Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Mooting Competition

2009 Mooting Competition

The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Moot Competition will be held again in the second semester of 2009. The preliminary rounds of the moot will occur on Monday 31 August 2009 and Thursday 3 September 2009. The semi-final round will be held on Monday 7 September 2009 and the final will be on Thursday 10 September 2009.  More details will be posted during first semester 2009. Contact people for each university are listed at the bottom of this page.

The 2008 Mooting Competition - Melbourne University Sweeps Final

The court room fell silent, and the tension was palatable, as the three judges took their seats before two nervous University of Melbourne teams. Senior counsel for the Appellant had barely introduced himself before Justice Chris Maxwell, President of the Victoria Court of Appeal, interrupted with the first of what would be many pointed, probing questions from the bench. From the tone and complex nature of the questions asked, it was clear that these students were going to be treated the same as any barrister appearing before the Court of Appeal. And so the scene was set for final of the 2^nd annual Castan Centre Charter of Rights Mooting Competition.

This year’s competition saw teams from Monash University, Melbourne University, La Trobe University and Victoria University arguing a number of human rights issues arising under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act, which came into force on the first of January this year. Students had only a couple days in which to research this complex legislation and prepare arguments. This task proved a challenging one given the fledgling nature of the Charter – only a few cases have thus far been heard involving the Charter – forcing teams to undertake research into comparable international jurisprudence.

All teams participated in the two preliminary rounds of the moot which were judged by solicitors from Clayton Utz, the generous sponsor of this mooting competition. The first problem involved a school principal’s decision to ban a student action group, prohibit a sit-in the group was conducing, and ultimately expel two students for their role in organising these protests. Mooters made convincing arguments regarding alleged breaches of Charter rights relating to cultural rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of association and assembly. At the end of the preliminary rounds, four teams progressed to the semi-final, namely, Melbourne University teams 1 and 2, Monash University team 1, and Victoria University team 1,

This year’s semi-final drew the interest of a number of barristers and Simon McGregor, Richard Wilson, Gabi Crafti and Alistair Pound all volunteered to act as judges in the semi-finals. Accompanied by Clayton Utz partners Fred Hawke and Andrew Stephenson, they heard impassioned arguments relating to police conduct during an outbreak of an unknown deadly virus in a remote community in Victoria.  At the end of the semi-final both University of Melbourne teams were victorious, leading to a Melbourne University show-down in the final.

Colleagues, friends, family, and other spectators filled the Court of Appeal to capacity, and no one was disappointed with the quality of mooting exhibited. The final was once again presided over by Justice Maxwell, Judge Anthony Howard of the County Court, and Dr Helen Szoke, CEO of the Victoria Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. At issue, the police raid of a polygamous community to remove all children, and the subsequent detention without a bail hearing of a 15-year-old girl who resisted police attempts to separate her from her family.

Devon Whittle, Rebecca Hughes and Dimitri Ternovski for the Appellant, passionately advocated a violation of their client’s right to family life and privacy, to liberty and security, and to be treated humanely while detained. The judges took issue with the fact that the Appellant’s actions were not all innocent, as she had attacked an officer, and this may have warranted a limitation of her rights. Christopher Hibbard, Michael Power, and Laura Bellamy represented the Victoria police and prison authorities. They were asked to justify why polygamous families should be afforded less rights than monogamous families.  

The controversial nature of the issues at hand led to some very tense moments and some rather surprising questions from the bench. The learned judges were persistent in their questioning, not allowing advocates from either team to get away with evasive responses. This caused many members of the audience to breathe a sigh of relief that they were not the ones being subjected to such a grilling from the bench.  The mooters, however, handled themselves with utmost professionalism and further demonstrated their impressive grasp of the subject matter with their intelligent and timely responses to the barrage of questions they received.

In a tightly fought battle, the team for the Respondent narrowly won, taking home the $3,000 prize, courtesy of Clayton Utz. The runners up received a prize of $1,000. We are delighted to announce that the moot is assured of a future in Victoria thanks to Clayton Utz’s undertaking to continue sponsoring the competition for the next two years. As Clayton Utz Melbourne managing partner Brad Vann said the firm was pleased to support the Castan Centre with such an initiative. "We look forward to continuing our association with the Castan Centre and its important work in the area of the research and teaching of human rights law."

The level of competition through all rounds of the moot was outstanding and mooters demonstrated an excellent understanding of the Charter and its application in judicial proceedings. Monash University mooter Divina Naidu reflected on the experience, “Mooting was always something I wanted to do but was never brave enough to actually take the plunge! After being in the human rights moot, I value it as one of my most memorable experiences at law school. The thrill and exhilaration I got from arguing my case and questions from the bench was immeasurable. It really opened my eyes to the reality of the legal arena, and the fact that it was human rights based was a bonus!”

Paula Gerber, the Castan Centre Deputy Director responsible for organising the moot, commented that “the competition is achieving its aim of ensuring that future generations of lawyers are fully conversant with the Charter, a piece of legislation they will undoubtedly have to deal with once they enter the legal profession.”

Mooting Resources for Schools and Universities

These resources will remain on the website indefinitely for use as educational tools. 

Handbook for Competitors

Moot Problem Preliminary Round

Moot Problem Semi Final

Moot Problem Final

Judges' jurisprudence guides are available to educators on request. Please contact the Castan Centre on castan.centre@law.monash.edu.au or (03) 9905 3327

2009 Moot Competition Dates

This year, the moot will occur on Monday and Thursday evenings. The Preliminary Rounds will occur on 31 August 2009 and 3 September 2009. The Semi-final will occur on 7 September and the Final will be held on 10 September. More information will be released at a later date.

University Contacts