The pioneer organisation in mooting in Bangladesh, the Dhaka University Moot Court Society (DUMCS), organised its signature annual event, the 8^th Inter Year Moot Court Competition from September 14-18, 2018. Students from the undergraduate level of the Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka participated in the competition.

The competition shed light upon contemporary legal issues of our country, such as the quota reservation system in public employment, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of assembly and right to protest, instances of gross violations of human rights in developing nations by acts of the State and its forces, the constitutionality of special penal laws etc. Through their articulate rhetoric as well as constructive arguments and counter-arguments, the participants sought to find solutions via legal means to these pressing issues.

The winning teams from the semifinals battled it out in the grand finale on September 18. After an intense battle in the courtroom, the team of Sarasin Azim Atoshi, Rifat Zabeen Khan and Ali Mashraf emerged as the champion of the competition whereas the team consisting of Tahseen Lubaba, Bushra Haque and Jalal Uddin Ahmed were the runner-up.

Shahrima Tanjin Arni, Rifat Zabeen Khan and Sal Sabil Chowdhury won the awards of the best mooters of the competition while Biva Mosharraf, Ahmed Rageeb Chowdhury and Jalal Uddin Ahmed were adjudged as the best researchers. Maruf Hasan Tomal, Mosaddika Akter and Helal Morshed Omiyo from the freshman year won the award of best intern researchers. Mamun Sarkar and Noman Hossain received the ‘Spirit of the Moot’ award.

Moreover, the team of Sal Sabil Chowdhury, Sadman Rizwan Apurbo and Ahmed Rageeb Chowdhury and the team of Meherba Sabrin, Tanzim Mohammed and Azhar Uddin Bhuiyan won the ‘Best Memorial’ award. Prior to that, the champion and runner-up teams of the Intra Year Moot Court Competition, the qualifying round for the sophomore students of the Faculty were also awarded at the closing ceremony of the competition. Sal Sabil Chowdhury, Sadman Rizwan Apurbo and Ahmed Rageeb Chowdhury clinched the championship while Muzahidul Islam, Nusrat Jahan and Rubaiyat Hasan Shawon were the runner-ups of the competition.

Professor Dr. Md. Rahmat Ullah, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka and President, DUMCS, along with Mr. Shahriar Kabir, Additional District Judge and Deputy Secretary, Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission, Mr. A S M Sayem Ali Pathan, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Professor Dr. Mohammad Nazmuzzaman Bhuian, Moderator, DUMCS were present as the distinguished guests at the prize-giving ceremony. The honorable guests urged the mooters to continue mooting in order to hone their legal research and advocacy skills and uphold the legacy of DUMCS in future mooting competitions at home and abroad.

Ali Mashraf is a student of law at University of Dhaka.