BSN Sixth Form Students triumph at National Moot Court competition

Four of our Sixth form students have enjoyed a fantastic success at the prestigious National Moot Court, winning ahead of 38 other teams. The National Moot Court is a competition that simulates the realistic procedures of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, held in the courtrooms at the Leiden University Campus in the centre of The Hague.

Ariana, Elisa, Louise and Tessa, who entered the competition were sent a court package including the facts of the case we would need to argue and a document including old cases that might be helpful in our arguments – they would come to know this as ‘the 70-page document'. Ariana and Elisa decided they would represent the defense and Louise and Tessa would represent the prosecution. By having to work on both sides of the case, they could compare each other’s arguments and work on rebuttals that other teams might have.

On the day of the event they successfully navigated the first two rounds and reached the final. At this stage, they presented the case for the defence against a strong prosecution team. The judges retired after hearing their arguments, only to return and declare them the winners in a very close decision. The judges went on, to the enormous excitement of our students, to award Elisa the Best Oralist in the Final Rounds trophy, while Ariana was awarded the Best Oralist in the Preliminary Rounds trophy. Needless to say, we are incredibly proud of what they have achieved and look forward to seeing what they can achieve in the future!