MOOT COURT

WHAT DO WE UNDERSTAND BY THE TERM

“MOOTING”?
Mooting is a form of an Oral proceeding similar to that of a court proceeding
practiced mainly in institutions and universities where law as a subject is taught
to see that how efficient a student is in fighting an argument based on law. In
this a proper court scenario is created where the students act like the Councilors
(Advocates) presenting each side (Plaintiff and Defendant) on the basis of
evidences and substantive questions of law argue with each other to prove their
point in front of the judge who in the end will give his judgment in the same
regard and will also declare the winner who has performed the best.

Also, while presenting their arguments the judge can question them on facts or
question them on any of the legal concepts to check the aptitude and in prompt
adaptability to the situation of the student. Mooting was earlier not practiced as
a subject by the universities in the law courses but now due to the scope and
requirements of lawyers around the globe mooting in the form of “Moot Court”
as a subject has been added to the curriculum of the students so that they get
prepared and groomed in a proper manner as a lawyer before they complete
their degree.

For a student who is going to become a lawyer in the near future, mooting is
very important as an integral part of his education because it will help him and
make his work easy and present in a real courtroom. It is the closest experience
a student can get of a courtroom by studying in a university or college. Mooting
is an exercise which helps a law student inculcate all the habits and understand
all the policies and procedures that are followed in a court so as to prepare him
for his future. For the same purpose, Moot Court Competitions are organized
around the world so that different students from across the globe can come in
contact with other to understand each and every dimension of the concept of
mooting.

CONCEPT OF MOOT COURTS

Moot Court basically means a replica of a real court where legal proceedings and
trials take place and thus it is also known as a Mock Court where students who
are studying law act as professional and take up all the responsibilities and
duties according to their role to see their ability to think creatively and answer
convincingly when questioned and show their writing and persuasive skills. Moot
Court is a way a student is groomed as a proper lawyer. It is one of the modern
methods of giving practical knowledge to the students by putting them in a
situation similar to that of a real court and then the two teams each on one side
argue upon fictional cases and those questions of law with are debatable in
reality and which have not been bound or are still the lawmakers are silent on
some facts. Moot Court, now is one of the biggest and efficient sources from
where people get the education and imbibe all the qualities and skill that a
lawyer requires.

IMPORTANCE OF MOOTING
Mooting helps in the overall development of an individual as a good and
proficient lawyer and participating in Moot Court Competition regularly makes a
student familiar with the proceedings that take place generally in real
courtrooms. Thus, the advantages of mooting are as follows:

A) Networking

One of the important features of mooting is that it helps you to connect and
socialize with so many people across the globe with whom you connect in the
process of mooting. As students from different places and colleges come to
represent themselves, it gives an opportunity to get the exposure to the outside
world.

B) Researching and Writing Skills

Participating in the moot court competitions helps you in enhancing your

researching skills because it is your research on the basis of which you will be
fighting your case and representing your side and it also helps you in framing a
good moot court memorial on the basis of which the other team would raise
objections and question you. This will also help in enhancing your skills as to
how to adapt to prompt situations and how you tackle situations where you are
at unease.

C) Building Confidence

Mooting helps an individual to build his confidence in communicating and

putting his view in front of the people. It helps a person to build his confidence
to such an extent that he does not fear to question or to speak in front of
anybody and can fight cases efficiently.

D) Practical Knowledge

Mooting helps in giving the practical implication and knowledge to the students
who are studying law in such a way which they will never find in the books and
would be unaware of, as practical and theoretical knowledge are like two
different sides of the same coin and to pass the hurdle you need to study both
of them although both look same but are totally opposite in reality.

E) Team Work

Moot court competitions take place in the school or colleges who organizes it
and the various teams from different colleges come and participate in the event.
The team comprises of 3 students with one as the researcher and the other two
as the speakers presenting their arguments on either side. This teaches the
students to perform well when they are together in as a team and analyze what
are their strengths and weakness, how can they work upon them to achieve
maximum efficiency. It also helps to work with people who are different from
you and it also teaches how to coordinate with each other.

CAN MOOTING HELP YOU IN YOUR CAREER?

Honestly speaking, Mooting is one of the most important things that help you in
your career and your future growth as well. Mooting is one thing that inculcates
a lot of habits and discipline that are requirements by many of the Law firms
Recruiters and when a law student sits in a Job Interview, if your resume will
display that you have done a different kind of moots then it will be very
beneficiary as the employer will know that you have a good amount of
knowledge in this field and you have experience and your chances of being
selected will automatically go up. Mooting in today’s generation is something
considered to be one of the most important factors which everybody looks after
because if you are a good mooter, people will consider you important and
knowledgeable. Also the exposure you get in mooting helps you to easily adjust
in your future jobs which is quite important.

TYPES OF MOOT COURT COMPETITIONS:

There are two types of moot court competition known as the National and
International Moot Court competition. National Moot Court refers to a situation
where the mooting takes within the country and students from all across the
law schools from the country and participate in the competition, while on the
other hand International Moot Court Competition is one which is organized
where people from outside India are invited to take part in it and it happens on
a large scale. Moot Court Competitions can be based on any law where civil or
criminal etc as per any law that may be in news currently or any other. These
types of different moots are really helpful for students to think deeply about the
legal issues and have a proper understanding of the Law. One of the
Competitions that is related to moot court is the Trial Advocacy Competition
which is also held at such high levels. Mooting helps a student to understand
what are his strengths and weakness and what he is required to work more
upon which is helpful for him in the long term.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MOOTING?

The main purpose of mooting is to establish a good overview by the students of
law and enhancing the legal skills. Mooting is a concept where there is a
mooting proposition which is related to any law related subject which is given to
all the teams in advance so that they can prepare for that in the form of a
memorial which tests and helps them in their researching skills and sticks to the
deadlines. It teaches the students how to work under pressure with the goal to
give productive output. Mooting helps in understanding and developing and
inculcating the capacity to argue passively before the judge. Mooting helps in
raising your chances to be get hired for a job as well. As when you sit in a job
interview the employer will look in your resume that if you have done mooting
before then, the chances of you being hired in a company will be more as the
employer will be willing to invest in you and train you as he wants higher
productivity from skilled people. The purpose of mooting can also be defined as
follows:-

A) Society Welfare

The society needs efficient lawyers, mainly judges and advocates so that the
society can benefit at large due to the pendency of the cases in India. For the
purpose to provide proficient individuals who are perfect in their field is not an
easy task, for the same purpose mooting is really important to build such
lawyers for the benefit the society at large, so that the problem of pendency of
cases can be solved in the near future because if there will be efficient and good
judges, the problem will be solved automatically.
B) Practicing

The main purpose of mooting is that to make you practice before actually
becoming a professional and practicing in courtrooms about everything. If you
have years of practice then it is easier for one to make a lot of clients because
of his practice and knowledge one has gained in the field.

C) Experience

An important part of every individual’s life from which it grows is the experience
he gains from the life that he gets and gaining experience will help in any
profession because it is the experience that matters when the case or
proposition is related to very controversial laws and topics and at that time the
experience helps him as how to go ahead in the case. This is done by
participating in different kind of moots by going to different cities meeting new
people from various law schools and interact with them will definitely help you
in understanding the law in a better way.

D) Creative thinking

When one participates in different kinds of moot court competitions in various

places and colleges, there might arise situations that you have to play with
words and mould the case in your favour then there comes the art of creative
thinking which you are required to show and you have to think on your feet as
you cannot be prepared for everything, as moot court is a place where you have
to expect the unexpected. Thus, it will also help you to enhance your thinking in
a better way.

E) Motivation
Lastly, students who participate first time in this kind of activities not only get
the exposure but also the motivation to take part in a more comprehensive way
and in other competition and moots as well. These kinds of Mooting
competitions boosts up the morale of the students and helps them to talk
passively and hence put forth their ideas in front of anybody if earlier they were
hesitant to do so.

HOW TO BECOME A GOOD MOOTER?

There are certain points that you can look into in becoming a good mooter:

1. You must know your case well and when presenting your case before
the judge you should be very particular about your behavior and must
be aware of all the facts of the case.
2. You should be well versed about the case and not read off your notes
instead read pf the case.
3. Make a Small list of all the points that you want to present in your case
so that no point is left and it is easier than the judge is convinced.
4. One should always try to have fun and a good interactive session with
the judge as it will boost your morale and the judge will also take more
interest in listening to your case.
5. It is important that while presenting your case you should argue upon
the facts rather than the law.
6. Lastly, there are many courses and coaching that teaches how to
become a good mooter such as this mooting course offered which helps
students to be perfect in their field.

CONCLUSION
I believe that mooting is one of the essential parts for a law student to get the
proficiency in this field and one must do different kinds of mooting as the
amount of exposure it gives to the students is tremendous plus the knowledge
and experience gained by the students is also quite helpful as it will help them
in the future when they will become lawyers and Judges of High Court and
Supreme Court and will deliver justice. So, these kinds of mooting activities
help a student to grow as an individual and also motivate them to come up and
show their skills.