History of Moot Court

History of the Moot Court

This is the story of the origins of Monash University's state-of-the-art Moot Court and how this remarkable teaching space came to be.

This enhanced facility provides a great opportunity for our students to learn court skills and see courts in operation. We have already had two courts hear appeals in the Moot Court – the Victorian Court of Appeal and national court, the Federal Circuit and Family Court which are both firsts for an Australian Law School.

The Monash Law Moot Court was opened on 2 August 2017 by Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AO.

In opening the Moot Court, then Vice-Chancellor declared that this new facility is, “more than just a Moot Court; it is a state-of-the-art multi-functional facility."

That same day, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Hon Marilyn Warren AC KC, presided over the first official moot in the Moot Court, between Monash Law students, in a contemporary moot modelled on the famous ‘snail in the bottle’ case, Donoghue v Stevenson.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Hon Marilyn Warren AC KC, presided over the first official moot held in the Moot Court, between Monash Law students.

At the conclusion of the moot, Chief Justice Warren remarked that “I think this would be a wonderful courtroom to conduct a case in.”

Two weeks after the official opening, the Moot Court was host to a Ceremonial Moot, presided over by Professor the Hon Robert French AC (former Chief Justice of Australia, and Adjunct Professor for Monash Law), the Hon Stephen Charles AO (former judge of the Victorian Court of Appeal), and Monash Law alumnus the Hon Nahum Mushin AM (former judge of the Family Court of Australia, and Adjunct Professor for Monash Law).

At the conclusion of the moot, Professor the Hon Robert French AC commented to students on the high quality of their new Moot Court.

“I very much enjoyed the presentations, and it's very encouraging to see this magnificent moot court. I think you've probably got the best one in the country at the moment and I've opened a couple and been to a few,” remarked Professor the Hon Robert French AC.

The Hon Stephen Charles AO, the Hon Robert French AC, and Monash Law alumnus the Hon Nahum Mushin AM at the Ceremonial Moot on 16 August 2017.

On 21 October 2019, the Victorian Court of Appeal, Victoria’s highest court, convened and held an appeal hearing in a university moot court for the first time in Victorian judicial history. The three judges hearing the appeal were Court of Appeal President The Hon Justice Chris Maxwell, Monash Law alumna The Hon Justice Pamela Tate, and Monash Law alumnus The Hon Justice Mark Weinberg.

The Monash University Moot Court is set up in Victorian court mode, where the instructing solicitors face the barristers, so it is readily usable for a real court case. When the Victorian Court of Appeal sat, there was a full public gallery, with academics and students from Law and other faculties watching in the breakout rooms on either side of the Moot Court. This made it possible to have Law lecturers and tutors explain what was going on live in the Moot Court next door.

Court of Appeal President Justice Chris Maxwell and Justice Pamela Tate answer questions from students after the Victorian Court of Appeal, Victoria’s highest court, sat at a university for the first time.

On 21 October 2019, the Victorian Court of Appeal, Victoria’s highest court, sat at a university for the first time when it heard an appeal in the Monash University Moot Court.

On 30 April 2024, a Full Court hearing of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1), was held in the Monash University Moot Court, making it the first national court to sit in the Moot Court.

Moot Court moves from state-of-the-ark to state-of-the-art

When he was Executive Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Bryan Horrigan initiated the Moot Court development in 2013, shortly after his appointment. The motivation behind the development was that if you seek world-class students and world-class academics, then you must offer them world-class facilities.

“I went on a personal journey of looking at real courts, working out what could we take that had the grandeur of a court, but which could be used in a university and law school setting. Little did I know that the architects and others that were involved would build this. Even in my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined this,” exclaimed Professor Horrigan.

Discussions within the faculty included those who'd been involved in mooting to determine what kind of moot court we need. Once a list of Moot Court goals was established the discussion moved onto financing the project.

Executive Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Bryan Horrigan speaking at the opening of the Moot Court on 2 August 2017.

And so it was necessary to put together a team that would be chaired by senior people of the university and faculty representatives and relevant expertise to see if it was feasible to have a moot court and to put a business case for the funding needed for the moot court.

A team made up of senior members of the Law Faculty and the University brought their expertise to the table. In 2014 a feasibility study was completed, a business case prepared, and Monash University generously agreed to fund the entirety of the AU$3.9 million project.

Designing a world class Moot Court

Jackson Clement Burrows Architects worked closely with Monash Law to design a world-leading, state-of-the-art, multifunction court room that was not only sympathetic to the original building’s design, but enhanced it. Works commenced in November 2016.

“The faculty really set exemplary goals for this project from day one. They wanted this to be an outstanding courthouse, potentially the best courtroom in the country,” recalled Graham Burrows, Director of Jackson Clement Burrows Architects and Design Director of the Moot Court project.

“For the design of the Moot Court we were acutely mindful of making a courthouse that really spoke to the gravitas of law and the legal process. And it was important for us that we could create a space within this historic 1960s building that also drew in the very strong elements of the building.”

Graham Burrows, Director of Jackson Clement Burrows Architects and Design Director of the Moot Court project.

The construction phase also relied on the understanding of Law Faculty staff who had to leave the building to work in other locations for a number of months while the Moot Court was built.

The Moot Court was built into a space that Monash Law Alumni may remember as ‘the basement’. The entry to the Law Building used to have two long ramps that led people to the first floor. As part of the Moot Court construction, these ramps were removed and the front wall of the building opened up with three storeys of glass windows.

The place where the Moot Court now sits was once the middle lecture theatre in a group of three. Alumni might remember this as L1! One of those other lecture theatres (L3) was the home of the original Moot Court which opened with the building in 1968. It was innovative at that time for a Law School to have a dedicated moot court in its building.

The original Moot Court was part of the original Law Building when it opened in 1968.

One of the design features of the new Moot Court is the wood pillars that run around the walls to soften both the acoustics and sightlines of what is a very grand courtroom. Close inspection of these pillars reveals that their shape is taken from the outline of the coffers in the waffle ceiling of the original building. This ceiling is also one of the key design features that flows from the foyer of the Law building, right into the Moot Court.

Unseen by most visitors is a robing room and a discreet entrance for judges. Another subtle feature is the three pods at the back left of the Moot Court which can be used to hear evidence from vulnerable witnesses.

Bespoke furniture and fittings were used to ensure every element of the Moot Court supported the goal of creating a world class courtroom.

The multifunction Moot Court

The major design factor of the Moot Court is its multifunction capabilities. Obviously it can be used as a moot court and it’s proven to be effective as a real court, but it can also be used in public lecture mode. The dispatch box mooters use to address the judge can be turned around to deliver a lecture to the public gallery, the two breakout rooms next door and anybody connecting virtually.

The bar table can be used as a meeting room and the Moot Court has played host to university meetings and faculty meetings. The Moot Court has five screens that can host five different participants and/or audiences discussing any number of situations.

The multifunction capabilities of the Moot Court have also caught the eye of television producers and it was used as the courtroom in the Underbelly series Informer 3838.

“The Faculty will forever be grateful to the University for having supported us in every way that matters in the design, funding, and construction of this magnificent Moot Court”,  said Professor Horrigan.

“Generations of Monash Law students and staff, and others inside and outside the University as well, will use and benefit enormously from it.”

Watch the background story behind the Monash Law Moot Court.