Wilson Moot (Constitutional Law)

(Four Upper Year Students / 3 Credits in winter term)  

Selection Process: Student presents a ten minute oral argument before a panel of judges at general tryouts.

The Wilson Moot is a national moot founded in honour of Madame Justice Bertha Wilson, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. As such, it will probably always present issues that raise or touch on section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as other provisions of the Charter and international human rights law. http://www.thewilsonmoot.com

A team of four students participate in this national competition which is usually held in the Federal Court Building in Toronto. Each student will argue just one side--in every round. Students can elect to produce their written factum and oral work in either French or English. No translations are provided. The level of competition is very high thus this moot requires a significant time commitment and potential participants should be highly motivated to be involved in every aspect of the strategizing, legal research, writing, editing, and oral preparation. Candidates should also commit to being around the law school during the moot period, which is defined as beginning January 5 and culminates with the competition, which is usually held during the last weekend of the spring break or the weekend after that.

Students are evaluated by the judges on their factum and the oral arguments. Both are weighed in the ranking of teams and individual oralists.

Recommended:  All exposure to constitutional law, particularly the Charter, especially s.15, is strongly recommended, as is exposure to human rights law at any and all levels. There are no formal prerequisites or corequisites.

Course Evaluation: Letter grade based upon research, written factum, performance and participation during preparation and at the competition.

Since 2005, participation has been made possible through a multi-year donation by Mr. Alfred Kwinter.

2012 Team: Katherine Chau, Joshua Concessao, Penelope Ma, Andrea Wheeler
2012 Academic Coach: Kathleen Lahey
2012 Location: Toronto, February 24 - 25, 2012   20th Anniversary Moot
2012 Results:

Participation History