AGS sponsored the 2016 Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot
For a number of years now, AGS has been the major sponsor of the Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot. This year it was held over 3 days in late September at Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne. The Moot is presented by the Australian Association of Constitutional Law, hosted by the Melbourne University Law Students Society and sponsored by AGS.
AGS's Office of General Counsel sent Damian Page with 3 staff from AGS Melbourne (Craig Rawson, Chris McDermott and Sahrah Hogan) to judge moots and hand out prizes. They heard representatives from 19 universities around Australia that had sent their brightest constitutional law mooters to address a problem written by Justice Stephen Gageler of the High Court of Australia. Teams compete in 4 round robin moots, arguing both sides of the problem. The top 2 teams – from the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne – competed in the Grand Final at the High Court in Melbourne with over 100 people watching.
The organisers thanked AGS for its support, 'We could not have had a more attentive, generous, dedicated and friendly sponsor firm.'
The photo (below) shows AGS's Damian Page presenting a copy of Sawer's The Australian Constitution to a member of the Melbourne University team.
Of the competition, Damian said,'I was impressed by the seriousness of the competition and the quality of the students attracted to the event. The fact that High Court judges are involved in setting the problem and judging the final shows how prestigious the event has become. A number of senior counsel from the bar and judges of the Federal Court were also involved in judging.'
The photo at foot shows (L–R) former Justices of the High Court, Ian Callinan AC QC, Susan Crennan AC QC and William Gummow AC with members of the winning team from the Australian National University: James Barrett (Paralegal, AGS), Will Randles (Paralegal, AGS) and Prashant Kelshiker (ANU) at the presentation of the Selway Cup outside the High Court in Melbourne.
