City University London Crowned OUP & BPP Mooting Champions

City University London won the Oxford University Press and BPP National Mooting Competition 2014-15 last week.

In a tightly fought competition, Charlotte Bellamy and Raphael Gray were named champions, ahead of Elspeth Venn and Sasha Conlon, both first year students from Queen’s University Belfast. Bellamy and Gray won £750 each and were handed a certificate and trophy, whereas Venn and Conlon shared £700 between them.

The fictitious moot problem was a criminal division appeal, focussing on an incidence of religious circumcision which led to a conviction for actual bodily harm for the priest who performed the procedure.

His Honour Judge Charles Gratwicke of Chelmsford Crown Court presided over the final. In his summing up, Judge Gratwicke praised the hard work and depth of knowledge the students demonstrated, saying that everyone had “performed exceptionally, in what has proved to be a very close contest – the margin of difference between all four teams can be counted on the fingers of one hand.”

Clare Weaver of OUP said: “We’ve witnessed some extraordinary talent from the teams who made it to the final; the amount of preparation, the level of professionalism, and their flexibility under pressure does them all credit.” 

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