Law Education
First moot court workshop
Muhammad Amirul Haq
A moot court workshop was organised by the members of Law Review, the University Student's Centre for Legal Research, University of Dhaka.
Moot court is a method of learning and exercise of legal knowledge of the students. On the basis of a hypothetical fact here one group of law students files a petition to a fictitious court and other group files memorials on behalf of the respondents. Following the procedure of higher court here the participating law students plays the role of counsels of the parties. Before the judges who are often sitting or retired judges of the country the students submit on behalf of the fictitious petitioners or the respondents. The judges also try to examine legal knowledge and analytical and presentation skill of the students asking questions during their submission.
In this workshop the students get acquainted with the court proceeding and etiquette of lawyering through practical experience. They have to do lots of research work for drafting memorial on behalf of the petitioners studying national and international instruments. Since it is one kind of competition, the judges mark the students on different particulars like articulation and analysis of issues, arguments, advocacy and knowledge of law and court manners. There are marks for the memorial to test drafting skill of the mooters. Altogether this is a good practice for the law students who want to be advocate and also legal researchers.
The workshop started on 25 August. The first session was on presentation skill. The Co-coordinator of the Bar Vocational Course of Bangladesh Bar Council Advocate Mohsin Rashid took the session. He trained up the 45 participants through demonstration by them how to appear before the court and in which manner present arguments before judges. Retired judge Muhammad Golam Rabbani took the second session on drafting skill. He shared knowledge and experiences of his long working life both as advocate and judge of the Supreme Court in relation to drafting. The following session was a demo moot court. Here the organisers took part in a moot court to show the participants the proceeding of the court. Two retired judges AKM Sadeque and Mohammad Golam Rabbani chaired in the moot court. After the demo moot court two teams were formed from the participants. These teams were assigned to prepare themselves to take part in a moot court to be held on 28th August.
The second and the last day of the workshop, 28 August was started by Professor Dr. Mizanur Rahman of Department of Law of the University of Dhaka who is also the president of this students' organisation, Law Review. He made the participants understand how to think like a lawyer by his presentation skill.
The workshop organised by Law Review was a successful event and we hope it will introduce a culture of moot court among the law students of Bangladesh.
The author is a LL.M. student of Department of Law, Dhaka University.
