Jonathan Cooper LGBTQ+ Mooting Competition

The Faculty is delighted to announce the establishment of a brand new mooting competition for 2023, The Jonathan Cooper LGBTQ+ Mooting Competition. This page contains relevant information and updates on the moot.

The Moot is named in honour of the late human rights activist and barrister Jonathan Cooper OBE, who passed away in September 2021. He practised at Doughty Street Chambers, particularly in the field of international human rights law, and was an inspiring advocate for LGBTQ+ rights across the world, be it for trans rights, rights of people living with HIV, or victims of conversion therapy. Jonathan Cooper OBE is also the namesake of the recently established Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexualities at Oxford’s Faculty of History, the first Chair of its kind in Oxford and in the United Kingdom. 

The Mooting Competition is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Oxford and it will fittingly be held during LGBTQ+ History Month on Saturday, 11 February 2023. The Competition will involve 8 teams of two students each, and consist of quarter-finals, semi-finals and a grand final. The event will culminate in a prize-giving ceremony and drinks reception, and provide an opportunity for students to network with practitioners and academics. A prize money of £300 will be awarded to the winning team and a prize money of £150 for the second place. 

Have a read through the problem question and, below, you can find an information sheet on the timeline of the moot, how to register, guidance on the problem question, as well as the mooting rules. Please read this sheet carefully before registering.

You can register your team using this form. Please note that your registration will not be complete before you email your skeleton argument to Clara Elod at equalityanddiversity@law.ox.ac.uk, with the subject title "Skeleton Argument Jonathan Cooper Moot". The deadline to register and submit your skeleton argument is January 26, i.e. any time before January 27 00.00 GMT. We will inform you whether you have been selected by January 30 at the latest. 

Clarification Requests: We had one clarification request, namely whether the Cashman Island is party to Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human. We can confirm that this is not the case as the UK itself is not a party to it, and as a British Overseas Territory this applies to the Cashman Island as well. 

If you have any questions, please email Richard Wagenlander.