The Bar Cup is the UK’s first student-led nationwide criminal advocacy competition, bringing together a diverse range of university students, from Russell Group, non-Russell Group and Scottish Universities.

Most existing advocacy competitions are sponsored by chambers and open to participants at all stages of their bar careers, often making it less accessible for students at the start of their journey to the Bar. In response to this, Warwick Bar Society proposed the idea of the Bar Cup in order to bridge this gap and make the competition exclusively for university students.

Ana Patni, Warwick Bar Society President commented: “The Warwick Bar Society has been running an internal criminal advocacy competition for several years, but I felt it was time a national-level competition was needed to bring to light the student advocacy skills and increase authenticity when applying for legal opportunities. Driving months of preparation for this competition, we were delighted and pleasantly surprised by the large-scale traction. It has also inspired us to continue our efforts in promoting diversity and inclusivity at the Bar from the ground up.”

This year marks the launch of the first competition of its kind in the UK. It consists of three rounds, each to stimulate the different stages of a criminal case:

1. Bail Application

2. Witness handling

3. Mock trial

The same fictional case - R v Wayne – will be used for the entirety of the competition as this will help accurately outline the route to trial for a barrister.

The preliminary round on Saturday 22 February saw 14 universities competing, judged by Warwick alumni including James Smith, Taufique Ahmad, Edwin Chan, Georgia Ezzard, and Bethany Hinkin. The competition was extremely competitive, and all the candidates demonstrated exceptional advocacy skills and calibre.

The top four universities have progressed to the semi-finals, which will take place on Saturday 1 March, judged by barristers from No5 Chambers. And Warwick is one of them, alongside the University of Cambridge, University of York and Durham University.

Students have been recruited to play witness for both the semi-finals and for the final (the mock trials), and they are currently being recruited for the jury, to replicate a full courtroom experience.

The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final on the same day, where they will compete for a 100 pounds cash plus a mini pupillage with No 5 Chambers.

Congratulations to Warwick Bar Society and all their hard work helping students to build advocacy skills and creating inclusivity with peers across the university sector.

Good luck to all the teams taking part on Saturday and to those who reach the final.