What is mooting?

Mooting is the verbal presentation of a legal issue or problem. It's an exercise designed to give students the closest experience to appearing in court. Mooting is an excellent chance to meet other students in the School of Law, to talk over interesting legal points, and to test your knowledge in front of the moot judge. Whether you plan a career in the Bar and wish to develop advocacy skills, or simply want to get involved in another activity within the department, mooting provides both social opportunities and educational value, and is highly recommended.

The Queen Mary Mooting Society

The Queen Mary Mooting Society plays an active part of undergraduate life at Queen Mary. Under the auspices of the Student Moot Master and Student Mooting Committee, students have the opportunity to become involved in both internal and external mooting competitions.

Internal Moot Competition

The Queen Mary ‘George Hinde Moot Competition’ has been established for approximately forty years with academic staff playing an important role in judging and coaching our students. With qualified practicing barristers supporting our students, the department has a strong and successful mooting body. 

The final of the annual competition is judged by a senior member of the judiciary, for example in 2012 the final was judged by Lord Leonard Hoffmann, retired Senior Judge of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. In previous years the final has been judged by Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, Mr Justice Maddison, and HHJ Paget QC (2011), Court of Appeal Judge, Lord Justice Pitchford (2010), Court of Appeal, consisting of Lord Justice Hooper, Mr Justice Sweeny and HHJ David Radford (2009) and Lord Neuberger (2008).

External Moot Competitions

You will also have the chance to compete in national competitions. In 2011 we won the first English Law Student Association mooting competition, beating teams from across the country, including Oxford.

Recent Mooting News

• George Hinde Moot Final 2012
• Mooting skills gain mini-pupillages for Queen Mary students (ESU/Essex Court Moot)
• Queen Mary wins the 2012 Thomas Finlay Moot Court Competition in Dublin