THE DRAFT WORKING MANUAL OF MOOT COURT SOCIETY

Law Centre-1

I. PRELIMINARY

1. There shall be a Moot Court Society of the Law Centre-I, shortly hereinafter mentioned as
MCS, to regulate affairs of Mooting activities.
2. This Manual may be called the Working Manual of The Moot Court Society’ of Law Centre-
I, shortly hereinafter mentioned as Manual.
3. The MCS will work according to the rules framed under this Manual.

II.OBJECTIVES

4. The MCS will work with following objectives:

(i) To train the students of Law Centre 1 in drafting, researching, mooting and gaining
advocacy skills,
(ii) To facilitate the students of Law Centre 1 to participate in Moot Competitions hosted by
Institutions imparting Legal Education at national and international level,
(iii) To organise various moot competitions like induction, intra and inter batches, national
and international mooting competition,
(iv) To train the students in the organisation and management of the MCS and to train them
in conducting internals and in hosting regional and national competitions; and
(v) To inculcate the values of co-operative working, peers learning and fair competition.

III. FUNCTIONS

5. The main functions of MCS are as follows:

(i) To conduct the orientation program for the first-year students of Law Centre 1
(ii) To induct students as Members in the MCS for its smooth functioning.
(iii) To conduct the election for the student office bearers
(iv) To host regional, national and International moot competitions.
(v) To facilitate notification of various moot competitions hosted by other institutions of
legal education, regional, national and international
(vi) To conduct internal selection of team for participating external moot competitions
(vii) To facilitate technical and monetary support for participating moot competitions as per
University rules and
(viii) Any other activity connected to the MCS

IV. COMPOSITION OF THE MOOT COURT SOCIETY

6. The MCS shall consist of the following members:

(i) Professor –in-charge, Law Centre 1 as ex-officio member
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 (ii) Teacher convener
(iii)Teacher co-convener
(iv) Teacher members
(v) Student office bearers
(vi) Students Members of MCS

Note: All the students of Law Centre 1 are participant of MCS activities with equal opportunity
to participate in moot competitions hosted by other institutions and the Law Centre 1.

V. NUMBER AND TENURE OF MEMBERS

7. The MCS will be constituted for every Academic Year consisting of Teacher members and
Student Members.
8. The number and name of teacher members is decided by the Professor-in-charge at the
beginning of every academic year.
9. The MCS will have twenty-one Student Members with equal representation from first,
second and third years.
10. The Term of Students Members will be for one Academic Year and there will be
Constitution of new MCS every year in the Month of September-October.
11. The new Members will be inducted according to the MCS Induction Rules as prescribed in
Chapter VII from Rule No. 20 to Rule No. 27 of this Manual.
12. The Student Members will elect the office bearers among themselves through secret voting.
13. (1) The MCS has following students’ offices:
(i) Convener
(ii) Co-Convener
(iii) Secretary
(iv) Joint Secretary and
(v) Treasurer

(2) Students holding the post of above offices will be called as Office Bearers.

VI. ELIGIBILITY FOR OFFICE BEARERS

14. Any student member pursuing second year/third year can contest for the position of
Convener and Co-convener.
15. Any student Council member pursuing second year can contest for the position of secretary.
16. Any student Council member pursuing first year can contest for the position of joint
secretary and treasurer.
Note: An member who is holding a position as a officer bearer in DUSU or Students Union
of Law Centre 1or any other Committee of Law Centre 1 as prescribed by the said
Committee shall not be eligible to contest for the position of office bearer in MCS.

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VII. APPOINTMENT AND TENURE CONDITIONS OF THE TEACHER CONVENER,
CO-CONVENER AND TEACHER MEMBERS

17. The Teacher Convener, co-convener and the teacher members are nominated by the
Professor in Charge of Law Centre-1 at the beginning of every academic year.
18. The teacher Convener/teacher co-convener/teacher members on reasonable ground, is at
liberty to resign from the convener/co-convener-ship, by giving due notice to the Professor-
in-charge of Law Centre-1 and till it is accepted by the Professor-in-charge, he/she will
continue to hold the position as teacher Convener/co-convener.
19. Any teacher member, on reasonable ground, is at liberty to withdraw from the Moot Court
Society by giving due notice to the Professor-in-Charge and the Teacher Convener and till
it is accepted by the Professor-in-charge, he/she will continue to hold the position as teacher
member.

VIII. INDUCTION PROCEDURE OF STUDENT MEMBERS

20. First year members will be inducted through induction programme based on mooting competing
including Criteria I and II i.e. memorial and oral rounds respectively as mentioned in Rule
21.The Second and third year students will be inducted on the basis of Criteria I, II, III and IV
i.e induction memorials, researcher test, past mooting achievements and past experience of MCS
respectively. The selection process will be merit based out of one hundred marks. Merit list will
be prepared separately for each batch.
21. The marking pattern of the induction process will be as follows:

MARKS DISTRIBUTION (100 Marks)

Criterion I Criterion II Criterion III Criterion IV
First Year 40 Marks 60 Marks XXX XXX
Memorial Oral Round
Second and 50 Marks for 20 Marks 20 Marks 10 Marks
Third Year Memorial Researcher Mooting Past
Test Achievements Experience of
MCS
22. Only Top forty Memorials will be selected from First Year for oral round and top seven
students in merit will be inducted in the MCS after including the marks of Criteria I and II.
23. Memorial Drafting and Researcher Test will be conducted for the second and third year
students under criteria I and II.
24. Two separate Moot Problems will be released – one problem for first years and another
problem common for second and third years at least two weeks before the last date fixed
for Memorial submission. A Researcher Test will be conducted on a specified date after the
release of Moot Problems.
25. After declaration of researcher test result, the qualifying student will fill up a Self-Appraisal
Form (Form A) with all documentary evidences for criteria III and IV according to the Rule
26 and Annexure I, which is subject to verification.
26. The marking schemes of criteria III and IV are mentioned in Annexure-I.
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 27. A separate merit list will be prepared for first, second and third year students. Top seven
students in merit will be selected from first, second and third year each after adding the
marks in their respective criteria.
28. The newly constituted MCS will be notified on the Law Center-I web site as well as MCS
Notice Board.
29. Any newly inducted member may withdraw his membership by giving notice to the Teacher
Convener within three working days from the date of notification and a candidate next in
merit will be inducted.
30. The newly inducted members will choose the Office Bearers among themselves according
to Rule 12 and Chapter IX.
31. Any Student member is at liberty to withdraw from the membership by giving notice to the
Teacher Convener and till it is accepted and communicated to the member, he/she will hold
the position as student members in MCS.

Provided that any member who has withdrawn from the position of student members is not
eligible to become member of MCS either in the same academic year or in subsequent year/s.

IX. ELECTION OF THE STUDENT OFFICE BEARERS AND THEIR TENURE

CONDITIONS

32. The student office bearers are elected representatives of the students members of MCS and
they hold their position for one academic year and continue to hold their position till a newly
elected body takes charge of the affairs of the MCS in the next academic year.
33. The date of conducting election to office bearers is at the discretion of the Teacher Convener
of the MCS in consultation with the other teacher members, the student office bearers and
the students members of the MCS every year.
34. Any Student office bearer is at liberty to resign from the elected position by giving notice
to the Teacher Convener and the time of acceptance by the teacher Convener will be the
time of discharge from the duty as such office position.

Provided any member who withdrew from the position of office bearer is not eligible to
contest for election as office bearer during the term of his LLB course. Still he/she will
continue to be the member of MCS, unless he/she choses to withdraw his/her membership.

X. SUSPENSION OF MEMBERSHIP

35. Any student member or office bearer shall be suspended/terminated from the membership
on grounds of violation of code of conduct, as laid down in Rule 36 after giving an
opportunity to explain for such violation and proved to the satisfaction of the Grievance cum
Disciplinary Committee of the MCS, constituted by the Teacher Convener of MCS from
time to time and confirmed by Teacher Convener.
36. A Student Membership may be suspended and/or terminated if:
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 i. any member is found engaging in activities violating the provisions of this
Constitution.
ii. any member does not appear for two consecutive meetings without prior notice to
the Office Bearers or valid reasons, in case of an emergency,
iii. any member does not appear for three consecutive meetings,
iv. a member is found to be negligent towards his duties as envisaged under this working
manual or specifically designated to him/her in co-ordinating the MCS activities.
37. Suspension and/or termination proceedings may be initiated on the basis of an official
complaint by any student or teacher member.
38. An appeal from the recommendation by the Grievance Committee shall lie with the Teacher
Convener or his/her nominee designated for the purpose whose decision shall be final.
39. A suspended member shall no longer be a part of the activities of the MCS.
40. However, the suspended member is not prohibited from participating in the competitions
hosted by the other educational institutions.

XI. POWER, FUNCTION AND DUTIESOF MCS MEMBERS

41. The Teacher Convener will be in charge of the whole affairs of the MCS and he/she will be
assisted by the teachers and student members.
42. The teachers and student members will perform and assist in the function of MCS as
described in Rule 5 Part III of the Manual under a fair, transparent and non-arbitrary
procedure.
43. The Teacher Convener/Co-convener may constitute Committee or Sub-Committee for
specific or general purpose for the smooth functioning of MCS.
44. The MCS shall have the sole authority to regulate all moot court activities of the Law Centre
1.
45. It shall be the sole discretion of the MCS to select the moot court competitions in which the
Law Centre 1 may participate.
46. The MCS shall have the power to impose a reasonable penalty on any team or individual
participating in an internal or external moot court competition not in accordance with the
regulations framed by the MCS.
47. The MCS shall have the power to issue notifications in order to regulate moot court activities
in the Law Centre 1University.
48. No member participating in any internal selection moot court competition maybe associated
with the Committee in any capacity other than that of a participant.
49. The MCS shall organize internal moot court competitions throughout the year for allocation
of national and international moot court competitions according to the rules laid down in
Part XIII and Annexure -II.
50. Any any suggestion/clarification regarding functioning of the MCS will not be entertained
unless it is in writing, properly worded and addressed to the Teacher Convener and the MCS
Grievance Committee.

XII. MEETINGS

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51. There will be two types of meeting: In house meetings and General Body meeting. All
formal meeting minutes must be submitted to the Teacher Convener within seven working
days.
52. The Orientation program organised at the beginning of the academic year will be the first
General body meeting of MCS in which the performance sheet of the previous academic
year and the road map for the current year will be notified.
53. An annual General body meeting shall be convened at the end of the academic year to notify
the performance of the MCS in the academic year and the financial position of the MCS.
54. In-house meetings will be convened as and when required among teachers, members of EC
and office bearers.
55. Every decision in the meeting will be taken by a simple majority of members present and
voting.

XIII. SELECTION OF STUDENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN EXTERNAL

MOOT COMPETITIONS

56. The guidelines for notifying and organising selection (internal) moots are laid down in
Annexure II.

XIV. MISCELLANEOUS
57. Any amendment to the working Manual can be suggested by any member of the MCS or
Student office bearer or teacher member of the MCS in writing, to the Teacher
Convener/Co-convener which will be deliberated upon in the ordinary in-house meetings of
the MCS for final decision.
58. The Teacher Committee is entitled to take any decision by majority in the interest of MCS
where this Manual is silent.

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ANNEXURE- I

The Marking Scheme of Mooting experience under criterion III will be as follows:

Achievement Listed Non- Listed Tier –I Moot Tier –II Tier –III
International International (marks) Moot Moot
Moot (marks) Moot (marks) (marks)
(marks)
Winner Team 15 10 10 08 05
Member
Runner up 12 08 08 07 04
Team
Member
Semi-Finalist 10 07 06 06 03
Team
Member
Octa Finalist 08 - - - -
Team
Member
Best Speaker 10 08 08 06 04
Speaker 10 07 07 05 --
Citation
Best 12 08 08 06 04
Memorial
Memorial 10 07 07 05 03
Citation
Any other 08 06 06 04 02
citation
Participation 6 5 4 3 2

Note:

1. In case of any joint achievement like Co-best speaker or Joint Best Memorial etc., the
marks will be divided accordingly. Maximum cap under this category is 20 Marks only.
2. The List of Listed/Non-listed international moot court competition and Tier I, II and III
will be published by the MCS every year in month of August.

The marking scheme of Past Experience of MCS under criterion IV will be as follows:

MCS Office Bearer 5

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 MCS Members 3

ANNEXURE-II

RULES FOR INTERNAL MOOT

COURT

The Guidelines for Selection of the Students to participate in moot court competitions

1 Procedure

1. The teacher in-charge of conducting internal selection for external moot competition,
called Teacher in charge of internals, is nominated by teacher convener /co-convener
and shall be the authority in organising, coordinating and selecting the teams for
participation in external moot competitions.
2. The student office bearers and members of the MCS shall facilitate and cooperate with
the teacher in charge of external competitions in the smooth conduct of selection moots.
3. Notifications of details of the competition are made in Facebook account/ website/ blog
of Law centre -1, of moot court society.
4. The MCS is only a facilitator of information and the students of the Centre -1 may also
register for competition through their own search, and if willing to participate, shall
inform the same to the MCS for taking the internal screening test.
5. Registration in individual capacity, without the consent of the teacher convener/internal
in charge teacher of the moot court society and permission from the professor in charge
shall attract a ban of one academic year on all members of the team from all moot court
activities and shall not be eligible for financial assistance or reimbursement as
prescribed.
6. No notifications of external moot competition will be made in the Facebook
/website of MCS unless the MCS receives the information at least 15 days in advance
of the date of provisional registration specified by the hosting institution for the said
competition.

2. Rules Regarding Written/Oral Memorials

1. Evaluation of performance of contestants shall be in the following manner. 20
marks allotted for Written Memorials & 80 marks for Oral presentation.
2. A panel of two teachers shall be constituted by the Teacher In-charge of internal
of the MCS to mark the written memorials and to hear oral arguments.
3. Written memorial shall be submitted by an individual intending participation to
the mail ID prescribed within the specified time as notified by MCS.

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 4. Every Memorial will be marked on a total of 20 marks. The following shall be the
marking scheme:
Criteria Marks
Application and appreciation of facts 5
Identification, structuring and presentation of issues 5
Application of legal principles, authorities, precedents and logical reasoning 5
Lucidity, writing skills, proper footnoting and formatting 5

5. Written Memorials on either side (Appellant/Respondent) shall be submitted

(Online and Hard copy) by individual participant to the Moot Court Society
(MCS) within the specified time notified by the MCS.
6. The submission of soft as well as hard copy shall be in the PDF format only and
shall consist of:
• Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• Index of Authorities
• Statement of Jurisdiction
• Statement of Facts
• Issues for Consideration
• Summary of Arguments
• Written Submissions
• Prayer
7. Submission of hard copy shall be submitted on the next working day of
submission of online to avoid delay.
8. A copy of the Moot proposition should also be annexed to the Memorial at the
end for reference to the evaluators.
9. Proper caution is required to be taken to ‘proof read’ the memo before
submission, so as to avoid negative marking.

10. The memorials should be on both side of the paper, typed on A-4 sheet with
black ink.
11. The font of the body of the memorial should be Times New Roman Size – 12,
spacing 1.5.of the memorial should not exceed 20 typed pages.
12. The foot notes should be a Times New Roman Size – 10, spacing 1.5. Memorial
must have 1 inch margin on all sides of the each page.
13. Relevant annexure may be kept as compendium if required.
14. The date, venue and the time of internal selection shall be intimated either in
person or over phone to the individual contestants.
15. Failure to submit the memorial within the deadline will cause disqualification.

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 16. Plagiarism shall be a ground for disqualification.
17. The oral pleadings would be marked on scale of 80 per judge. However for the
purpose of calculation the average score of all the judges would be taken. The
oral rounds will be evaluated on the following grounds:

Marking Criteria: Maximum Marks Allocated=80 Marks

Knowledge Knowledge Framing of Advocacy Use of Court

of Facts of Laws Issues (Arguments Authorities Mannerism
/Expressions/
Articulations)
10 10 10 30 10 10

3. Rules Regarding Selection

1. The decision of the judges in the screening process shall be final and binding. The judges
may give feedback to the participants post hearing and announce the results. Only those
contestants who have scored 60 marks and (or) above in the screening test are (shall be)
eligible to participate in the Moot Court Competition.
2. The first three scores above 60 marks are marked as Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and
Researcher in descending order.
3. If only one contestant scores 60 or above, no team will be declared as eligible. However
the individual outstanding contestant will be issued a certificate of Best Performance’ by
the Professor-in-Charge as a token of appreciation.
4. If only two intending participants submit their memorials, still internal selection will be
conducted and the team of two members shall be declared eligible provided both the
participants score 60 marks or above.
5. The teacher in-charge of internal has discretion to waive internals under certain
exigencies.
6. The selected contestants form a team and shall apply for permission from the Professor-
in-Charge through the Teacher Convener of the MCS in the prescribed format to
participate in the Competition and get a ‘Certificate of Bonafide’ issued by the Professor-
in-Charge.
7. The selected team is entitled to avail the assistance specified in Annexure-2A
8. The participating team on arrival from moot court competition shall submit all the
required documents in the office of LC-1 within 15 days from the date of competition
failing which they take the risk of forgoing the reimbursement.

4. Students Participants’ Grievance Cell

Any dispute /grievance among the team members selected for external participation shall be
addressed to the grievance cell of MCS and the decision of the said cell shall be binding on the
team members.

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5. Periodic Review Cell
The permanent periodic cell headed by teacher in charge appointed by the convener will serve
the purpose of following up with progress of preparation of every team participating in a moot
in every 15 days till the competition & aid the team in the best possible manner.

6. Miscellaneous
1. The MCS shall inform the participants 24-36 hours prior to the oral rounds.
2. Any participant who does not appear for the oral round shall stand disqualified.
3. The participants shall be required to present on time for the oral rounds.
4. Where the rules of the moot court competition requires a three member team and only 2
participants have applied before or after extension, the remaining spot shall be open for
the MCS to compete for, with or without public notification as researcher.
5. If any participant is found behaving in an unruly and un-parliamentary manner with the
judge, fellow participant or the MCS members, the participant shall be blacklisted and
can be disqualified as per the decision of the Teacher Convener of the MCS.
6. After the constitution of a team, if any participant is found or reported for having
indulged in cheating, manipulation or any other unruly behaviour such as ragging,
harassment can be disqualified as per the decision of the Teacher Convener of the MCS.
7. Failure to submit the memorial with requisite formatting will cause disqualification.

ANNEXTURE: 2A

Financial Assistance to Participating Teams:

The participating team collectively receives the following financial assistance out of the Moot
Court Society Account of the Law Centre-1

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 i. Registration fees for participating in the Moot Court Competition.
ii. To and Fro (Return) Second class fare for each participant, in case of out station
participation.
iii. For outstation and in-station participation miscellaneous expenses towards library fee,
typing, Xerox, binding, postage etc to a limit of Rs.1000 to the team collectively
iv. In case of specific request in writing for advance payment, 50% of the estimated
expenses submitted by the team is given, which is adjustable in accordance with the
final bills submitted.
v. Any financial contribution by the team members for initial expenses shall be a matter
of discretion of the members of the team only and the MCS is not the adjudicatory body
for any dispute regarding the same.

ANNEXURE: 2B

Documents to be submitted for reimbursement with self attestation

It is the collective responsibility of the team to submit the following documents:

i. Rail ticket of individual participants to a limit of second class fare (to and fro).
ii. Voucher for miscellaneous expenditure to a limit of Rs.1000.
iii. Xerox copy of permission letter/ bonafide certificate granted by Professor-in- Charge.
iv. Xerox copy of Registration form endorsed by Professor-in-Charge.
v. Xerox copy of payment slip/DD towards registration for the competition.
vi. Certificate of participation/winner/Runner/Best Speaker/Best Memo.
vii. Memento, if any, given to the Law Centre 1, by the hosting institution.
viii. All the participants shall report to the internal in charge after returning from moot
participation and submit a copy of their participation/ achievement for record purpose.

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