BLS mooting finals at UK Supreme Court a great success
On February 26, 2013, the finals of Brunel Law School’s Advanced and Beginners mooting competitions took place at the UK Supreme Court. It was a unique experience for everyone involved.
It was surely most rewarding to see our finalists rising to the occasion, demonstrating exceptional advocacy skills in front of an expert panel of judges, in a Supreme Court room filled with their lecturers and peers, many of whom had participated in the earlier rounds of the competition (in total, more than 100 students took part in the competition; the preliminary rounds were taking place every other Wednesday throughout the year).
Mr Karl King, Barrister at Hardwicke Chambers and Recorder, presided over the proceedings. He noted that Brunel’s students had “clearly put impressive effort into their background research and preparation” and that “although dealing with challenging and complex legal principles, they demonstrated meticulous care in the crafting and the delivery of their submissions. Each was a credit to the School and the University.”
Mr Charles Bagot, Barrister at Hardwicke Chambers and District Court Judge, who acted as a judge in the finals, observed that “the students’ enthusiasm was great to see” and that “the impressive venue was matched by impressive mooting”.
The panel of judges also comprised of our own Dr Mohamed Elewa Badar – a former Chief Judge for the Egyptian Ministry of Justice (2001-2006) –, Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos and Dr Liat Levanon, all members of our Criminal Justice Research Centre and all teaching at the LLB Law with Criminal Justice and LLM with International & Comparative Criminal Justice. The two mooting problems concerned issues of oblique intention, criminal damage and the admissibility of illegally intercepted telephone communications and confessional evidence.
The School’s Deputy Head, Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, mentioned: “Everyone at Brunel was delighted that the Supreme Court offered our students such a splendid opportunity, and that the level of professionalism that our mooters demonstrated was quite exemplary. In the beginners’ competition for example, it was difficult to believe that those students had only just embarked upon the study of law. It was clear that the incentive of mooting at the Supreme Court had had a hugely beneficial effect upon their performance. This was a memorable and truly inspiring evening for all of us.”
The results of the two finals were as follows:
Advanced competition
Winners
The Chambers of Henna Malik
Henna Malik
Stephen Bulega
Zara Asante
Shyam Gadhia
Runners up
The Chambers of Catriona Harris
Catriona Harris
Lauren Bovington
Siobhan Poll
Abby Young
Beginners Competition
Winners
The Chambers of Shanice Wilson
Shanice Wilson
Adam Morris
Jesse Edwards-Kwabla
Hanna-Elina Pekola
Runners-up
The Chambers of Mohammed Rafiq
Mohammed Rafiq
Jake Lewis
Tayo Oguntade
Kerrar Al-Khayet
