The competition was run by Te Hunga Roia Maori o Aotearoa, the Maori Law Society, via video-conference because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The event was originally to have been held, in person, at the University of Waikato.
During the mooting event, run last weekend as part of the society’s annual conference, students from throughout the country covered a wide range of legal issues relevant to Maori in legal submissions in front of sitting judges.
Mr Kohu-Morris (23), of Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Awa and Ngati Ranginui ancestry, had to make a hypothetical submission on the Minister of Health’s decision to issue an Alert Level 2 order, which restricted tangihanga (Maori funerals) to just 50 people.
Presenting the argument in front of Justice Whata, Judge Stephen Clark and Judge Tini Clark via Zoom and Facebook presented challenges, but the experience was exhilarating, he said.
Next year he will work as a judge’s clerk at the Court of Appeal in Wellington.
