Students from 91亚色鈥檚 Osgoode Hall Law School will make their case in increments of 140 characters or less, in what鈥檚 billed as the world鈥檚 first Twitter moot court ().
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, five teams from law schools across Canada will argue a moot court case entirely on the popular social media platform. The event, hosted by West Coast Environmental Law, begins at 1pm EST; its hashtag is #twtmoot.
鈥淥ne hundred and forty聽characters is a great way to focus legal arguments and ideas,鈥 says Osgoode Dean Lorne Sossin, himself an avid tweeter (). 鈥淭his is a novel and timely initiative. Congratulations to West Coast Environmental Law for initiating the project and good luck to the mooters, especially Team Osgoode. We鈥檒l be following this groundbreaking moot with great interest,鈥 he says.
The public is invited to participate by following @twtmoot, watching the action on the Twitter Moot list () or on its (no account required), and posting with the #twtmoot hashtag 鈥 comments, discussion and heckling welcome!
Teams of two students from law schools at Dalhousie University, University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and 91亚色 will argue a mock appeal of a recent precedent-setting environmental case, West Moberly First Nations vs. British Columbia. The case raises issues related to the survival of an endangered caribou herd threatened by coal mining and ongoing industrial development.
Osgoode students Nikki Petersen and Emelia Baack will represent the West Moberly First Nations in the appeal; they will argue that the nation鈥檚 treaty right to hunt should extend to protecting a particular herd of caribou from coal mining impacts.
Petersen hopes the social media aspect will help connect people who are passionate about issues stemming from the case.
鈥淭witter is a great way to let many people share their views. I see the moot as a spark to get a discussion going about environmental law issues in Canada. The response to Team Osgoode has been very positive,鈥 she says.
The Twitter Moot will be presided over by a panel of three judges: William Deverell, Omar Ha-Redeye, and Kathleen Mahoney.
For more information about the Twitter Moot and how to participate, . Team Osgoode is sponsored by Saxe Law Office.
Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.