Indian Moot Court Competition 2011

The first ever International Moot Court Competition between law students of India and Pakistan was jointly organised by the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR) and the National Law University (NLU), Delhi. It took place at the NLU Campus in Dwarka, on November 12 and 13, 2011.

The competition was the second event of its kind, after the roaring success of their first All Pakistan Mooting experience at LUMS, in 2009. A moot court is an extracurricular activity practised at law schools, where participants take part in the stimulated court proceedings, which usually includes; drafting briefs or memorials and taking part in the oral arguments.  

LUMS sent a delegation of three students; Aisha Ahmad, Ali Javed and Shehzad Ghias, to the competition, which was the first international mooting experience for the entire team. The young participants crossed the Wagah border by foot and then grabbed a bus, which drove them to the venue.

The team was greeted by a traditional Indian welcome at the university. In the first round of the competition, the LUMS team was against the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) Kolkata team that had represented India at the World Moot Court Competition. After a tough competition, LUMS edged out in the end and made it to the quarter-final. In the quarter-final, LUMS was up against National Law College Delhi (NLCD), which is rated amongst the top moot court teams of the world. Once again, the competition was fierce but in the end both the teams failed to make it to the semi-final stage as the scoring was cumulatively done.

However, despite the fact that LUMS team could not book a spot in the final berth, they gained recognition for putting up a tight battle against their contenders, which will be perceived as an achievement in its own accord. A team from Baluchistan bested out the rest in competition, which was a moment of pride for Pakistan.

The moot court problem was on the Kashmir Issue, with an interesting twist to it. In the final round, Pakistani team had to speak in favour of the Indian side of the issue, whereas the Indian side had to present their argument supporting the Pakistan's case. With the roles reverted, the competition grew all the more attention- grabbing for the audience, which was a whole new experience.  

The competition was judged by the prominent figures from legal fraternity of Pakistan and India, including; Shahid Karim from Pakistan and Rajeve Mehra, the Indian Supreme Court Advocate.

LUMS team was lauded abundantly for their exceptionally honed oral argument skills.

Overall, it was a great experience for the teams in contention, which gave them an opportunity to widen their scope of expertise through international venture of this stature.

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