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Why is Mooting Important?

This article is written by Saksham Chhabra of UPES (DEHRADUN).

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 practised 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

In the earlier times, there was no concept of moot court and mooting when the law was
taught in colleges etc. But due to the growing need and the development and
advancement in the field of law and various interpretations as to the law was made the
concept of moot court was started in the year 2012 by the joint operations of Essex
Court Chambers and the Singapore Academy of law, so that the students who will
become the backbone of the future law should have the practical and logical knowledge
and implementation of law so that it should be easy as to when they start their career it
is not difficult for them.

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 oratory, 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 hypothetical 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 binded 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 require.

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 coachings that teaches how to become a good
mooter such as this mooting course offered on the LawSikho (see more) 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 Now
Download 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.

Next Read: Initial Coin Offering- In which Jurisdiction is it legal? »

saksham chhabra :

View Comments (1)

SANIDHYA TIWARI says: December 7, 2019 at 3:46 am

Information well delivered.nice work !

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