GUIDELINES

Alliance University’s Justice N. Santosh Hegde

National Moot Court Competition 2021

Important Terms

1. Organizers: The Alliance University’s-Justice N. Santosh Hegde, National Moot

Court Competition, 2021 shall be organized by Alliance Moot Court Committee,
which is part of Alliance School of Law, Alliance University.
2. Faculty Members: Faculty members refer to the faculty of the School of Law who
has been attached to the event in any capacity.
3. Student Members: Student members refer to the students at the School of Law
who have been attached to the event in any capacity.
4. Rules and Regulations: The Rules and Regulations refer to the guidelines which
have been made by AMCC for successfully conducting the event.
5. Memorial: Memorial refers to the argument which shall be submitted by the
participating teams.
6. Members: Members refer to the Members of the Organizing Committee of the
event.
7. Judge: Judge refers to any person who has been appointed for the evaluation of the
team members’ performance.
8. Mooter: Mooter means a participant who has registered herself/himself for the
competition as per the rules of registration.
9. Penalties: Penalties refer to the marks which shall be deducted in case of violations
of the rules and regulations of the event.
10. Rebuttal: Rebuttal refers to the response given by the petitioner to the respondent’s
arguments, where no attempts can be made to introduce new arguments.

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About the Competition

1. Event: The event shall be called “Alliance University’s- Justice N. Santosh

Hegde, National Moot Court Competition, 2021”.
2. Organizers: The event is being conducted by Alliance School of Law, Alliance
University, Bangalore.
3. Dates: The event shall be conducted on two days, 29th and 30th October 2021.
4. AMCC: Alliance Moot Court Committee shall be having the responsible for all the
matters related to the competition. They shall be dealing with queries of the
participants, releasing the schedule of the event, and other essential matters.
5. Language: The Language of the Competition shall be in English.
6. Interpretation: The organizers of the event will have the final authority to interpret
the rules.
7. Eligibility:
a. Students of any year from Five year or Three-year courses or LLM Courses
from any college or university shall be eligible to participate in the event.
b. Only one team can register and represent one university/college, the
participants must have a permission letter from their respective
college/university.
8. Team Composition: Each team shall constitute a minimum of three members. In
a team comprising of three members, two as a speaker and one member shall be
designated as a researcher. In an exceptional scenario, the team may comprise of two
members and one of the speakers might also be designated as a researcher.
9. Researcher: A researcher shall be allowed to argue only with the permission of the
court.
10. Dress Code: The Dress Code shall be formals. Black Trousers, White Shirt along
with Tie and Blazer, shall be the norm for the teams participating in the event. The
female participants have the option to wear White Salwar Kameez and Black Blazer
or Black Skirt with Shirt and Blazer.

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Registration

1. Dates: Interested teams must register themselves for the competition by 20th
October 2021 by registering on the link provided. The fees shall also be paid on the
same. In case of incomplete registrations, the candidate of the team shall be rejected
automatically.
2. Fees: The registration fees shall be Rs. 1500 which shall be paid at the time of the
registration. Alliance University students are exempted from the registration fee.
3. Non-Refundable: The Registration fees shall be non-refundable
4. Link: The link for registration will be open till 23.59 hrs on 20th October 2021

Allotment of Team Codes

1. Team Codes: All the teams shall be allotted a team once the date of registration is
over.
2. Responsibility: No one including teams shall be disclosing the identity of the team,
the teams shall be addressed by team code only throughout the competition.
3. Identity: The memorials or any materials (compendium, etc.) to be submitted shall
not contain any sign, logo, name, etc. revealing the identity of the college/
institution/ university/ team members.
4. Violation: Any violation with regards to anonymity shall be penalized under the
rules.
5. Final Decision: Final decision in this regard will be in the hand of AMCC, Alliance
School of Law.

Query

1. General Query: In case of any query regarding the competition, the teams can
mail on mootcourt@law.alliance.edu.in
2. Moot Problem Query: In case of any query regarding the competition, the teams
can mail on mootcourt@law.alliance.edu.in

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Memorials

1. Each team participating in the competition must prepare one memorial on behalf
of the petitioner and one on behalf of the respondent.
2. Each team must send a soft copy (in MS Word .doc/.docx & pdf format) of their
memorials for evaluation by October 25, 2021, with the subject “Submission
AUJSHNMCC 2021 for Team Code to “mootcourt@law.alliance.edu.in”
3. Memorials submitted beyond the deadline shall not be evaluated.
4. Any change in the team composition shall not be entertained once the memorial
has been submitted.
5. The file names of the electronic copies of the memorials must contain only the team
code and the side being represented in the following format:
a. e.g. (for Team Code 001) 001P or 001R, ‘P’ being for ‘Petitioner’ memorial
and ‘R’ for ‘Respondent’ memorial, and so forth.

Format of the Memorial

1. The Soft Copy must be submitted by the teams in both word and pdf format.
2. The Memorial shall be made only on A4 size paper with equal margin.
3. The font style and size of the text of all parts of the memorial, excluding the cover
page and page numbers, must be in Times New Roman 12-point. The footnotes
shall be in Times New Roman 10.
4. Memorial Content: The Memorial should contain the following sections:
a. Cover Page for Petitioner and Respondent should be colored differently as
Blue Cover – Petitioner and Red Cover – Respondent.
b. Table of Contents
c. Index of Authorities
d. Statement of Jurisdiction
e. Statement of Facts
f. Statement of Issues
g. Arguments Advanced

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 h. Prayer
i. Each memorial shall have the following on its cover page:
i. The team code on the upper right-hand corner of the cover page
ii. The name and place of the forum
iii. The relevant legal provision under which it is filed
iv. Name of parties and their status
v. Memorial Filed on Behalf of _________
5. Other Important Rules: Teams shall cite authorities in the memorial using
footnotes following the Harvard Bluebook 20th Edition. Explanatory or illustrative
footnotes are not allowed.
6. Font: Times New Roman
7. Font Size: 12
8. Line Spacing: 1.5
9. Margins: 1 inch on each side.
10. The citation should comply with the 20th edition of Harvard Bluebook.
11. Plagiarism shall not exceed more than 25% of the overall content of the memorial.

Memorial Evaluation
1. The memorials of each team shall be evaluated by a panel of three Judges.
2. The maximum score for each memorial shall be 100 marks. The memorials shall be
evaluated on the following criteria:
a. Identification of Issues – 25 points maximum
i. Did they identify the key legal issues to support their position?
ii. Did they provide counterarguments for issues contrary to their position?
b. Statement of Facts – 15 points maximum
i. Did the Statement of Facts accurately and persuasively present the record
while dealing candidly with the unfavorable facts?
ii. Were the facts organized logically (i.e., chronological or other rational,
thoughtful sequence)?

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 c. Legal Analysis (Argument) – 40 points maximum
iii. Were the arguments well-organized and persuasive?
iv. Were the issues addressed thoroughly and logically?
v. Were the authorities for advocates’ position explained and used to their
full advantage?
vi. Were the authorities for opponents’ positions distinguished or explained?
vii. Were the opponents’ arguments anticipated and/or refuted?
viii. Did they use and interpret all authorities correctly?
d. Request for Relief – 5 points maximum
ii. Is there a specific request for relief?
iii. Does the request for relief effectively summarize their arguments?
e. Style and Presentation – 5 points maximum
i. Was the writing style precise and well-organized?
ii. Were the spelling, punctuation, and word-choice correct?
iii. Did the writing flow and was it easy to read?
f. Overall – 10 points maximum
How would you rate this Memorial overall?
i. Excellent (10 points)
ii. Very Good (8 points)
iii. Good (6 points)
iv. Fair (4 points)
v. Poor (2 points)

Oral Rounds

1. The Moot Court Competition shall comprise of the following four rounds:
a. One Preliminary Round -Day 1.
b. Quarter-final Round - Day 1.
c. Semi-Final Round - Day 2.
d. Final Round - Day 2.

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 2. Each team will have to argue from either of the sides in the Preliminary Round.
This order will be decided by the draw of lots at the time of orientation on 28th
October 2021.
3. The teams who will score the highest aggregate marks in the Preliminary Round will
be eligible for qualification in the Quarter-final Round which shall consist of 8
teams. In case of a tie in the above procedure, the marks scored for the memorials
shall be the deciding factor. In case of any doubt, the decision of the organizers will
be final.
4. The Sides for the Quarter-Final round will be decided by the draw of lots
immediately after the results of the Preliminary Rounds. Quarter-Finals will be
decided on a knockout basis.
5. The Qualifying teams shall then argue the case in the Semi-Final Round on 30th
October 2021. Semi-Finals will be decided on a knockout basis.
6. The Qualifying teams shall then argue the case in the final round on 30th October
2021.

Oral Submissions

1. Each team should have two speakers who shall divide the oral submissions between
them. Rebuttals are permitted. Sur- rebuttals are at the discretion of the judges.
2. For the preliminary round, each team shall have a maximum of 15 minutes to
present their oral submissions. In the quarter-final round, each team shall have a
maximum of 25 minutes to present their oral submissions. For the Semi-final round,
a maximum time of 30 minutes shall be given to each team. For the final round, a
maximum time of 45 minutes shall be given to each team. However, granting more
time will be at the discretion of the Judges and no complaints/appeals regarding the
same will be entertained. The division of time between the two mooters shall be at
their discretion. The aforesaid time would include the time that each team may want
to reserve for their rebuttals.

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 3. No speaker shall be permitted to address the court for more than 10 minutes in the
preliminary round, for more than 15 minutes in the Quarter-final round as well as
the semi-final round, and more than 25 minutes in the final rounds.
4. At the commencement of each session of the oral submissions, each team shall
notify the time of speaker 1 and speaker 2 to the court clerks.

Marking Criteria

The following shall be the marking criteria and the marks allotted per Mooter.

a. Each mooter shall be marked out of 100. The preliminary rounds shall be before a
two Judges bench. Thus, the total team marks, per Judge, will be out of 200. and
the eight top-scoring teams shall move forward to the quarter- final round.
b. In the quarter-final, semi-final, and final rounds, whichever team secures more
marks as against its opponent, shall be considered as having won the round. The
decision of the Judges shall be final and binding. To ensure uniformity in the
marking system all the Judges shall be provided with marking guidelines.

Sr. No Marking Criteria Marks

1 Perusal of facts 20
2 Knowledge and application of law 20
3 Response to the Court questions 20
4 Advocacy skills and presentations 20
5 Case laws 20
Total 100

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Researcher’s Test:

1. The Researcher’s Test shall be of 30 minutes and objective in nature and shall be
general.
2. The Researcher of every participating team shall attempt this test.

Penalties

Rule Summary Penalties

1. Tardiness in submitting 5 points for the first day, 3 points per day
Memorial thereafter.
If both Memorials have not been submitted
by the Disqualification Deadline, the Team
will be withdrawn from the Competition.
2. Resubmission of Memorial after 2 points
the deadline
3. Failure to include all parts of 2 points for each part
Memorial, or inclusion of an un-
enumerated part
4. Failure to include necessary and 2 points (one-time penalty)
correct information on
Memorial Cover Page
5. Excessive length: Pleadings 1-100 words over 3 points
101-200 words over 6 points
201-300 words over 9 points
301-400 words over 12 points
401+ words over 15 points
6. Excessive length: Summary of 2 points (one-time penalty)
Pleadings
7. Excessive length: Statement of 2 points(one-time penalty)
Facts
8. Improper citation of authority 1 point per instance, up to a maximum of 5
points per Memorial.
9. Violation of anonymity in Up to 10 points (one-time penalty), or
Memorial disqualification
10. Plagiarism 1 to 50 points, or disqualification

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Plagiarism
Teams shall not commit plagiarism. “Plagiarism” means appropriating the literary
composition of another, or parts or passages of another’s writings, or the ideas or language
of another, and passing them off as the product of one’s mind. After investigation and
review, in a verified case of plagiarism, the organizers may (1) disqualify the Team, (2)
assess a Penalty between one and 50 points to each offending Memorial.

Moot Penalties
The Administrator shall impose a Moot Penalty, if necessary, after consultation with the
judges, bailiff, Teams, and/or observers.

Deduction of Penalties by Judges Prohibited

Penalty points may be deducted only by the Administrator. Judges may not deduct any
Penalty points from the scores of the oralists. Judges shall score the Moot as if no violation
occurred, and may take an infraction into account only if so instructed by the
Administrator.

Activity Subject to Moot Penalties

Penalties may be assessed for violations during a Moot by reference to the following table.
The Administrator shall deduct the Penalty amount from each judge’s combined score (the
sum of the judge’s score for oralist 1 and oralist 2) before determining the Oral Round
Points.

Rule Summary Penalty

1. Improper Courtroom Communications Up to 10 points
2. Scouting Forfeiture of one preliminary Match if
indirect; forfeiture of all Oral Round Points
if direct scouting, to be deducted in the
Match against the Team that was scouted.
3. Violation of anonymity in the courtroom Up to 15 points, or disqualification.

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