Faculty judges Bar National Mock Trial Competition a success

Scotland hosted the final for the third time in the competition’s 24 years, and some 340 school students from throughout the UK gathered in Parliament House, Edinburgh, to battle for the crown.

Eighteen schools had come through regional qualifying heats to make it to the final, and they enjoyed a day to remember.

The teams, which act out criminal trials under guidance from volunteer legal professionals, were judged by a panel of luminaries including Lord Justice Leveson, Lord Justice Davis, Lady Rae, James Wolffe, QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, and three senior members of Faculty, Herbert Kerrigan, QC, Brian McConnachie, QC, and Murdo Macleod QC as well as Mark Mulholland, QC, from the Bar Council of Northern Ireland andAndrew O’Byrne, QC, Leader of the Northern Circuit of the Bar of England and Wales, and Sheriffs Ian Miller, Brian Mohan and Scott Pattison.

In the end, it came down to Wirral Grammar School for Girls and The Steiner Academy, Hereford.

All three jurisdictions were represented on the judging panel for the grand final - Lord Justice Leveson, Lady Rae and Mark Mulholland QC, - and in a close-fought contest they chose Wirral Grammar School for Girls.

By general consensus, however, the event and all who took part were declared the real winners.