Background

The UC Moot Court was first opened in 1996. At the time, it was one of the first moot courts to incorporate modern technology in its design. Back then, Australian courtrooms were only beginning to install facilities such as video conferencing, electronic document display, audio visual recording and Internet access.

The Moot Court played a pioneering role in research in the field of court technology; for example:

• it has been the site of several empirical research projects on the use of videoconferencing;
• it has provided an excellent and realistic courtroom environment for several generations of law students participating in mooting and advocacy training; and
• it has even served as a real courtroom; the ACT Court of Appeal sat there in 2003 to hear its first electronic appeal.

The Moot Court still fulfils these roles, while also functioning as a teaching space, as well as providing facilities for a range of external clients who use it for witness training, video conferencing, and as a meeting place.