The 6th LUMS-HBL National Moot Court Competition 2017 was hosted by the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law (SAHSOL) and the LUMS Law & Politics Society in association with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) recently.
Ten teams from top law colleges of the country – Pakistan College of Law, Quaid-e-Azam Law College, SZABIST, University College Lahore, Premier Law College, Gujranwala, University of Karachi and International Islamic University, Islamabad participated in the competition. After two and a half days of intensive mooting, Quaid-e Azam Law College and SZABIST emerged as finalists. The moot problem for the final required participants to delve into a detailed study of the Constitution of Pakistan and the 18th Amendment to the Constitution particularly with regards to the concept of delegated legislation. All participants demonstrated excellent legal research and oral advocacy skills resulting in a highly competitive event.
Held at the Asifa Irfan Moot Court of the School of Law, the Final was judged by a distinguished five-member panel comprising of two retired Supreme Court Justices, namely Justice (R) Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, Justice (R) Sair Ali, Ms. Asma Hamid (Additional Advocate General, Punjab), Mr. Ali Sultan (Executive Director, Research Society of International Law, Pakistan) and Prof. Dr. Martin Lau, Dean of the LUMS School of Law.
In a close contest, Quaid-e-Azam Law College emerged as the Winners of the Competition, with team SZABIST as runners-up. At the closing ceremony, the Pakistan College of Law was awarded the prize for Best Memorial Applicant and the prize for Best Memorial Respondent was awarded to the University College Lahore. Mr. Momin Waheed Khan from the winning team of Quaid-e-Azam Law College was judged as the Best Oralist of the Competition.
Habib Bank Limited generously served as the competition’s Platinum Sponsors and, in a statement, expressed their delight in being part of the event: “HBL is proud to sponsor the 6th Annual Moot Competition and partner with LUMS in providing a platform for law students to develop essential legal skills such as critical thinking and advocacy. Competent, proficient and skilled legal professionals and judges are vital for the success and continued economic growth of Pakistan. It is an honour and a privilege to support such programmes and initiatives.”
The annual LUMS National Moot Court Competition strives to foster a culture of mooting across law schools in Pakistan, providing not only a useful opportunity to law students to demonstrate their legal research and advocacy skills but also serving as a national focal point for new initiatives in legal education.
LUMS School of Law is looking forward to hosting the 7th LUMS National Moot Competition in 2018 and will again be inviting teams from across Pakistan to participate.