Hannah Noyce (Lincoln) and Emily MacKenzie (Wadham) representing Oxford University win the 2010 ESU – Essex Court Chambers National Mooting Competition.
The Oxford team beat Dylan Gee and Henry Oliver representing BPP Law School in the exciting evening final, which was held in the President’s Court of the Royal Courts of Justice last night. Earlier in the day, the team defeated the University of Hertfordshire in their semi final moot, held at Dartmouth House in London. The other semi finalist was the team from Dundee.
The grand final moot itself was of an exceptionally high standard. It was judged this year by a panel chaired by the Honourable Justice Garry Downes AM QC, Judge of the Federal Court of Australia. The two other judges were from David Mildon QC and Tim Eicke, both of Essex Court Chambers. The judges had nothing but praise for the polished performance, careful research and persuasive development of argument of mooters from both teams but were unanimous in awarding the moot to Oxford
The winners Hannah Noyce and Emily MacKenzie were delighted to be presented with the silver mace: ‘We both thoroughly enjoyed the day and, in particular, the opportunity of mooting in a real court, which was an experience that will definitely stay with us. The competition has been interesting, challenging and fun and we are thrilled to have won, especially since the standard of competition was so high.’
In a moot, two pairs of ‘advocates’ argue a fictitious legal appeal case in front of a ‘judge’. To win, you do not necessarily have to win the legal case, but must make the best presentation of your legal arguments.
The winners received a silver Mace and a prize of £1,000 each. Their university, Oxford, received a donation of £1,000. The runners up received “The Scarman Shield”, £750 each and the BPP Law School received £500. For the second time in the competition, the other semi-finalists did not go home empty handed but the teams from Dundee University and the University of Hertfordshire received cash prizes of £250 each. The cash prizes were generously donated by Essex Court Chambers where all finalists will also be offered a mini-pupillage.