The fourth edition of this mooting competition on language rights took place from March 18 to 20, 2022.
The Michel Bastarache Moot Court Competition, which brings together participants from various Canadian law schools, enables students to develop superior mooting skills in French while expanding their knowledge of language rights.
The moot is named after the Honourable Michel Bastarache, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and one of the greatest legal minds and champions of language rights.
At this year’s competition, teams from six law faculties squared off: the University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba, University of Ottawa, University of Montreal, and University of Moncton.
Here are the results:
Top two pairs
Prizes are awarded to the two best pairs, as chosen by the judges in the final matches.
1st place – University of Ottawa (for the appellant): Emmanuelle Champagne and Kieran Smith
2nd place – University of Saskatchewan (appellant): Isabelle MacLean and Nicole Tryhorn
Best mooters
Awarded to the four best mooters, ranked according to the marks assigned to their oral arguments.
1st place – Emmanuelle Champagne, University of Ottawa
2nd place – Breanna Haggarty, University of Calgary
3rd place – Isabelle MacLean, University of Saskatchewan
4th place – Tim Haggstrom, University of Saskatchewan
Pierre Foucher Prize
Awarded to the two teams who receive the highest combined grades for factums, based on the total grades received for the appellant’s and respondent’s respective factums for their school.
1st place – University of Ottawa: Emmanuelle Champagne, Nicholas Chase, Émilie Fleury, Kieran Smith
2nd place – Combined team from the universities of Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Moncton (respectively): Brenna Haggarty; Tim Haggstrom; Pascale Rioux and Laura Patricia Juarez Reyes
Michel Bastarache Prize
Awarded to the team that best exemplifies the spirit of fair play, dedication to French, and camaraderie among colleagues that the Michel Bastarache Moot Court Competition represents. The participants choose a winner from among their peers attending the other schools. This year, the team from Manitoba won this prestigious prize.
The winning team, from the University of Manitoba, are: Ashley Fouad (researcher), Sara Fretwell, Ramsay Hall, Catherine Litinsky, Kennedy Pinette
Congratulations to all the students for their hard work writing their factums and preparing their arguments in the months preceding the competition. Their arguments were excellent and their factums were meticulously prepared.
Thank you to the coaches and to the factum and argument judges who provided the students with valuable advice, both before and during the event. Thanks also to Vice-Dean Le Bouthillier for his support during the organization of the competition, and to the court clerks who ensured that all the rounds of oral arguments ran smoothly. In closing, we would also like to thank our sponsors, Juristes Power Law and Teresa Haykowsky.