History and Background
In 2014, the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) and the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN) partnered to improve the provincial mock trial program.
The OBA has run a high school mock trial program in Ontario since the early 1980s.
Since its founding in 2002, OJEN has supported the growth of local mock trial programs with administrative and development support, as well as with financial support through the OJEN/LFO (Law Foundation of Ontario) Mock Trial Fund since 2008.
The primary aims and activities of the OBA/OJEN Competitive Mock Trials (OOCMT) are to:
- Support new and existing mock trial tournaments with resources, advice and organizational assistance
- Produce the annual tournament case and revise the provincial tournament guide and rules as needed
- Produce resources to help students and teachers to prepare for tournaments
- Coordinate upper-tier championships across the province
- Expand mock trial programs to under-served areas of the province
OOCMT isn’t one single mock trial tournament, but a network of tournaments across the province that follow the same basic format and use the OOCMT rules and the official case which is released each year.
Schools that wish to enter a team in OOCMT can register on this site for the tournament in their local area.
The 2017-18 school year saw 175 secondary schools and about 1600 students in the province participate in OOCMT-related tournaments.