Moot is the old English term for a public meeting. Today, members of the Boy Scouts’ movement sometimes use the term moot for an international gathering. Law students use the term to mean an imaginary court case, in which the students argue against one another on behalf of their imaginary clients. The “judge”, who is generally a law tutor or practicing lawyer, gives a judgment in which he or she comments on the legal points raised by the students. In common speech, a moot point means a point that has no practical significance.
In Saxon times, a folkmoot was an important public meeting held either in the open or in a moot hall. Gradually the folkmoots became organized on a shire basis as courts of law. The shire-moots, as they were called, were presided over by sheriffs, the king’s representatives.
