Lex Lumen

Moot Court

Turn law into a conversation you can practice

Moot court is Lex Lumen's earliest format and our most popular with partner schools. It moves students beyond being lectured at about law — they step into the perspective of judge, prosecution, or defence, and practise stating facts, responding to challenges, and forming judgements from evidence.

Session footage

Footage coming soon. Clips from Olivia's sessions with partner schools are being edited and expected mid-2026.

PDF · English / 中文 · CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0. Ready to use and adapt in the classroom.

Activity Types

Six moot court activities

Each activity starts from a real case with a clear debate structure and downloadable worksheets.

Guilty or Not Guilty?

Think like a lawyer: examine evidence, challenge assumptions, and reach a verdict on a campus theft case.

  • Sort the case: facts / evidence / assumptions / unanswered questions
  • Prosecution and defence each present their case
  • Verdict: 'Guilty' requires proven act and intent; 'Not Guilty' requires reasonable doubt
  • Group discussion: what counts as sufficient evidence?

Is the Punishment Fair?

Apply three principles — proportionate, reasonable, purposeful — to judge whether a real disciplinary response was appropriate.

  • Learn the three rules: punishment must fit the offence, not be extreme or humiliating, and help the student learn
  • Analyse a case: a student is caught copying homework — what's a fair response?
  • Debate: should repeat offenders automatically receive harsher punishments?

Law vs. Justice

Legal isn't always just. Just isn't always legal. Three real dilemmas to help you work out where the line is.

  • Case 1: A father steals food to feed his starving child — should he be punished?
  • Case 2: A student posts offensive political opinions online — does free speech have limits?
  • Case 3: A self-driving car causes a fatal accident — who is responsible?

Build-A-Country Debate

If you were founding a new country, which comes first: national security or individual freedom?

  • Background: a region declares independence and must draft a constitution
  • For: national security is the prerequisite of all freedoms
  • Against: without individual freedom, security is merely a tool of control

Does International Law Work?

The UN, Geneva Conventions, and the ICC — can law without enforcement really be called law?

  • Understand the sources of international law: treaties, custom, UN resolutions
  • For: international law sets global norms and legitimises sanctions
  • Against: without an enforcement mechanism, powerful states can simply ignore it

The TikTok Ban

The US government seeks to ban TikTok on national security grounds — does this violate free speech and property rights?

  • First Amendment: does the ban restrict users' freedom of expression?
  • Fifth Amendment: does the ban constitute an unlawful taking of business property?
  • Role-play as Harvard lawyers and Trump administration lawyers, arguing each side to the judge

Debate Principles

What makes a debate work

01

Evidence first

Every argument must be grounded in evidence. Don't substitute emotion for fact or authority for logic.

02

Listen to the other side

Effective debate isn't about winning — it's about truly understanding your opponent's argument so you can respond to it specifically.

03

Acknowledge limits

Law and justice don't always align. A good debater can identify the limits of their own argument instead of pretending they don't exist.

Role guide