UOMBAS

MOOTING GUIDE
2020-21
EDITED BY :
TANISHKA SAHAJWALLA
PAVITAR SINGH
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INDEX

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

Preface 03

What is Mooting 04

Why Mooting 05

The Courts 06

Structure 07

How to prepare 08

Skeleton Argument 09

Bundle 09

Etiquette 10

Etiquette (authorities) 11

Further Resources 12
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Organiser PREFACE

Profiles Welcome to the UOMBAS Mooting Guide 2020-

2021! The aim of this guide is to help all, new
and experienced mooters, excel. This guide will
lead you through the foundation of mooting
and its procedures. You will also be able to find
Main Moot advice and tips guiding you at all stages of a
mooting competition.

Mooting is one of the best ways to enhance your

public speaking skills, as well as research and
analytical skills. The procedures of moots will
further deepen your legal knowledge, (plus it
will look great on your upcoming training
applications!).
Tanishka Sahajwalla
Email:
UOMBAS arranges several competitions every
tanishka.sahajwalla@student.manch year, aimed at different levels in order to allow
ester.ac.uk both experienced and newcomers an
opportunity to participate in a moot and learn
accordingly. However, due to the Covid-19,
Pandemic, the arrangements of competitions
and meetings may differ as compared to
previous years.

We encourage everyone to take part in mooting,

and experience the profound benefits of it first-
hand. ALL THE BEST!
Pavitar Singh
Email:
pavitar.singh@student.manchester.ac.uk
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Organiser WHAT IS MOOTING?

Profiles Moot courts are designed to simulate court

hearings, usually on a point of appeal. You will
be given a problem and asked to research the
relevant law and build your own argument (the
standards aren’t too high, so don’t stress!). Once
Mini Moot you have an argument, you should prepare your
written submissions (there will be a guide to
this below) and then present an oral argument
at the moot itself.

As the problems are on an appeal, there will be

an appellant and a respondent in the case – you
will be assigned at random one of these
Hannah Toogood positions, and will be expected to argue for your
Email: ‘client’, using your best persuasive techniques
hannah.toogood@student.manches
ter.ac.uk and case law to sway the judges. We design our
mooting problems so that it doesn’t actually
matter who wins and who loses! You can lose
your case and still progress to the next round,
because we’re scoring you on a range of factors,
not just what you’re arguing.

Basically, mooting gives you the chance to

practise your speech and argumentation skills –
Sanjana Meka both of which are important in your degree and
Email:
srilakshmi.meka@student.manchester.ac
probably will be in whatever career path you
.uk choose.
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Organiser WHY MOOTING?

Profiles
Mooting provides you with practical experience
of what it is like to be in the position of a
prosecutor or defence lawyer. As a law student,
mooting provides opportunities to draft
arguments, research the relevant law and
External Moot prepare written submissions. Mooting is
integral to showing Chambers that you’re
interested and suited to a career at the Bar!

It has benefits going beyond this, which is what

makes it suitable for all students, and not just
those who want to be Barristers. Mooting can
help develop and demonstrate soft skills like
communication and show potential employers
Loredana Duca that you can engage with topical legal issues. It
Email: also gives you a chance to work on your public
loredana.duca@student.mancheste
r.ac.uk
speaking and advocacy skills and confidence in
these areas, as we appreciate that they can be
daunting. You’ll receive feedback from the
judges so that you have something to take
away and think about, to develop your skills for
the next moot. No matter what career you’re
aiming for after university, mooting can help in
some capacity.

A lot of people find it incredibly satisfying and

enjoyable to build their own arguments and
Tom Barclay deliver them!
Email:
tom.barclay@student.manchester.ac.uk
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THE COURTS
Pro Tips It is important to understand the hierarchy of courts to
understand the effects of precedent.

Supreme Court (SC) / House of lords (HL)

Court of Appeal (CoA) [civil/criminal]

High Court
Decisions of the
SC/HL are binding Crown Court
on all courts in the
country except the Inferior Courts
SC/HL itself.
Historically, until The normal rule is that a court is bound by precedent from
1966 the HL was any of the courts above it in the hierarchy – the precedent
bound by its own must be applied. This is called a 'Binding Precedent'.
decisions. But in
1966 - The Practice Where precedent is not binding, it is known as 'Persuasive'.
A Court may choose to apply it to its current case where it
Statement [1966] 1
thinks this is appropriate but is not required to do so.
WLR 1234 was
Persuasive precedent includes:
passed.
–Decisions from lower courts
–Decisions from courts of the same level
–Decisions from other jurisdictions
–Dissenting judgments
–Obiter dicta

Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd [1944] KB 718 (Lord Green)

laid down the general rule that the CA is generally bound by
its own decisions, but there are 4 exceptions to this:
1. The previous decision was made in ignorance or per
incuriam
2. there are two previous conflicting decisions
3. there is a later conflicting HL/SC decision
4. a proposition of law was assumed to exist by an earlier
court and was not subject to argument by that court (The
last exception was added by R (on the appl of Kadhim) v
Brent London BHBRB (2001) )
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STRUCTURE
Pro Tips

You’re given a problem, just like a problem

question from one of your seminars. This will
likely state your points of appeal clearly, so
It is always a that you know exactly what you’re arguing.
good idea to You will build your arguments based on these
practice your points of appeal. Some problems will give you
arguments with cases to start your argument, and with some,
your partner and you’ll have to find them all yourself.
make sure you
do not overlap. You’ll usually be in a team of two – a Junior and
The Senior Respondent/Appellant for each team.
communication For the purposes of a moot, there is no
helps you build difference between a Junior and Senior on the
confidence and same team, apart from the fact that the Senior
support each will speak first, and occasionally longer. You
others will be put in touch with the other member of
arguments. your team in due course, so that you can
coordinate your arguments between you.
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HOW TO PREPARE
Pro Tips
Start with any resources that you’ve
been given in the moot argument, if there are
any. This will act as a foundation in your
knowledge and will help as a jumping off
It would be point for further research. You would then
sensible to want to look at articles, statutes and case
research law specific to the point you’re making
the other side’s sometimes this will be provided for you,
argument sometimes you’ll have to do some research
cursorily, so that yourself before you find it.
you’re not
blindsided on the Once you’ve identified the area of law you’re
day, arguing, it might be helpful to skim through
and you have a few your textbook on the topic – for example, if
counterpoints to it’s a problem on negligence, and you have or
argue on. can access a Tort textbook, this would be a
good place to start your research. Do not cite
or refer to textbooks in your arguments, use
them to get a grounding with the case only.

Look up any cases mentioned specifically in

the moot (most problems will at least
mention some). This will give you a better
grasp on the key issues of the problem, and
could help you identify other cases relevant
to your argument. You will obviously be best
using LexisNexis or Westlaw to do this, as you
would for your seminar prep.

The best ways to go about supporting

your argument is through authorities, which
can be based on court decisions even those
from other jurisdictions, though they are only
persuasive, not binding, on a UK court and
the judge can refuse to consider them.
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SKELETON ARGUMENT
Pro Tips A skeleton argument is a summary of your
arguments. This is one of the areas you will be
marked on. It should be logical, clear and easy to
follow. The skeleton argument must consist of all the
authorities you intend to use in your arguments.

Try to limit your Your skeleton argument should include your main
submissions to 2- submission at the top, followed by the relevant facts
3 in order to of the case. It should then include a brief overview of
keep the time in each of your submissions, including the case names,
in bold, so that the judge’s attention is drawn to them
check when you
immediately. It shouldn’t be too long – some moots
speak.
have specific restrictions, but as a rule of thumb,
stick to 1-2 pages.

You are required to submit a skeleton argument to

the judge, and the other party, in advance. This
Avoid using allows the judge and the other party to have a better
highlighters. They, understanding of your line of argument.
many a time, stain
the paper and BUNDLE
makes your
bundle look Each participant must prepare a bundle for the moot.
A bundle is a folder containing all of the authorities
messy. Instead,
you have used in your skeleton argument. Your
use colour pens or
bundle is another way to leave an impression on the
pencil. judge. Make it as easy to read as you can. Show your
passion for stationery. Divide the binder into
sections, use flags, underline the important
sentences. Remember, judges like things short and
precise. They will like you if you make it easy for
them to identify which page, which para, which line
and which word you want them to look at. You have
to prepare a bundle for yourself and one for the
Judge. Some moots may ask you to prepare one for
the opposing counsel as well.
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ETIQUETTE
Pro Tips
Along with dressing formally and being
confident, it is important to be thorough with
the court etiquette. Judges do not like you to be
informal during any part of your submissions. A
Try to know who list of some important etiquette is below.
your judge is at Begin with “May it please the court.”
least 5 mins Introduce yourself – “I am Miss/Mr. [...],
before your time senior/junior appellant/respondent in this
slot. Use this case.”
time to practice Introduce your partner (only when senior
how are you are appellant) – “....along with the junior
going to address appellant miss/mr. [...]”
the judge, i.e. do Introduce your opponent (only when senior
you want to use appellant) – “on the other side; we have my
‘My Lord’ or ‘My learned friend miss/mr. [...], as the senior
Lady’ or ‘Your respondent and miss/mr. [...]as junior
Lordships/Ladys respondent.” (P.S. The usual format of
hips.’ This is an addressing junior/opposing counsel is
important ‘miss/mr. (surname)’.)
practice. Judges Always tell the court where you are headed,
hate it when you can do this by merely stating the
they are submissions beforehand – “counsel submits
addressed that the decision of the high court should be
wrong. upheld. For this I have 2 submissions, they
are: [...] & [...].”
Always watch the pen of the judge. Once
you have directed them to a page of the
bundle, ask them whether they are with you
– “Does my lord have sight?”
Conclude your submissions – “if I am of no
further assistance, I would thus like to move
to my next submission/ conclude my
submissions.”
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ETIQUETTE
Pro Tips
AUTHORITIES

When citing authorities, don’t just read the

authority as you see it. You should read
Make sure that authorities as exemplified below:
you’re aware of
which court Pao On v Lau Yiu Long [1980] AC 614 should
you’re in, and be read as “Pao On v Lau Yiu Long, reported in
therefore which the 1980 Appeal Cases, starting page number
cases will be 614.”
binding and
which will be You should always try to use the official law
persuasive. reports (e.g. AC, Ch, QB) whenever possible, as
opposed to the neutral citations (e.g. UKSC,
UKHL, EWHC). Alternatively, other law reports
may be used (e.g. ALL ER, WLR). This is because
law reports provide the judge with useful
information that neutral citation reports lack,
such as head-note and keywords. P.s. A list of
abbreviations of all the reports is available in
the further resources section of this guide.

After citing a case, you should always ask the

judge if they would like a summary of the facts.
If they indicate that they would, give a brief
summary of the facts and ruling. If they don’t,
make your submission without it.

After you have cited one case, you can ask to

dispense with formal citations. The judge will
usually say yes, but just bear in mind that they
could in theory, say no, so you should make
sure you know what you’re citing
anyway!
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FURTHER RESOURCES
Pro Tips
General Info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=iJpjoW_s3Yc
https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where
-to-start/newsletter/what-is-mooting
It is always a https://thestudentlawyer.com/2012/11/28/
great idea to mooting-a-beginners-guide/
start with the http://mooting.net/first.html
UoM library to
find further Skeleton arguments:
resources. https://thestudentlawyer.com/2012/10/22/
mooting-skeleton-arguments/

Your argument:
https://ox.libguides.com/c.php?
g=422832&p=2887383 - case citations

Bundles:
https://ox.libguides.com/c.php?
g=423012&p=2888695
https://www.advicenow.org.uk/articles/prep
aring-bundle-and-index
Law Reports
PUBLICATION YEAR, VOL. SERIES
[Year] # AC
Appeal Cases

Chancery Division
[Year] # Ch

Queen's Bench Division (1981-1901; [Year] # QB

1952-present)

King's Bench Division (1901-1952) [Year] # KB

Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Div [Year] # P

Family Division [Year] # Fam

All England Law Report [Year] # All ER

Weekly Law Report [Year] # W.L.R.

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FURTHER RESOURCES
Pro Tips

PUBLICATION YEAR, SERIES, VOL.

[Year] UKSC #
Supreme Court
All the best for House of Lords
[Year] UKHL #
your next Moot! [Year] UKPC #
Privy Council

Privy Council (Devolution cases) [Year] UKPC D#

Court of Appeal (Civil division) [Year] EWCA Civ #

Court of Appeal (Criminal DIv.) [Year] EWCA Crim #

Chancery Division [Year] EWHC # (Ch)

Patents Court [Year] EWHC # (Pat)

Queens Bench Division [Year] EWHC # (QB)

Administrative court [Year] EWHC # (Admin)

Admiralty Court [Year] EWHC #(Admity)

Commercial Court [Year] EWHC #(Comm)

Technology and Construction [Year] EWHC # (TCC)

Court

Family Divisions [Year] EWHC # (Fam)

Court of Protection [Year] EWCOP #