What is mooting?

• It is a competitive mock court hearing.
• It is debating about the legal merits of an appeal in a fictitious case.
• A skilful mooter can argue both sides of an argument.

Overview

• The moot problem question will be made available to you well before in advance the competition.
• Typically, a moot is done in teams of two: senior and junior counsel for the applicant and senior and junior counsel for the respondent state.
• The senior and junior members of each team will have different grounds to work on. These grounds will be separated and outlined in the moot problem itself.
• Mooters will then have to research their respective grounds of appeal.
• Mooters will have to draft a skeleton argument, outlining their main argument and backing them up with appropriate authorities (ECHR articles, caselaw).
• Mooters have to give a written skeleton argument to the judge before their moot starts, and bring with the their case bundles, which the clerk will administer. 
• The moot itself will vary in duration. The time limit will be specified by us for each round of the moott.
• The moot will start with the senior counsel for the applicant, and then the senior counsel for the respondent.
• The junior counsel for the applicant and the junior counsel for the respondent will follow.
• Judges will decide who will go through. The criteria are set below.
• The UCL ECHR Moot will operate on a knock-out basis, that is 2 mooters of the 4 in a group will move through to the next round. Judges’ decisions are final.

Guidelines on skeleton arguments and case bundles

• Skeleton arguments are typically a page long, with 2-4 key arguments outlined. So organise your arguments into these 2-4 groups and outline these briefly, together with the list of authorities for each one.
• Bring a copy for the judge and keep one for yourself. Make sure to ask if the judge has read your skeleton arguments and if they would like you to go through them before launching into your arguments proper.
• Also, be polite and offer your skeleton arguments to your opposing counsel (if you are the junior appellant, then exchange with the junior respondent), in the interest of fairness and in the spirit of the moot. Make sure though that this is an exchange and not a one-way process!
• Case bundles should have copies of every case you intend to refer to. These should not be marked, except for highlighting of any specific extracts from cases that you may wish to read out to the judge or bring to their attention. Also, clearly mark and tab each case for easy reference.
• Make sure you have an identical bundle for yourself so that you can refer to it and also read from it, especially in case the judge has problems finding the cases you refer to.

Etiquette and Guidelines on Procedures

• Etiquette is of utmost importance in moots, and it is one of the judging criteria.  The senior applicant has the job of introducing all 4 mooters in the group.
• Therefore an appropriate example of how to start would be: “If it please your excellency, I, __(your name)__, together with Miss/Mr __(co-counsel’s name)__, am appearing for the applicant. My learned friends __(senior respondent)__ and __(junior respondent)__ are appearing for the respondents.”
• Other mooters should also start similarly (“If it please your excellency, I am __(your name)__ and I am appearing for the applicants/ respondents”) There is no need to introduce the rest.
• Offer to go over your skeleton arguments with the judge before starting, and also when referring to cases as authority, ask whether the judge is familiar with the facts of the case (if the facts are not important to the case, you may say so, but still offer and leave it up to the judge to decide whether they would like a summary)
• Always be polite and refer to the judges as “your excellency”, never as “you”!  When referring to yourself, or to your side as the applicants or the respondents, never say “I believe” or “We feel”, always say “the applicants/ respondents put it to the court that”.
• Attire is very important so please do wear a suit- judges may penalise mooters for lack of professionalism both in manner and attire!
• Unlike a debate, mooting does not allow interruptions- when another mooter is speaking, be polite and wait for your turn. You may take notes and choose to address any issues you may have with the opposing counsel’s arguments.
• Also never interrupt the judge! Be polite (“With all due respect, I disagree My excellency…”).

Judging criteria

Mooters will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Presentation and clarity of arguments made and of their skeleton arguments
• Sufficient use of authorities in arguments, which must be relative and persuasive.
• Ability to deal with judicial intervention
• Etiquette (see etiquette tips)

Mooting Tips:

• Research the legal issues that crop up in the problem question thoroughly.
• Read the main cases you are going to base your arguments on in entirety because judges are often interested in the details of the cases.
• Take note of which courts your cases were decided in because sometimes courts are bound to follow decisions of higher courts.
• Also, take note of the court the problem you are mooting on is being heard in. This could affect the kinds of authority you can use.
• When delivering your submissions, speak at an appropriate pace and volume.
• Emotive language is inappropriate in moot competitions. Maintain your objectivity and be pragmatic in a matter of fact way.
• Put yourself in the judges’ position and make it easy for them to agree with you. Try to think of any objections to your arguments and think of ways to deal with them.
• Keep your arguments clear and concise.

Links on how to moot

• The OUP and BPP National Mooting Competition website has a good introduction to what mooting is about and what can be expected.
• A basic, and rather hilarious series of video clips showing what should and should not be done in moots.
• A more detailed PDF document on mooting and most FAQs on moots.
• MootingNet is a comprehensive site with several links as well, good for beginners to mooting.
• A video clip from Australia for beginners to mooting, a bit long but useful.
• Take a look at this YouTube clip of a high quality moot - long, excellent in terms of structure and argument style, but note differences in etiquette (especially in terms of addressing the judges) - it’s American!