Pakistani Girls Team Makes History At Boston Moot

Between 6th and 8th February, Jannat Majid and Sidra Abdul Khaliq were busy being a part of the prestigious Boston Innovation International Moot 2026. While it was held virtually, that didn’t take away from how much time and energy Majid and Abdul Khaliq had spent not just prepping for the competition but were also spending within those three days themselves, in an effort to make a mark as the only Pakistanis competing. Their efforts paid off when the two girls made history by winning Best Memorandum Award for both Prosecution and Defence. Their written memorials received 92/100 marks each while Sidra Abdul Khaliq also achieved oral preliminary round scores of 89/100, placing the team among the highest-performing participants. 

Both Majid and Abdul Khaliq are law students at the Gujranwala Campus of the University of Punjab, and shared that this was their first time participating in an international legal competition of this scale, under the guidance of their coach Advocate Ahsan Ali Cheema. Abdul Khaliq also shared that the intensity of the competition was unlike any she had previously participated in.

“This was a very different experience from other international competitions. The formatting was very strict, and we had a 60 page moot problem to get through,” adding for context that in her last competition the moot problem had only been four pages long, which made this one seem very daunting. 

But she came out the other side with a far greater understanding of deep research skills and of knowing how to properly draft legal documents. Majid echoes her team mate’s thoughts about their experience. “In my opinion the strengths of mooting are that it improves research skills as it requires deep research into legal principles, develops skills for drafting well organised precise memorials, and enhances advocacy and public speaking. Which is why I think it is the best opportunity for law students before their practical life,” she says, adding that the experience didn’t come without its challenges. 

For her, the biggest one was communication, as they were speaking to other teams from across the world with so many different accents and communication styles. 

“It’s very challenging to talk to people who aren't from your country, there’s language barriers and other communication struggles , we are now able to carry out that kind of communication,” Majid tells Echoes. 

One of the other major challenges the two students faced was the complete lack of institutional support from their university. Both girls shared that they had no financial or even developmental support for their skills, despite societies for such activities existing on campus. Majid further added that the selection criteria for many such extracurriculars seems to be flawed as professors only cared about supporting students with a certain CGPA, and didn’t look at the additional skills needed to succeed at these kinds of events.

“Even if they have intelligent students representing them, they are not supporting them and that decreases a student’s confidence level because then they wonder if it even matters. We also felt that way but we didn’t give up,” she says, crediting their journey instead to their coach Ahsan Ali Cheema.

What they lacked from their institution, they received from their coach instead, who both students say went a long way in not just support for helping them work on the legal skills they needed but also in terms of building their confidence in the face of such a daunting competition. After all, Abdul Khaliq shares that she’s only been mooting for a year, pointing out her short experience as a way of encouraging other students, especially young women, to take the leap and participate in what might seem like challenging and often overwhelming opportunities.