NOVAL 2023: BAC Mooting Society's Novice Mooting Competition

As a law college, BAC students are often eager to learn how to argue their case in court. BAC Mooting Society provided this opportunity for students with Novitius Adsertor Legis (NOVAL) 2023! NOVAL is the Mooting Society's annual novice mooting competition for first-time mooters. Every year, it is a hit with students, and this year was no different. There were over 20 teams that registered to join the competition, eager to learn.

Prior to the competition, BAC Mooting Society held several workshops to teach and groom students and participants everything they need to know in mooting. They also held a moot simulation to allow students to watch skilled mooters in action and learn from them. These preparatory events successfully equipped participants with the knowledge they needed, and they proceeded to the competition, ready to argue their case.

On 9th December 2023, participants gathered on campus ready to present their arguments based on the moot problem given. They had a chance to learn from judges consisting of practicing lawyers, BAC lecturers and even ex-mooters who each gave their own unique flavour of advice and guidance to the first time mooters. We even had returning mooters who were part of BAC's first Champion in the Jessup Tournament 2023, Koh Shu Huan and Stanley Hoh!

The next day brought the semi-finals, where nerves were high and teams continued to work on their oral submissions based on the feedback from the judges the day before. Although the scores were extremely close, only two teams were able to make it to the grand finals:

Team 1011
Foo Kai Cheong
Leong Qi Rui

Team 1021
Mulaika Nordin
Hemaprakash Periyathamby

The grand finals took place at 2pm on December 10, in person at BAC's moot court as well as livestreamed to audiences on Facebook. Judges invited to judge the round were: Ms. Jamie Wong of Messrs Jamie Wong, Ms. Kimberly Tey of Maxis, Ms. Wendy Lee of Shook Lin & Bok, Ms. Mehnaga of Dinesh Muthal & Co and Mr. Mark Jeyakumar of J.M. Mark.

Both teams presented their case in such a compelling way, that the scores were extremely close, giving the judges a difficult time of choosing the winner. However, only one team could win, and that was Team 1011, with Foo Kai Cheong and Leong Qi Rui! Adding to their victory is the fact that both of them are still fairly new to law as they are currently Foundation in Law students. Wishing them our best congratulations, and we hope to see good things from this team, and other aspiring mooters in the future!

This competition was a fruitful and enjoyable one, and students got to learn something new out of it. If you are interested in mooting as well, keep an eye out for BAC Mooting Society's vetting sessions for external competitions on their Instagram, or register to join the BAC Mooting Society via bacengage.my!