The UAlberta Faculty of Law would like to congratulate all of the students who took part in the Brimacombe Selecton Moot over the weekend. This year, sixty-three 2L and 3L students competed for the opportunity to represent the Faculty of Law in national and regional competitive moots. Over the course of two action-packed days, students took aim at the University of Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in R v Patel, a case which raises important questions regarding the constitutionality of police power at common law to search smart phones during an arrest and the mens rea requirement for the offence of arson under the Criminal Code.
UAlberta Faculty of Law's Professor Matthew Lewans and Professor Peter Sankoff were the judges for the Brimacombe Selection Moot. To put this year's competition into perspective, consider that a total of forty upper year students participated in the Brimacombe last year, which means there was a 50% increase in student participation this year.
Special thanks to Professor Stella Varvis and the team of 1L clerks (Mark Tookey, Harninderpal Dhillon, Curtis Auch, Eric Appellt, Allegra Hessels, Stefan Pahulje, Alex Lui, Neil Thomson, and Julia Chen) for helping to manage a successful competition.
The winner of this year's Brimacombe competition is Sam Alzaman (3L), and the runner-up, Sunny Mann (2L). Both students deserve high praise for their performance, especially considering the caliber of students competing this year.
Congratulations, and we look forward to seeing you all at the Dean's Cup competition in March 2016!