Extenuating Circumstances, Fit to Sit Policy, Plagiarism Declaration and Moot Exercise

University Policies

Extenuating Circumstances

If there are any exceptional circumstances that may have affected your ability to undertake or submit this assignment, make sure you contact the Advice Centre on your campus prior to your submission deadline.

Fit to sit policy:

The University operates a fit to sit policy whereby you, in submitting or presenting yourself for an assessment, are declaring that you are fit to sit the assessment.  You cannot subsequently claim that your performance in this assessment was affected by extenuating factors.  

Plagiarism and Unfair Practice Declaration:

By submitting this assessment, you declare that it is your own work and that the sources of information and material you have used (including the internet) have been fully identified and properly acknowledged as required[ University Academic Integrity Regulations].  Additionally, the work presented has not been submitted for any other assessment.  You also understand that the Faculty reserves the right to investigate allegations of plagiarism or unfair practice which, if proven, could result in a fail in this assessment and may affect your progress.

Intellectual Property and Retention of Student Work:

You understand that the University will retain a copy of any assessments submitted electronically for evidence and quality assurance purposes; requests for the removal of assessments will only be considered if the work contains information that is either politically and/or commercially sensitive (as determined by the University) and where requests are made by the relevant module leader or dissertation supervisor.

Details of Submission:

Note that all work handed in after the submission date and within 5 working days will be capped at 40%[ Information on exclusions to this rule is available from Campus Advice Shops].  No marks will be awarded if the assessment is submitted after the late submission date unless extenuating circumstances are applied for and accepted (Advice Shop to be consulted).

Moot Exercise and Associated Skeleton Argument (see attached moot scenarios).

The assignment comprises two tasks:

1.A moot [worth 50% of the marks for this assessment.]

2.A written legal argument (Skeleton) [worth 50% of the marks for this assessment.]

Please make sure you read the instructions for both tasks, set out below:

Task 1

In a group of 4 students you are required to participate in a moot drawn from the scenario attached. Each group will be allocated a position broadly as either appellant or respondent (noting that in the scenario there is a cross appeal), a point or points of law to be argued, and a date/time slot for their moot.  

Task 1: Moot Exercise

It is suggested that students should:

1.Get together to form a group of 4 members as soon as possible.  The names of group members must be submitted by email on the attached form (below) to Hannah Coburn by no later than Friday 22nd January 2021.

2.Each group of 4 will be sub-divided into 2 groups of 2 for the purposes of assigning roles as appellant or respondent, allocate tasks between members of the group in terms of:

· Two members of the group acting on behalf of the appellant(s) – there will be required one lead counsel and two junior counsel.

·Two members of the group acting on behalf of the respondent – there will be one lead counsel and two junior counsel.

Students should follow the Mooting guidance presented in the Legal Skills module and available on Blackboard for information about the preparation and conduct required for the moot. In addition, students may wish to avail themselves of one of the many texts available on Mooting and/or visit www.mooting.net. It is recommended that students participate in the Student Law Society’s mooting sessions

Students will be notified of the timetable for presentation of the arguments; the timetable will be posted on Blackboard on the Legal Skills module site.  The presentation of each group will be recorded (i.e. there will be an audio/visual record of the moot) and may involve one or more questions being asked by the judges.

Please note that students acting for the appellant or the respondent will be marked separately (i.e. a mark will be awarded for the appellant group and a mark will be awarded to the respondent group). In each group of 4 students:

• the 2 students acting for the appellant will normally all be awarded the same mark.

• the 2 students acting for the respondent will normally all be awarded the same mark.

• There will be an exception to the above and differential marks will be allocated where there is evidence of any one or more members of the group not contributing to the assessment in equal amount (thus, for example, it will be possible for team members A & B to pass the assessment and member C, where there is evidence of a lesser contribution, to fail the assessment). The success of the moot depends very much on the team members working together.

What will each member contribute?

Task 2: Written Legal Argument

Each group of 2 students should include with their written legal argument (see Task 2 below), a log of the contributions of each member of the group to tasks 1 and 2, i.e. the distribution of work, a record of any meetings held, the contributions of each to the task(s), and this log must be signed by each group member.

The log will be a compendious record of the work undertaken and the contribution to the tasks of each group member. The contribution of all group members to the tasks is a vital aspect to success in the assessment. The advocates will formulate their approach (for example determining how they will approach the moot issues), what point they will take, what are their tactics, what is the current state of the law, researching in conjunction with each other (often the case with senior and junior counsel).

Thus, the strength of the arguments and advocacy (often described as the art of persuasion) is a product of the strength of the group as a whole. Where one member plays a minor or lesser role, the strength of the group (and thus the assessment itself), is diminished. In general then, the log may record, for example, when the group met, a note of what they discussed and decided, who did what etc. (e.g. X agreed and was allocated the task of researching cases relevant to ... and to report their finding to the group ...). Thus, notes of the process are an important part of the record of the tasks and their completion.

Task 2

In support of the group’s presentation, the appellants and respondents will each submit a written legal argument (known as a ‘skeleton’ argument – there will be a class session on this – see PL module guide/timetable -  and an example provided), that supports their oral submissions and includes discussion based on cited authorities in the moot with an explanation of the legal principles that arose from those authorities. This should be word processed and must not merely be a transcript of your moot argument. It will take the form a skeleton argument (see below).

Please note: in each group of 4 students:

o the 2 students acting for the appellant must jointly submit one piece of written work (i.e. one member of the group will submit the skeleton on behalf of the group);

o the 2 students acting for the respondent must jointly submit one piece of written work (i.e. one member of the group will submit the skeleton on behalf of the group).

Your written submission for Task 2 must be presented in the form of a skeleton argument (guidance on this will be included in the Public Law module).

• The appellant group will submit a skeleton in support of their moot.

• The respondent group will submit a skeleton in support of their moot.

A skeleton argument is a summary of the main points of your moot presentation and includes full and accurate citations for any cases that you use as authority (further guidance will be contained in the Public law module in advance of the assessment).

• contain details of the court in which the moot is being heard, the names of the parties and their representatives

• set out at the start of the skeleton argument the remedy you are claiming, and/or the order you are asking the court to make

• briefly identify and outline the relevant facts of the case relevant to your argument

• summarise (i.e. do not write out in full!) each of your legal arguments or submissions

• contain full and accurate references and citations for any primary sources (i.e. legislation or case law) which you rely on in your legal arguments

• be concise and easy to read, using short sentences to provide a clear and unambiguous summary of each one of your arguments

• be set out in consecutive numbered paragraphs, under appropriate sub-headings

• be typed in Arial font, pitch size 12, and line spacing of 1.5