Where does mooting take place?

The simple answer is anywhere! The more substantial answer is it depends on why you are using mooting.

Intra or extra-curricular?

The 2006 survey for the Mooting for learning project noted that over a ten year period there was a shift towards including mooting within the curriculum. In 1995 only 20% of institutions used mooting in this way, while by 2005 this had risen to 60%, with more institutions indicating that they were looking towards the idea. However, as will be noted below, concerns must arise as to whether this is actually mooting as distinct from a different type of activity.

Mooting can be a valuable part of a curriculum – I have suggested elsewhere that it can be used as a teaching, assessment or teaching and assessment tool (Gillespie, 2007) – however we should not lose sight of extra-curricular mooting. Students engage with mooting for a whole variety of reasons, not least because they enjoy it. There is a danger that if they have to moot within the curriculum the enjoyment of the process may dissipate participation in extra-curricular moots.

The survey noted two issues of interest – the predominance of mooting in the first year, and the low number of discrete mooting modules.

First year mooting

The survey found that most intra-curricular mooting takes place in the first year of study, with very little in the final year (based on a three year degree). The reason for this became clear when the survey turned its attention to the modules mooting was used in – almost 50% of intra-curricular mooting takes place in legal skills modules, with the module next favoured being law of contract (22%). Both legal skills and contract are largely concentrated within the first year of most institutions. Contract may be an unusual choice, but could reflect the fact that not every institution has a discrete skills module, instead teaching skills within substantive modules.

Two issues arise from these findings:

1. Is the activity that takes place within the first year is truly a moot or is it a derivative of mooting? Speaking to some of the respondents to the survey it became quite clear that in several institutions the actual performance was closer to a presentation than a moot (a speech without questioning on the solution to a problem and without any real requirement for upholding procedural rules and etiquette).
2. Why does it not happen later in the degree? If mooting is considered a useful educational tool then it seems very strange to restrict it to the first year of study and not the later years, where the students’ skills will be more developed. The advantages of mooting were found to be largely concerned with the development of higher level skills (see FAQ 2) – if this is so, surely it would be useful to use mooting when these skills have been developed, ie in levels 2 and 3?

Discrete mooting modules

Interestingly, the survey demonstrated that there has been no real shift in the number of institutions operating a discrete mooting module – five in both 1995 and 2005. Of more interest is the fact that it was not the same five institutions. When an analysis was undertaken it would seem that for at least some institutions this was because the member of staff who had a particular interest in mooting had moved to a new institution.

Where a discrete mooting module is used students are usually required to undertake a series of moots and reflect upon their performances and development. Some institutions use this as part of an external mooting competition, although this obviously has drawbacks where, for example, the institution does not progress to the later rounds.

Last Modified: 26 July 2010