Students from Chancellor State College and Immanuel Lutheran College will go head to head in some rigorous legal debate on Monday 18 June at the first Sunshine Coast Schools Mooting Competition grand final.

The winner will be decided through a mock trial, presided over by a panel of local legal practitioners, in USC’s impressive moot court – a purpose-built facility with the look and feel of a real courtroom.

The school teams will oppose each other as prosecution and defence in a fictional criminal trial of a man accused of stealing a watch. Starting time is 4.30pm.

USC Lecturer in Law Dr Dominique Moritz said the finalists should be proud of their achievements and continued improvement over the course of the competition.

“This will be a confirmation of all the hard work they have put in to get to the final,” Dr Moritz said.

“It’s not just about making oral submissions. They have to present two pages of written legal argument and, when they make their oral submissions, they need to be prepared to be interrupted and to defend their positions.

“The students have used real case law and legal arguments and the standard has been very high – similar to what we see in some of the mooting contests involving our first-year students.”

The competition for Year 11 and 12 Legal Studies students from Gympie to Caboolture is a joint initiative of the University of the Sunshine Coast and Sunshine Coast Grammar School.

It has involved teams from Chancellor State College, Good Shepherd Lutheran College, Immanuel Lutheran College, Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Siena Catholic College, St Columban’s College, St Patrick’s College Gympie, St Teresa’s Catholic College, Suncoast Christian College, Sunshine Coast Grammar School and Unity College.

— Terry Walsh