Astina Au and Jia Jun Toh, the team from University College London (UCL), were presented with the Silver Mace and £1,000 each, as winners of this year’s ESU – Essex Court Chambers National Mooting Competition, held on the 27th June.
Astina Au is an affiliate student from Hong Kong whilst Jia Jun Toh, a second year undergraduate, is from Singapore.
It is the second time that UCL has won the competition; the first was in the competition’s inaugural year of 1972.
The exciting evening final, held in President’s Court of the Royal Courts of Justice, saw the UCL pair do battle with Eleanor Rowan and Justine Allan of Liverpool John Moores University, arguing the fictitious legal appeal case, “ChemBuild Refineries Ltd v IndoPet Explorations Ltd”. The two runners up were presented with the Scarman Shield and £750 each.
The final was judged this year by a panel chaired by Lord Collins of Mapesbury LL.D., F.B.A. The other members of the panel, Sara Cockerill QC and Nigel Eaton QC, joined Lord Collins to praise the well prepared performances of the four finalists.
UCL emerged the winners in the competition, which is run on a simple knock-out basis of 64 teams. The semi-finals, which were held on the same day as the final, saw teams from the University of Hertfordshire (Lisa Pirie and Ashley Petchey) and the University of Leicester (Henry King and Robert Quartly) go out of the competition but with prizes of £250 each. Further cash prizes, generously donated by Essex Court Chambers, were presented to the finalists’ educational establishments: £1,000 to UCL and £500 to Liverpool John Moores University. All finalists were also offered a mini-pupillage at Essex Court Chambers.
The competition has been running for 41 years, is administered by the ESU, sponsored by Essex Court Chambers and supported by Legal Week as media partners.
Registration for next year’s mooting competition will be open at the beginning of the academic year. Details will be published on this website.