WHAT EXACTLY IS MOOTING?
A Moot Court competition, in several ways, is a replication of a court hearing scenario (usually an appeal against a decision), wherein the participants analyze a particular problem, research the relevant law, prepare their written submissions, and present their oral arguments. Moot problems are generally set in areas of law that are unsettled or that have been subject to recent developments. They broadly involve facts, issues, arguments and prayer by each side.
Moot Court Competition procedure is typically an imitation of something that is followed in real courts – viz., the judge enters, the mooters and the judge bow to each other, the Court clerk keeps a track of time in the competition, the mooters communicate their appearance and are then called on in turn to offer their submissions, the judge asks questions to the mooters and then the judge allocates points on the basis of performance of both the participants which helps in deciding the winner of Moot Court Competition.
Although it shares some common elements with these activities, mooting is not equal to public speaking or debating. It is basically a specialized application of the art of persuasive advocacy. For centuries, it has been part of the process of training lawyers and hence, plays an important role in legal education at Asian Law College(ALC), Noida.
WHY TO MOOT?
There are many reasons to moot. Mooting allows law students pursuing both three-year LL.B. as well as five-year B.A.LL.B. course of study:
(1) to engage with and think deeply about the interesting and complex legal issues,
(2) to enhance their advocacy, legal research and writing skills,
(3) to work approximately with and learn from their peers
and
(4) to display their interest in advocacy and competence as an advocate to prospective employers who are called in the capacity of Judge in such competitions. Most law students will find mooting to be intellectually rewarding and highly enjoyable.
SOME BASIC TIPS ON MOOTING TECHNIQUE
v It is very crucial for law students to engage with the bench. This requires the students to bring together several skills like maintaining eye contact with the judge, speaking at an appropriate volume and pace, responding directly and accurately to questions and holding the judge’s interest. It also incorporates a cardinal rule of mooting – i.e., never, ever talk while the judge is talking!
* Students should keep in mind that it is generally accepted to ask a judge to repeat a question if they do not understand it, and that it is always best to say ‘I regret I am unable to assist your Lordship/Ladyship on that point’ when they really do not know the answer.
* Mooting is not just about offering propositions of law. A critical aspect is applying those propositions to the facts in order to argue for the relief they have prayed for. They should thus be very familiar with the moot problem and be able to take the judge to relevant paragraphs in it.
* The students should time and again make extensive use of authority in delivering their submissions. They need to clearly know what principle a given case stands for and if the precedent citied during argument will have binding effect or persuasive effect in the court before which participants are appearing.
* Students should also recognize that an important aspect of mooting is time management. Therefore, they need to be able to expand or contract their submissions depending on how interventionist the judge is.
With a view to impart the benefits of Mooting and the vital role it plays in shaping the career of law students, Asian Law College (ALC) keeps its students involved in a variety of Intra and Inter college moot court competitions on diversified subjects of Law throughout their academic journey with ALC that greatly helps each student to gain the much desired advocacy skills.
