team B KDU secured the Award for the Best Memorandum-Appellant and the Team B from University of Jaffna secured the Award for the Best Memorandum-Respondent
Mrs. Shirani Thilakwardane, former Supreme Court Judge, Mr. Shanaka Wijesinghe PC, Additional Solisitor General, Attorney General’s Department and Mr. Janaka Bandara, Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Department adjudicated the Final Round of the Competition.
Vice Chancellor of KDU Rear Admiral HGU Dammika Kumara, VSV, USP, psc, MMaritime Pol, Bsc was the Chief Guest of the awarding ceremony. Other distinguished guests Mr. Mangala Wijesinghe Esq. Dean, Faculty of Law, KDU, Prof. Sampath Punchihewa, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Lt Col KTDS Kalansooriya, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Defence and Strategic Studies, Prof. Jeewa Niriella, Dean, Faculty of Criminal Justice also graced this event.
During the course of the event the e-version of the Issue I, Volume 4 of the KDU Law Journal was released by the Vice Chancellor. A copy of the printed version of the Journal was handed over to the Vice Chancellor by the Dean, Faculty of Law.
