Mooting (1 Viewer)

[Angel45]

Hi guys,


Sorry, just a quick question. I've watched the mooting videos but still not sure..

In my task it says to ask the crt do they want u to dispense with citations...
what type of thing would i say "if it pleases the court" or "with your honour's permission" - is there a proper way to do it?

Also, say during my argument I want to ask the court something like "if it pleases the court i will address this point later on" or similar, b4 they jump in and ask there and then...how do I say that using the right "language"?

Thank u very much.

 

[Baiku]

Hi guys,


Sorry, just a quick question. I've watched the mooting videos but still not sure..

In my task it says to ask the crt do they want u to dispense with citations...
what type of thing would i say "if it pleases the court" or "with your honour's permission" - is there a proper way to do it?

Also, say during my argument I want to ask the court something like "if it pleases the court i will address this point later on" or similar, b4 they jump in and ask there and then...how do I say that using the right "language"?

Thank u very much.

I've only mooted a couple of times.
But...
If the bench asks something, you are expected to answer it straight away, don't say "I'll get to that later". Answering straight away shows you know what you're talking about and can present the argument. Make sure you make a note of where you were up to and then let the judge know that you are going back to your previous argument.

I think regarding citations "If it pleases the court I will now dispense with formal citations (for the cases listed in my outline of submissios)" or something like that is fine... (i could be wrong

 

[_dhj_]

If it's a yes/no question you can give the short answer and elaborate later on, but you should at least give an immediate answer if you're able to. With the citations thing I think it's better to let the bench decide when you should dispense with formal citation.

 

[Rorix]

Hey man....it doesnt really matter if you have the 100% spot on "saying" as long as your general manner is strong....anyway...

In my task it says to ask the crt do they want u to dispense with citations...
what type of thing would i say "if it pleases the court" or "with your honour's permission" - is there a proper way to do it?

Your Honour, may I dispense with formal citation?

Also, say during my argument I want to ask the court something like "if it pleases the court i will address this point later on" or similar, b4 they jump in and ask there and then...how do I say that using the right "language"?

Um, it seems to be that you are going to be dropping an argument that you will address later. To me this seems like it will be confusing. If you really want to do it you can say that you will address the submission in your Xth submission or whatever...

Although, if the bench is asking you a question, it really depends if the bench is genuinely interested or is just trying to throw you off. In my experience the student judges will do the latter and if you get to semifinals/finals where silks or judges are judging, they will be a lot more interested in your actual argument and are not just trying to throw you off...but that comes with experience.

 

[Angel45]

Thanks guys, lots of gr8 advice. I worried there was a phrase u had to say!!

Another quest. I'm a bit of a nut.

Our instructions say the judge will allow us to dispense with case citations if we seek leave to do so!

Does dispensing w/ case citations up front mean reading the citations out so u don't have to say them during ur arguments OR does it mean ur asking the crt to allow you to just read the case names w/out citations...so u neva actually say the full case citation in ur moot??

 

[Baiku]

Thanks guys, lots of gr8 advice. I worried there was a phrase u had to say!!

Another quest. I'm a bit of a nut.

Our instructions say the judge will allow us to dispense with case citations if we seek leave to do so!

Does dispensing w/ case citations up front mean reading the citations out so u don't have to say them during ur arguments OR does it mean ur asking the crt to allow you to just read the case names w/out citations...so u neva actually say the full case citation in ur moot??

When I mooted.
The bench said "yes that will be fine for all the cases listed in your submission".

As in, you've given them a summary of your arguments and have listed the full citation, so when you say Jones v Smith (Jones AND Smith) they can see the citation on a piece of paper in front of them anyway...
No you don't have to read them all out.

I think common procedure is to say the FIRST case you cite with it's full citation: "Jones and Smith decided in 1994, reported in Commonwealth Law Reports Volume 16 at page 21." "And if it pleases the court your honour, I would now dispense with formal citations and direct the bench to the outline of submissions for full citations should your honours require". - Say some bullshit like that

 

[Rorix]

^^ As above.