High School students from across the territory will be adversarial this week, but in a most civically minded manner, making legal arguments for the 16th Annual V.I. High School Appellate Moot Court Competition.
Seven schools will go head to head Thursday and Friday at the R.H. Amphlett Leader Justice Complex, Superior Court on St. Croix. This year the students have been presented with a challenging hypothetical case involving property ownership of a parcel of land located on St. John.
A major part of the appeal will be to adjudicate a claim of adverse possession by one of the litigants.
The competition, which is held in conjunction with Law Week, provides an opportunity for high school seniors in our territory to analyze and present oral arguments on relevant legal issues with the assistance of local attorney coaches.
During the first day of the competition, each high school team will present oral arguments before a three-judge panel. On the second day, the four top-rated teams will compete for the first-place prize of a scholarship towards a university of their choice.
The V.I. Superior Court and V.I. Bar Association are sponsoring the moot court competition.
Participating schools include: Central High School, Educational Complex, and St. Croix Seventh-Day Adventist School, all on St. Croix; and Charlotte Amalie and Ivanna Eudora Kean high schools, Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School and St. Thomas-St. John Seventh-Day Adventist School, on St. Thomas.
The competition is free of charge and open to the public. It will also be videotaped for rebroadcast on the government access channel.
