Purcellville, VA—A moot court team from Patrick Henry College won a weekend exhibition against England's University of Oxford in PHC's first international moot court competition. Two teams from Patrick Henry competed against two undergraduate teams from Balliol College, one of the thirty-nine colleges that make up Oxford University, and official hosts of the tournament. Matt du Mee and Rayel Papke from Patrick Henry were declared the winners based on several criteria including presentation, courtroom demeanor, and argumentation. David J. Shaw and Kyle Pousson also competed for PHC.
The final rounds of the tournament were judged by Lord Bingham of Cornhill and Lord Hutton, both alumni of Balliol College. Lord Bingham currently holds the title of Senior Law Lord, while Lord Hutton serves as a Lord of Appeal. The cases argued were run according to the British legal system using British contract law, which the Patrick Henry teams had to learn prior to their trip. Differences ranged from referring to judges as "my Lord" instead of "your Honor" to the complexity of using a precedent-based legal system. During their visit, the Patrick Henry students attended a formal dinner hosted by the Younger Society, an organization of all past and present Balliol lawyers.
The Oxford teams will visit the United States next spring to compete with Patrick Henry using American law.
Founded in 2000, Patrick Henry College is a classical Christian liberal arts college dedicated to training men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture with timeless biblical values and fidelity to the spirit of the American founding. A PHC education combines rigorous academics, a biblical worldview, a classical liberal arts core curriculum, and apprenticeship methodologies to produce graduates who are uniquely qualified to serve God and mankind.
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