20 January 2021
Baker McKenzie is pleased to announce that the Firm will co-present the International Children’s Rights Moot Court with Leiden University in June 2021. Now in its fourth edition, the event brings together student teams from all over the world, to compete around real, topical and complex children's rights matters. Usually an in-person competition in the Netherlands, the 2021 competition will be virtual but will return as a live event on campus at Leiden and The Hague in the future.
Jaime Trujillo, Baker McKenzie Executive Committee pro bono lead, said, "We are delighted to partner with Leiden University on this very special initiative, and hope that our efforts will help to grow this contest into a global phenomenon that engages law students from across the world, and recruits a new generation to this important area of human rights. We look forward to building on the tremendous children's rights pro bono work our professionals have been doing across the globe for many years.”
Professor Dr. Ton Liefaard is Vice-Dean of Leiden Law School and holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at Leiden said "In Baker McKenzie, we have found a partner which shares our commitment to international children’s rights as a field of human rights law in place to protect the rights and interests of all children across the globe. This partnership enables us to further develop this unique global student competition that not only contributes to students’ capacities to engage with complex children’s rights issues, but also raises awareness around the importance of law when it comes to the protection of children."
The Children’s Rights Moot Court is a biannual multi-day international competition for law students with a keen interest in international children’s rights. Third-year bachelor and/or master students in law from all countries are eligible. The event provides participating teams with a challenging opportunity to train the skills they need to qualify themselves for an international legal career. In addition, it raises awareness among students about the significance of international children’s rights and adds to their knowledge about this complex area of law; an area which intersects with other legal fields and relates to many societal challenges affecting children and their families across the globe. Students can find out more and register for the competition here.
Baker McKenzie has a strong commitment to supporting children’s rights. In 2019, it launched a Street Youth Legal Atlas with the Consortium for Street Children, an online database documenting street child law across the globe. Last year, it partnered with a number of organizations to create the Youth Rights Resource Compass, a website that directs young people, as well as those who advocate for them, to the entities, organization, government and other agencies that are open and available to them during the Covid pandemic. Baker McKenzie also partnered with international children’s rights organization Terre des hommes Foundation, to create a resource which aims to accelerate the release of children from detention around the world, during Covid-19.
The Firm also partnered with Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic and the National Center for Lesbian Rights to publish a first-of-its-kind legal resource guide for transgender youth in the United States. In December 2020, it hosted the 7th annual Children's Rights Summit, focused on youth of color reflecting on racism in our justice systems.
Leiden Law School of Leiden University is an internationally renowned law school in the Netherlands, with campuses in Leiden and The Hague, offering high quality academic research and education for both students and professionals. It accommodates a leading knowledge center on international children’s rights under the leadership of the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights and the Chair of Children’s Rights in the Developing World as part of its Department of Child Law. It offers various children’s rights activities, including the dedicated Master of Laws Programme Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights, the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, a children’s rights summer school and the Children’s Rights Moot Court.