RULES INTERNAL TRIAL ADVOCACY RANKING ROUNDS 2016 2017
CONSTITUTION OF AN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 1. An organizing committee independent of the participants of the Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds2016 2017 will be constituted and entrusted with the sole responsibility of conducting the Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017. a. The Organizing Committee will be established by way of applications requested by the Advanced Criminal Law Studies Committee (hereinafter referred to as ACLSC)from the Student body of SLCU, who will be chosen by the faculty coordinators and Convenors of ACLSC. b. The Organizing Committee will be headed by a group of representatives chosen by ACLSC faculty Co-coordinators in consultation with SLCU Coordinators based on their organizational experiences. CONDUCT OF THE INTERNAL TRIAL ADVOCACY RANKING ROUNDS 2016-2017 2. The Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017 will be conducted by the Organizing Committee in the pursuance and in accordance with the following provisions: a. The Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017 will be conducted in a two round process. b. First, there will be the submissions of memorials on the date decided by the Organizing Committee. c. Secondly, there will an oral round on the date decided by the Organizing Committee, for the teams who submit their memorials to the Organizing Committee on the scheduled dates as decided by the Organizing Committee. d. There will be a 'draw of lots' conducted by the Organizing Committee to decide match-ups. The conclusion of such drawing of lots will be final, and no requests for alteration will be entertained. 1 P a g e
e. Once the teams have registered themselves as prescribed, the team will not be allowed to make any changes in the team composition and the structure. f. Each team will argue once for the prosecution, and once for the defence. g. Teams are to be composed of 3 members. Each team must necessarily be composed of two speakers, one witness. No changes in the composition/members will be allowed. h. During the rounds each of the speakers will be evaluated out of 200, the witness will be evaluated out of 200. The final team score will determine the rank of the team. 3. The final score of a team according to which the final ranks shall be allotted, will be calculated as follows: Score of Speaker 1 (Total of both the rounds) + Score of Speaker 2 (Total of both the rounds) + Witness score (Total of both the rounds) + Memorial Score (Average Memorial Score). Illustration: Team Code A: Speaker 1 and speaker 2 score 89 and 81 marks respectively in the first oral round, and 91 and 87 in the second round. Team A has secured a total of 84 and 91 marks for both the witness rounds. Team A has secured an average of 69 in the memorial scores. Therefore, the total of Team A out of 700 marks will be 592 marks. RULES FOR MEMORIAL SUBMISSIONS 4. The rules for the Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017 are: a) The following requirements for memorials must be strictly followed. Nonconformities will be penalised: b) Each team must prepare memorials for both parties to the dispute (Prosecution and Defence). c) The memorials shall be consistent with The Criminal Procedure Code 1973. (Revised) 2 P a g e
d) Once the memorials have been submitted, no revisions, supplements, or additions will be allowed. e) The submission dates of the memorials will be as decided by the Organizing Committee. f) The memorials have to be submitted on typed A4 size paper printed on both sides and must contain: The Cover Page The Table of Contents The Index of Authorities The Statement of Jurisdiction The Statement of Facts (1 page only and submissions of an argumentative statement of facts would attract penalties) The Statement of Charges The Summary of Arguments The Arguments Advanced (15 pages) The Prayer g) Arguments must not exceed 15 (fifteen) pages. h) The font size should be 12; Font Style should be Times New Roman and 1.5 line spacing. i) Footnotes must be in font size 10; Font Style should be Times New Roman with single line spacing. j) Memorials should be staple bound. Comb/spiral or any other form of binding will be considered improper binding. Avoid plastic front sheets / separators. k) Memorials must have a one inch margin on all sides of each page. l) Page numbering should be on the bottom right side of each page. 3 P a g e
m) Covers must be placed on briefs as follows: Prosecution: Blue colour, Defence: Red colour. n) The cover page of Memorials must state the following: Top Right Corner will contain the Team Code. Name of the Competent Court. Criminal Case Number. Name of the Parties. Charges Framed. o) The Soft copy of the Memorial(s) should be submitted in MS Word 2003 format. p) The Soft copy of the Memorial(s) must be named (file name) as: TeamCode_P (for Prosecution) and TeamCode_D (for Defence). Illustration: Team code of the team is SLCU08 therefore the file name should be SLCU08_P (for Prosecution) and SLCU08_D (for Defence). q) The memorials shall be marked based on the following parameters: Knowledge of law - 30M Knowledge of Facts - 10M Extent of use of Research - 10M Clarity and Organization - 10M Proper and Articulate Analysis - 10M Citation of Sources - 10M Formatting - 20M r) Every team has to submit 3 printed copies of each side i.e. Prosecution & Defence within the prescribed time limits and as according to the procedure laid down by the Organizing Committee. 4 P a g e
s) Memorials from both sides i.e., Prosecution and Defence should be mailed at: internaltrial2016@gmail.com within the time prescribed by the Organising Committee. RULES FOR ORAL ROUNDS 5. The rules for the Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017 are: a) Each Oral Round will be for fifty (50) minutes. b) Prosecution and Defence are allotted with twenty five (25) minutes each. c) Each of the speakers shall conduct either the chief or the cross-examination and deliver either the opening or closing statement. Therefore each speaker shall compulsorily do the same. d) The order of speakers, the examination and statements they would present, is to be intimated by the teams during registration and cannot be altered at any subsequent stage of the preliminary rounds. e) The oral arguments need not be confined to issues presented in the problem. f) Before the start of a round, the teams have to inform the court-clerk(s) of their time-split, which will include the time occupied by both speakers, as well as time reserved for chief and cross examinations. g) Competitors must not discuss the details of the Trial with any person other than their witness. Competitors and witnesses are not permitted to communicate through mobile phones, social networks or any other electronic device during while the court is in session. h) Counsels have to dress professionally but will not robe. i) Witnesses must adhere to their proof of evidence as closely as possible and may not lie, contradict their proof or intentionally mislead counsel for either side. j) Counsel may object and must state the grounds for objection. The Judge should ordinarily invite the opposing counsel to respond to the objection. k) Re-Examination is subject to the Court's discretion. 5 P a g e
l) Judges will, if required for further elaboration on facts and arguments, have the discretion to extend the time limit of either team further than the allotted twenty five (25) minutes upon request. m) On completion of the round, the teams can obtain a carbon copy of their score sheet from the court-clerk outside their respective court hall. n) Students can carry books, bare acts or compendiums to their respective court halls during oral arguments. Usage of any electronic gadget(s) is not permitted inside the court hall. o) Students who are participating must distance themselves from any/all aspects of organization as determined by the faculty coordinator. p) Schedule for each team will be published by the organizing committee. The 3 members of the team are requested to be present at the time allotted. If a team is not present within 3 minutes of the allotted time it is considered as a win for the opposing team. q) The judges are expected to score the oral submissions of an individual speaker keeping in mind the following parameters: Knowledge of facts - 10M Logic, reasoning and clarity- 10M Persuasiveness & deference to court 10M Understanding of the laws of evidence and procedure - 20M Ability to successfully conduct chief / cross examinations 15M Ability to elicit favourable facts from witnesses - 10M Ability to deal with unreceptive, argumentative or hostile witnesses - 10M Ingenuity (ability to argue by analogy from related aspects of law) - 10M Ability to raise relevant Objections - 5M r) A Judge shall adjudge each speaker for a total of 100 marks. 6 P a g e
s) Teams shall not reveal names of the participants and the respective year of study in the course of the rounds. t) The judges are expected to score the witness keeping in mind the following parameters: Knowledge of facts - 10m Ability to stick closely to the given witness statement - 10m Displaying appropriate attitude & demeanour with the council - 10m Displaying appropriate attitude & demeanour with the judge - 10m Ability to handle cross examination - 10m u) Time Frame: Opening statement by the prosecution Opening statement by the defence Examination in Chief by the prosecution Cross Examination by the defence- Examination in Chief by the defence Cross Examination by the prosecution Closing statement by the prosecution Closing statement by the defence 4 minutes 4 minutes 6 minutes 10 minutes 6 minutes 10 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes 6. From the date of release of the problem till the conclusion of the oral rounds of Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017, students of SLCU who are participating in the Internal Trial Advocacy Ranking Rounds 2016 2017 are restricted from issuing any books pertaining to the subject matter of the Problem. 7. All students are requested to place the books in their respective positions after completion of their work. 8. All students are requested to refrain from hiding books, tearing pages from books and placing books on different shelves or floors. 7 P a g e
9. If found indulging in any practices as mentioned in clause 7and/or 8 the respective teams will be penalised as the Organising committee in consultation with the ACLSC Faculty Co-ordinators deem fit. COMPLAINTS APPEALS, PENALTIES AND INTERPRETATIONS 10. All complaints and appeals concerning scoring and assessment or the organisation, administration and conduct of the competition must, within twenty-four hours of the matter giving rise to the complaint or appeal, be submitted to the ACLSC Faculty Coordinators, in writing. 11. Scouting will lead to an immediate disqualification. Scouting is defined as: a. When a team or one or more of its members attend a round in which they are not participants; b. Instances where students indulge in group activities such as group research of the problem and its possible outcomes, and stealing other team s research and other such activities the ACLSC Faculty Co-ordinators and SLCU Coordinator deem fit to. c. A team s disqualification is final and irrevocable. 12. All questions concerning the interpretation of these Rules must be submitted to the Organizing Committee for further determination. 13. The Organizing Committee may at any time determine such amendments or additions to these Rules or resort to any other measures as may be necessary in the light of the efficient organisation, administration and conduct of the competition. Such rules will have retrospective effect. 14. All determinations and interpretations made by the Organizing Committee in consultation with the faculty co-ordinators, in accordance with these Rules, will be final, conclusive and binding on all competitors. 8 P a g e