In my 2nd blog ‘ Law, Culture and Community’ I mentioned that Surrey offers its students an opportunity to visit the Supreme Court. At the time I did not know it, but I was in the process of securing my own ticket to the highest court of the land!
I joined the Law Society as soon as I came to Surrey and decided to also take part in the mooting competition. I had extensive experience in debating and Model United Nations but mooting was very different. It required me to learn a new way of presenting my arguments, following formal procedures as one would in an actual courtroom. As I progressed through the rounds, I was honestly doing it for the experience and for the love of debating, the finals were not something I particularly worried about until the semi-finals. During this round, it dawned upon me that this was my chance to be in the final round! I put up a good case and was overjoyed when the judge announced I was part of the Top 4!
I then realised that there was still work to be done, researching the cases, preparing the submissions and the most tedious task, creating the bundle with the relevant tabs and highlighted sections. It was a stressful 3-week period, balancing my coursework deadlines, lectures and tutorials while trying to prepare for the moot, stay active and socialize with friends. Saturdays are usually my full day off from anything university-related but during this period I had to work on coursework, tutorial preparation and of course, mooting.
Finally, on the 2nd of April, the bundle was submitted to the court, and I could now just focus on perfecting my submission points. At this stage, I had also submitted all the relevant coursework so there was less pressure and more time.
When the day finally arrived, I was very nervous but equally excited. I started my morning with a workout at SSP, as I usually do. I got back to my room, got ready and went over my submissions one last time. My bus to the train station was slightly behind schedule, but I managed to get to the platform five minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. The train took me to Waterloo Station, where I popped into Pret a Manger to grab lunch. I decided to take the scenic route and walk across Westminster Bridge, where I saw the classic London scene – Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster.
The Supreme Court is directly behind the Palace of Westminster in Parliament Square. I arrived with two of my colleagues and we took a few pictures outside the building before entering the building. The entrance has airport-style security, with metal detectors and X-Ray machines, a testament to the importance and prestige of the work which takes place in the building. We made our way downstairs to the showcase area which explains the history of the building itself and the Supreme Court as a legal entity. It also explains the role and history of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is also located in the same building and serves as the final court of appeal for several overseas territories and former colonies, including Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. We headed to the café where we got a few souvenirs ahead of the full tour.
A member of staff took us through the building, showing us the three courtrooms and the library, he also explained the role of the Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. It was extremely humbling to sit in the rooms where some of the nation’s most important cases have been decided, cases which I have studied in great depth over this academic year.
Finally, it was time for the moot. As the Lead Appellant, I was first to speak. The fictitious case that we presented our submissions on was about the availability of the partial defence of diminished responsibility as a defence to murder. This defence allows defendants to potentially get their charge reduced from murder to manslaughter. I was alongside Arnaud le Novere and together we were able to win the case on legal grounds. Arnaud was also selected as the best mooter on the day. Despite our win, we were up against tough competition. Maya Al Saadi and Daniel Kurek stood on behalf of the crown in this case and presented very well-structured arguments. Overall, It was a great experience and I have learned valuable lessons through my participation in the competition. I look forward to applying the lessons learned to my future endeavors.
