The Eleventh Commonwealth Moot will be held in Hong Kong from 5th – 9th April 2009 in conjunction with the 25th Commonwealth Law Conference (CLC).

While many have come to know and love the Commonwealth Moot over the years, what may be less known is that the first Commonwealth Moot was also held in Hong Kong - in 1983.

The Commonwealth Moot is an initiative of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA). It is an ‘invitation-only’ Moot, being limited to representatives from regions of the Commonwealth, chosen, for the this purpose to be North America, United Kingdom, Caribbean, South Asia (India), South Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), South East Asia, South, West and East Africa, Australasia (Australia and New Zealand send separate teams), and the Pacific. while, in general, the Commonwealth Moot has run concurrently with the CLC, in 2001 it ran separately from it, as the CLC was postponed because of issues in Zimbabwe. Instead, the CLEA ran its own conference in Colombo and the Commonwealth Moot was attached to that.

The teams compete for a shield, formerly known as the the Turnbull Shield, but now referred to more often as the Commonwealth Shield.

It has become a most prestigious moot as well, with the representative teams often having won large regional competitions. It is special among international moots in that funds come from the Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association and the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association to assist teams from developing Commonwealth countries with travel costs when sending a team, and to provide accommodation free of cost for all teams while they are competing. Since 1999 the Moot has been held in Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Melbourne, London and Nairobi. In 1999 a team from South Africa won the moot. Since then, the UK has won twice with teams from Middlesex and from Southampton universties (2001 and 2003). In London, in 2005, the Moot was won by the University of Toronto team and in 2007 in Nairobi, an Australian team from Macquarie University in Sydney, funded by the New South Wales Law Society, won. Whenever and wherever it is held, the local law society also plays a major role in organising the venues, the judges, the accommodation and transport for the visiting teams so that the entire competition runs smoothly.

One thing that sets the Commonwealth Moot apart from others, is the willingness of members of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and associated organisations, who come to the Commonwealth Law Conference, to give up their valuable time to judge moots for the Commonwealth Moot. This willingness shown by senior members of the Commonwealth Bar and judiciary, is another factor in what sets the Commonwealth Moot apart from other moots. There are very few international mooting competitions in which the bench judging the final is, more often than not, comprised of Chief Justices from countries, provinces and states across the Commonwealth.

The winning nations and years as listed on the shield are:

1983 (in Hong Kong) - Australia

1986 (in Jamaica) - United Kingdom

1990 (in New Zealand) - United Kingdom

1993 (in Cyprus) - Canada

1996 (in Canada) - Australia

1999 (in Malaysia) - South Africa

2001 (in Sri Lanka) - United Kingdom

2003 (in Australia) - United Kingdom

2005 (in United Kingdom) - Canada

2007 (in Kenya) - Macquarie University Law School

Registration Form

Competition Rules

Moot Problem

Please register by 6th March 2009, Friday.
(There is no registration fee for the Moot Competition.)

Enquiries about registration of The Eleventh Commonwealth Moot Competition:
Dr Ros Macdonald
Ph +617 31381100
Fax +617 31382121
Mobile: +0419 671 398
E-mail: r.macdonald@qut.edu.au