This July, the Middle Temple debating team were victorious in the annual Inter-Inn Debating Tournament. After defeating Inner Temple in the semi-final, student members Freyja McLoughlin, Jamie Lagerberg, Hannah Ritchie, and Hannah Tickle triumphed in an exciting finale against Gray’s Inn to win the competition for Middle Temple.
Hosted this year in the elegant Bench rooms of Lincoln’s Inn, the tournament showcased some of the best speaking and advocacy talent from across all four Inns. Rather than the more familiar and decorous style of mooting however, on this occasion, the British Parliamentary debating format was on display with its more emotive style, direct questions from the opposing speakers and other features familiar to keen watchers of either of the Houses of Parliament.
The semi-final took place on Wednesday 13 July 2022, with the motion and sides of the debate for each team being released 24 hours prior to give the speakers a single day to research and prepare. The motions had been selected by the judges, from topics suggested before the competition, designed to be relevant to current dilemmas facing the legal profession. So, in the semi-final, Middle Temple found itself proposing that sentencing should be handled by juries; something of an intimidating suggestion to make in the presence of Judge Easterman from Lincoln’s Inn and Cheryl Jones from Gray’s Inn.
Nonetheless, the team made an impassioned case that jury sentencing did offer some significant advantages over judges, largely focused on the benefits of a larger and more diverse group deciding on appropriate sentences, and how merging the tribunals of fact and law would provide for greater accuracy. An absence due to Covid-19 in this round meant the team was reduced to three members, however Freyja Mcloughlin stepped up and gave not only the opening speech of the competition; eloquently setting out the problems with diversity on the Bench that the legal profession continues to deal with, but also returning to give the closing speech for Middle Temple, explaining how jury sentencing could solve this. This round was also a baptism of fire for Hannah Ritchie who was debating for her very first time, but you certainly wouldn’t have been able to tell from her clear and persuasive arguments surrounding how sentencing guidelines and magistrates’ courts could provide a guide for jury sentencing. Although the round was close and Inner Temple did themselves proud, Middle’s innovative arguments and compelling delivery gave them the victory (at least Inner had their Grand Day immediately after as consolation).
This put the team through to the final against Gray’s Inn the following week, to be judged by esteemed judges Easterman and Frances, with Middle being assigned the proposition role on the topic that ‘This House would ban barristers from accepting instructions in Hong Kong’. Although this subject was unfamiliar to the team, it was a great opportunity to learn about an urgent issue the Bar is now facing in the light of recent controversy over the participation of some British barristers and judges in cases there. In the 24 hours preparation time before the debate, the team put itself through a crash course on some of the political and legal history of the region. By the evening of Wednesday 20 July 2022, they were read up, back to a full complement of four team members and were ready to go.
The debate stretched across a full gauntlet of ethical issues that barristers can face when deciding to take on clients. At first there were clashes over whether the spirit of the cab rank rule should be followed abroad, especially considering the UK’s history of refusal to allow barristers to represent defendants at the Nuremberg trials. It then moved onto whether foreign policy or individual discretion and business concerns should take priority in where barristers should be able to provide services, not just in criminal cases but also commercially.
Once again both teams acquitted themselves well and could both deservedly celebrate their performances at the reception afterwards, but in the end, Middle took the round and indeed the tournament. The whereabouts of the shield for the tournament was unfortunately forgotten during the pandemic, however if it is not found this may mean that Middle will get to be the first host of a brand-new piece of silverware. More importantly, this success proves there is a wealth of debating talent at Middle Temple, and hopefully this will help support the development of further debates and speaking activity at the Inn.
