World’s First Twitter Moot Practiced by Canadian Law Students
It seems that no field is too established or stone set in customary procedure to avoid the widespread adoption of social media networks… and law is no exception. For the first time in the global legal community a Twitter Moot case will be argued using the 140-character submissions of the social media platform Twitter, making ‘legal briefs’ a more literal term. A moot court is a mock or simulated court hearing that is practiced by law students all over the world. Conducting the mock court hearing and making arguments in only 140 characters is entirely new; the Twitter Moot Court will make social media and legal history. Time will tell whether it will transcend to a court room or international law firm.
The Twitter Moot Court, commencing on the 21st February, is being hosted by West Coast Environmental Law, and will bring together a virtual legal community of students from all around Canada. Law students from UBC, Dalhousie, Ottawa, Victoria and York’s Osgoode Hall will participate in a competition where they must present their arguments using Twitter in a simulated appeal case of a real life court procession of West Moberly First Nations vs. British Columbia. Students expect that the Twitter Moot Court will be an immense challenge, as arguments will have to be concise to make a full impact. It is set to be a great test of legal skill. Teams from different schools will represent different parties involved in the appeal and will each be given ten minutes to argue their case via Twitter.
Besides the Twitter Moot Court in Canada, across the Atlantic in the UK Twitter is also making an appearance in legal circles. Britain’s Supreme Court is launching a Twitter account (http://twitter.com/UKSupremeCourt) in order to broadcast realtime news on its latest judgements and court proceedings. The Supreme Court wants the workings of the court to be accessible to the public and hope to engage a new audience who are not yet familiar with the legal world. The Supreme Court wishes to implement the Twitter account in time for the extradition appeal of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The launch of the Supreme Court Wiki account and the hosting of the Twitter Moot Court is only an introduction to social media in the legal sphere, and it is expected that the technology will further permeate the field of law in the future.