Oxford finish as Semi-Finalists at the Inner Temple Inter-Varsity Moot 2023

We are proud to announce that the team representing the University of Oxford, Emma Wilson (BA Jurisprudence, Keble College) and Harry Chan (BA Jurisprudence, St Catherine’s College), have finished as Semi-Finalists at the Inner Temple Inter-Varsity Mooting Competition 2023.

This year’s competition saw the return of in-person oral rounds at Inner Temple, London, on 22 January. A total of 18 teams (representing universities from around the United Kingdom) participated in 2 preliminary rounds, where 8 teams with the best overall results advanced to the knock-out rounds. The moot problem focused on contentious tort law principles in relation to the duty of care and causation. In particular, competitors had to engage with the relatively novel duty to warn of risks imposed on doctors towards patients, and the consequences of third-party interventions that worsened a victim’s injuries. Over the course of the competition, teams had to represent both parties to the appeal, which required switching between two wholly different sets of arguments at short notice.

Oxford's team presented their case before academics and senior barristers, receiving kind praise from the moot judges throughout the preliminary and knock-out rounds. The team narrowly missed out on the final after mooting against the eventual champions in the semi finals, where the team was again commended on the quality of their oral advocacy and, in particular, the clear structure of their arguments.