More mooting success - Merton team reaches Cuppers Final

Merton College’s mooting team narrowly missed out on victory in the Maitland Chambers University of Oxford Intercollegiate Mooting Competition, finishing as runners-up to Harris Manchester College in a closely contested final. The team, consisting of Niamh Kelly, Ioana Burtea, Nanae Hart, Laura King and Michael Withers, made their way successfully through four knockout rounds, emerging victorious against St Anne’s, Brasenose, St Catherine’s and Worcester, before facing Harris Manchester in the Grand Final.

Laura and Michael represented the College in this final round, judged by the Rt Hon Lord Hoffmann and two QCs from Maitland Chambers. The subject of the moot centred on the human rights of prisoners (in particular the right to freedom of expression), an area which has received increasing publicity in the wake of the controversy surrounding prisoners’ voting rights.

The quality of mooting from both teams was extremely high, with all four competitors being commended for their advocacy skills in the face of tough questioning from the panel. Whilst it was ultimately Harris Manchester who were declared winners, Merton’s second place finish out of all competing colleges is its highest result in the history of the competition, and caps off a very successful season of mooting for the College’s law students.