Witness Examination Competition 2026

Times:

1. Registrations Close: Fri 20 March

2. Preliminary Rounds: 30 March -1 April (5:30pm-8:30pm)

3. Semi Finals: 27 April (5:30pm-7:30pm)

4. Grand Final: 23 July (5:30pm - 10:00pm)

Location:

1. Preliminary Rounds: Roger N Douglas Moot Court, La Trobe University Bundoora Campus

2. Semi Finals: Roger N Douglas Moot Court, La Trobe University Bunndoora Campus

3. Grand Final: Federal Court of Australia, Commonwealth Law Courts, 305 William Street Melbourne
   

Event Description:

OBJECTION YOUR HONOUR. The Witness Examination Competition is a crowd favourite and it returns this year to provide mooters with the opportunity to get creative. You will be given carriage of a Witness from start-finish, reading first about their background and the evidence they will provide to a criminal charge. Then, you will be given the opportunity to brief your witness for both your examination, and the cross-examination. Then, you head into Court for a full mini-trial, from opening statements to closing statements, with an examination and cross-examination of each witness in between. This year, Grand Final teams will be assigned a coach. They will be an experienced and successful mooter from La Trobe University, usually a former International Competitor.

This competition is an individual competition, and is not conducted in a team. It is expected that you will be available to compete at any time throughout the competition that you may be assigned. If you have a legitimate reason why you are unable to compete on a particular night, you must privately notify the Director of Competitions. The Director of Competitions will determine whether your reason is legitimate, and if it is deemed so, will make alternate arrangements.