Importance of moot courts in legal education

To moot or not to moot has never been a debate for law students anywhere in the world. As experiential and immersive learning take over the world of education, the Bar Council of India (BCI) — the regulator of legal education in India — has included mandatory exercises such as moot court exercises and internships through the Legal Education Rules, 2008. Every centre of legal education is required to have a Moot Court Room, which is a replica of a real court with an elevated dais for judges, seating for court officers and witness boxes.

While law colleges have various teaching methodologies, including lectures, case studies, seminars, tutorials, discussions, debates, and practical training on drafting, pleading, and conveyancing, they stuck to the ‘lecture method’ for a long time. This was because teaching law used to come under what was called Law Faculty or Department of Law in the traditional multidisciplinary university. Experiential learning was left as best suited to ‘on-the-job training’ under experienced advocates, while the classroom focused on theoretical learning.

In 1988, with the advent of five-year integrated course, and the resultant growth of standalone centres such as national law universities and private law colleges, the ‘mooting culture’ gained momentum. Suddenly, a single moot court room was not enough; classrooms metamorphosed into moot court rooms catering to many enthusiastic law students participating in intra- and inter-university moot court competitions. So much so that at present, every law institute hosts a flagship moot court competition individually or in collaboration with law firms or other stakeholders. The prize money is attractive, and the facilitation is world-class.

Honing skills

A law professional must be capable of understanding facts and law, thinking of innovative solutions to legal problems, and presenting those thoughts to another law professional both in writing and by speech. A moot court competition creates a vibrant environment for this entire skillset to develop.

Analytical thinking, in-depth research, succinct writing, healthy competition, collaborative teamwork, networking, leadership, composure, resilience, critical thinking, memory, negotiation, consciousness, time management, structured planning, and public speaking — all prized virtues of a law professional — get polished in a moot court exercise.

In a moot court exercise, a raw legal problem is shared with the students, who must analyse, research, and write submissions representing both sides of a question of law. Students usually work in teams of three. At the next level, two speakers from opposite sides argue the best way possible for each side. In the next round, they may be asked to represent the opposite side. As mind-boggling as it may sound, this represents an important principle: a proficient advocate will think on both sides of a dispute.

While the entire education system is planning to use gamification to teach, moot courts were the first game in which law students participated by role-playing. All this fun, excitement, and thrill happen while students learn valuable and indelible lessons for life. Legal education has various approaches to learning, but nothing creates a top-notch law professional like a moot court exercise.

The writer is Dean, IILM Law School, Gurugram.