Mooting Guidelines and Advice
A few things to remember...
I shall start with the most basic advice: seniors should address the first
ground of appeal; juniors should address the second. This avoids overlap
of argument.
If you are the senior appellant, make sure you appoint a clerk. Basically,
persuade a friend to do you a favour by coming along and doing the
timekeeping, having some water ready for the judge and competitors, and
passing case bundles to the judge.
Make sure you are on time. This would seem obvious to any sensible
person yet you would be astonished by how many people are incapable of
being punctual. Obviously, being late would reflect poorly on you as a
competitor.
Prepare your case bundles and make them neat and easy to follow. Case
bundles consist of printed cases (usually from Westlaw or LexisNexis)
which you intend to refer to during your submissions. You may wish to
cite a case to support your argument or, if the case is not in your favour,
you might wish to distinguish it in some way. Bundles should be
unmarked, apart from highlighted passages from judgments which you
wish to draw the judge's attention to.
Do not read out your submissions verbatim: I cannot stress this enough. A
poor mooter relies on a word-for-word transcript of their submissions
while a good mooter uses a few notes which he will refer to from time to
time. Judges will interrupt you frequently anyway, so learning a speech is
a bad idea.
Stay calm and speak at a sensible rate and an audible level. Avoid
mumbling or speaking too fast as the judge will not be able to follow
your argument. Try also to be articulate and beware of colloquialisms.
Hand your skeleton arguments to the clerk before the moot; the clerk will
then pass them to the judge. Skeletons should be concise. They should
essentially contain an outline of your submissions (generally no more
than three) and a list of the cases/authorities you intend to use.
A few formalities...
Be courteous at all times as you will be marked on your courtroom
etiquette. Even if a judge is obnoxious, do not rise to the bait. Further,
when you are not talking, always remain attentive and do not look bored,
no matter how dull the other mooters may be.
Make yourself presentable. Male mooters must wear a suit and tie with
smart shoes, while females should dress in a formal fashion also, wearing
a skirt or trousers, according to personal preference.
The senior appellant must begin his submissions with the following: 'May
it please your Lordship(s) that I, (...name...), am appearing for the
appellant. My learned friend (...name...) shall also be appearing for the
appellant, while my learned friends (...name...) and (...name...) shall be
appearing for the respondent'. Other mooters need only introduce
themselves formally.
DO NOT refer to other competitors as 'opponents' or 'colleagues'; this is
mooting, not debating. Either refer to them as 'counsel', 'my learned
friend' or simply refer to them by their title, e.g. 'the junior respondent'.
ALWAYS refer to the judge as 'my Lord' and instead of saying 'you' refer
to him as 'your Lordship'. For female judges, the appropriate form of
address is 'my Lady' and in the third person 'your Ladyship' should be
used instead of 'you'.
NEVER give your opinion. Avoid phrases such as 'I think' and 'I believe'.
Instead, say 'I put it to the court that', 'it is submitted that' or 'the
appellant/respondent contends that'. The judge does not care about your
opinion and will not hesitate to tell you so.
Keep an eye on the time throughout your submissions and be flexible in
your approach. The judge's questions may take you off on a tangent and
you need to be prepared for this.
More on etiquette…
• PROCEDURAL DOCTRINE: state any known exceptions to the
general legal principle first; consider also the relevance of binding
and persuasive decisions. Remind the judge(s) if he is bound by
precedent and be cautious when citing cases from foreign
jurisdictions.
• DO NOT EXPRESS PERSONAL OPINION. Instead, use the
following:
“My Lord/Lady, I submit that…/In my respectful submission
“If it pleases the court, I would like to offer my first/second/third/etc
submission…”
“May I submit that…/It is submitted that…/May I put it to the court
that…/It is put to the court that…”
“This point/case does cast some doubt/light on…”
“I accept the point that…, however…”
“With your Lordship’s permission, I would like now to…”
• HANDLING JUDICIAL INTERVENTION: when asked a
question by a judge, it may be helpful to pause before answering.
Respond with phrases such as those listed below:
“I am obliged to your Lordship/Ladyship…”
“With great respect, my Lord/Lady…”
“That is indeed an issue which must be addressed my Lord”
• MAKE SURE YOUR SUBMISSIONS STAND ALONE AND
ARE ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT: a judge will not be impressed
if subsequent submissions rely on, or are merged with, previous
ones.
• CONCLUDING STATEMENTS, which summarise the crux of
your submissions, should be eloquent, short and convincing: they
are the last things the judge will hear before marking you.
More on etiquette… (2)
• CITATIONS
Citing cases is crucial to mooting: one of the criteria on which you will be
assessed is your use of authorities. One method of citing is shown below:
“May I direct/draw your Lordship’s attention/the court’s attention to…”
 “…the case of (e.g. Partridge and Crittenden) reported in the (e.g.
second volume of the All England Law Reports) for (e.g. the year
nineteen thirty-seven) at page (e.g. sixty-four).”
N.B. Subsequent references to the same case require only the parties’
names, not the entire citation.
• WHEN MENTIONING A CASE, wait for the clerk to give the
case to the judge before asking them if they are acquainted with the
facts of the case:
“Is your Lordship acquainted with the facts of the case?”
• POSTURE: stand straight, do not pose or slouch. Face the judge
and do not gesticulate excessively. Hand movements are
unnecessary in mooting and can be indicative of nerves and/or a
poor argument
• VERY RARELY back down from a strongly argued submission as
it suggests that you are presenting a weak argument. Some people
would go so far as to say that you should NEVER back down;
tenacious mooters, with novel submissions which tackle difficult
and contentious points of law will be rewarded with high marks.
You should only really back down if your argument is completely
hopeless, for example if you were relying on authority from a High
Court case which you mistakenly believed had been decided in the
House of Lords. This is an extreme example, to show how rarely
one should back down.
How to do well…
You will be marked on the following criteria:
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Presentation and clarity of argument
Courtroom manner and etiquette
Ability to respond to judicial intervention
Use of authorities
Essentially, presentation and clarity of argument relates to your ability to
present a convincing argument, which is clear and easy to follow owing
to a good structure. You should speak at a good rate, not too slow or too
fast, and you should be articulate and confident. A good skeleton will aid
your structure and give the judge a good indication of the content of your
submissions. All your submissions must be independent of one another,
else your argument will simply fall apart.
With regard to etiquette, you must be on time, formally dressed and polite
and courteous at all times. You should show deference to the judge and
observe all formalities. However, you should not take inspiration from
TV programmes which depict courtroom trials. Firstly, the junior mooting
competition has nothing to do with criminal law and the art of cross
examination. Secondly, TV programmes often make successful barristers
appear to be arrogant mavericks who openly flout the rules; successful
mooters obey the correct etiquette. However, try to forge an individual
style and avoid obsequious behaviour at all costs. Try to strike a balance.
Your answering of questions tests your nerve and, in my opinion, your
raw natural ability. Poor mooters will write out speeches, learn them by
heart and then get thrown off course by a probing question from an
attentive judge. Good mooters will be able to react to such judicial
interventions instinctively, by listening to the question, pausing to gather
their thoughts, then responding intelligently.
As for use of authorities, you must make sure your skeleton argument is
tightly constructed and that your bundle is neat, tidy and easy to follow.
This will help you to score good marks in this category. Further, you must
cite all cases in the correct, formal fashion and should offer the judge a
summary of the facts. He will often not require a summary, but make sure
you know the facts in case he does. Distinguishing cases effectively will
aid your argument and improve your mark, while researching and finding
obscure but helpful and important cases can only help your cause.