The law school’s annual ceremonial moot goes virtual
This year, the Grand Moot took place virtually over Zoom and live streamed on Youtube on January 28. The moot was initially slated to take place in the 2020 Fall semester, but was delayed to the 2021 Winter semester to accommodate logistical difficulties in planning the event.
The panel of judges featured U of T alumni Justice Sheilah Martin (SJD 91) of the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Lorne Sossin (PhD 93) of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and Justice Edward Morgan (LLB 84) of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Teodora Pasca (3L JD/MA Criminology) and Olivia Eng (3L) represented the appellant and Geri Angelova (3L) and Hana Awwad (3L) represented the respondent.
This year, the problem centered around the constitutionality of a hypothetical mandatory vaccination program under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Pasca and Eng challenged the constitutionality of this program, for the appellant, Lucas Yuno, while Angelova and Awwad defended the constitutionality of the program on behalf of the government. The YouTube live stream attracted 683 unique views and the Zoom Webinar attracted 152 attendants. Student Co-Chief Justices Saambavi Mano (3L) and Alina Yu (3L) who were in charge of organizing the event, were pleased with how it turned out.
