Conseil National des Barreaux event against the death penalty: Francophone Moot Court Competition

This commitment forms part of the campaign waged by Minister Laurent Fabius, who has made the issue of universal abolition a priority for his term of office.

After the younger generation was honoured last year, it was now the turn of lawyers, and younger lawyers in particular, to be applauded for their commitment and the essential role they play in changing attitudes and defending those sentenced to death.

After a selection process which lasted several months, eleven candidates were invited to participate in the final round of the competition, which was held in Paris on 8th and 9th October. Nine amongst them were selected thanks to the implication of national and local bars, which had organised national competitions in order to extend the campaign into their own countries. Two candidates were chosen on the basis of their written advocacies, using an electronic submission process open to young French-speaking lawyers from around the world.

The Conseil National des Barreaux thus had the privilege and the honour of welcoming the following finalists to its seat on 8th October: Samuel Ayodélé Ahounou, a lawyer in Benin; Yasmine Attia, a lawyer in Tunisia; Boudal Effred, a lawyer in Nigeria; Michelle Mansour, a lawyer in Lebanon; Benoît Bingoui, a lawyer in the Republic of the Congo; Michèle Ndoki, a lawyer in Cameroon; Nay Ghanem, a lawyer in Lebanon; Olivier Yelkouny, a lawyer in Burkina-Faso and Nezha Louafa, a lawyer in Morocco. Two lawyers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cissé Maimouna Ntumba and Christine Kamazayi Tshimanga, selected during a national competition organised in Kinshasa, were unable to participate in the final, to the great regret of all the partners of the event.

The Jury, presided by Ms. Sparacino-Thiellay, French Ambassador at Large for Human Rights, and the public – made up of trainee lawyers and law students – both agreed that the arguments were of extremely high quality and brought a touch of lustre to the event.

Next on the finalists' programme was the opportunity to take part in training provided by Anne Souléliac, representative of the Paris Bar in the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, who discussed the best practices manual written for lawyers representing individuals facing the death penalty.

It was only the next day, on Friday 9th October, that the finalists found out the names of the competition winners, which were announced by Matthias Fekl, State Secretary for Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, and Robert Badinter, former Keeper of the Seals and former President of the Constitutional Council of France. It was with solemnity and emotion that Yasmine Atta, lawyer in Tunisia, and Michèle Ndoki, lawyer in Cameroun, were awarded their prize by the man who had abolished the death penalty in France, after being pronounced joint winner by the jury. It was an invitation to participate in the CIB Conference in Cotonou on December 2nd-5th. Ayodélé Ahounou, a lawyer in Benin, came in at third place, while Nezha Louafa, a lawyer in Morocco, was second. Lexbase, the legal information company, gave all four of them a year's subscription, providing access to the entirety of Lexbase's content. The public and the finalists were then able to listen to the testimonies of Mr. Henri Leclerc, Mr. Richard Sédillot and Ms. Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, whose diverse experiences provided the listeners with a greater understanding of the role of a lawyer, in terms of both defending an individual facing the death penalty, and the human relationship with such an individual and those close to him, an essential but extremely difficult relationship for a lawyer to maintain.

After a dinner provided by the International Organisation of La Francophonie and a debate led by Bar President Bernard Vatier, General Secretary of the CIB, the finalists went to the Maison de la Mutualité, where the first Congress of Lawyers was being held. They were lauded at the closing of the meeting by Minister Robert Badinter, and warmly applauded by the lawyers present, who thus commended the lawyers who are the future of the profession and will continue, in their own countries, the still arduous battle against the death penalty.

For more information:
• ECPM : www.abolition.fr
• French Ministry of Foreign Affairs : www.diplomatie.gouv.fr
• World Coalition against death penalty : www.worldcoalition.org

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