The City Law School hosts the KPUM Moot Final 2026

On Friday 27 March, The City Law School was delighted to host the final of the KPUM Moot 2026.

KPUM, Shearn Delamore & Co. and The City Law School

KPUM (Kesatuan Penuntut Undang-Undang Malaysia di UK dan Ireland (KPUM), is the student society for all Malaysian law students in the UK and Ireland.

The KPUM Moot Final at The City Law School is the conclusion to the society’s annual moot competition, and has become a key part of KPUM’s calendar of events, including London-based law fairs, virtual open days in Kuala Lumpur and employability panel discussions alongside Malaysian law firms.

Last year, the School was proud to become the exclusive educational sponsor of KPUM in the UK, hosting the KPUM Moot final 2025.

Malaysian law firm, Shearn Delamore & Co. co-sponsors the KPUM Moot,  and each year it sends its partners to the UK to judge the Moot Final.

What is a moot?

A moot is a simulated court hearing, typically an appeal, where participants (counsel) analyse a legal problem, prepare written skeleton arguments, and present oral arguments before a judge or judges. It simulates a real court environment to test legal research, advocacy skills, and ability to handle judicial questions

The final

The event was introduced by Professor Mark O’Brien, Deputy Dean of The City Law School, who shared with all the students in attendance:

We hope you have a really positive and productive experience here, and enjoy it.  I’m sure you’ll find it taxing, but also incredibly rewarding, and I know you’re in the safest possible hands with our expert panel of judges. So that’s it from me, because it’s all about you.

The moot was judged by Anna Banfield, Programme Director of the Bar Vocational Studies (BVS) course at The City Law School, alongside Anand Raj and Sathya Kumardas, partners from  Shearn Delamore & Co.

After convening to make and then announcing their decision, the judges provided feedback to both teams on why they had pursued specific lines of questioning during the moot, which further added to the learning of all KPUM members in attendance.

Winners 2026

The winner of this year’s final was Team019, formed by KPUM undergraduate law students Ernn Heah and Ashley Ling Zi Yi, who closely beat out Team 09, formed by students Ling Yen Yi & Chong Jay Yi.

Awards Ceremony

The moot final was followed by an awards ceremony where the judges conferred a variety of awards to KPUM members.

The Bar Vocational Studies programme, The City Law School

Watch Anna Banfield talk about the Bar Vocational Studies (BVS) programme at The City Law School

Read Anna’s interview in March with The City Law School's Lawbore, for her tips to students on how to moot.

Reflecting on the KPUM Final Moot event, she said:

Helping to judge the KPUM mooting competition was a genuine privilege. The high calibre of the finalists was evident in the precision of their arguments, the confidence of their advocacy, and the intellectual curiosity they brought to their submissions. Each team demonstrated impressive preparation and professionalism, making the task of selecting a winner both challenging and deeply rewarding. The City Law School are delighted to work with KPUM to put on this event and give students the opportunity to develop their skills.

Anand Raj, partner at Shearn Delamore & Co. and moot judge said:

It was an absolute honour to once again be a judge at the Shearn x KPUM Moot final and wonderful to see so many students in attendance at the event.  Shearn Delamore & Co. are delighted to again be the main sponsor of the Moot Competition and the Law Career Convention (the next day) and would like to thank our partner KPUM as well as The City Law School for hosting the Moot Final; as always it was great working with you both!

Nichole Ong current President KPUM said:

The City Law School provides an incredible opportunity for us to do our Bar Vocational Studies here. Especially as so many of the Malaysian students in the UK tend to focus on doing the SQE and becoming a solicitor, we sometimes forget that there is the barrister path that the School reminds us that we can do. I’m really grateful to the School for always being a part of the KPUM, showcasing the many routes we can follow and that we should never be limited in our thinking.