23RD NLIU ANNUAL FRESHERS’ MOOT POOL TOURNAMENT, 2023

Last Date for Registration: 27th September 2023

Last date for requesting Clarifications on the Moot Problem: 3rd October 2023
Memorial Submission: 18th October 2023
Oral Rounds: 26th – 29th October 2023

RULES

1. ELIGIBILITY AND TEAM COMPOSITION

1.1 Only students from the First Year of the B.A.LL.B (Hons.) and B.S.C.LL.B (Hons.) program,
i.e., the Batch of 2028, of the National Law Institute University, Bhopal are eligible to
participate in the 23rd NLIU Annual Freshers’ Moot Pool Tournament, 2023
(“Tournament”).
1.2 The Tournament is mandatory for all students from the First Year. Non-participation in the
tournament may result in debarment from all MCA activities for a period extending up to
one academic year.
1.3 All participants shall participate as oralists, in a team of two.

1.4 The participants are advised to equally divide the work for written and oral submissions. Every
oralist must argue two issues each.
1.5 For the purposes of these Rules, ‘Advanced Rounds’ means any further rounds which are
organized as part of the Tournament after the Preliminary Rounds.

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 2. TOURNAMENT FORMAT AND STRUCTURE

2.1 The oral rounds for the Tournament shall be held in the mode specified by the MCA.
2.2 All teams shall argue on behalf of the Petitioner as well as the Respondent during the course
of the two Preliminary Rounds.
2.3 The side to be argued by each team shall be determined by the MCA and notified accordingly.
2.4 Each team shall be allotted a time of 20 minutes to present their oral arguments in preliminary
Rounds and 22 minutes in advanced rounds. The oralists are free to determine the internal
division of time as per the requirement of the issues argued.
No more than 2 minutes can be reserved for rebuttal/sur-rebuttal.
Provided that, no oralist shall be allowed to present for more than 10 minutes in preliminary
rounds and 11 minutes in advanced rounds.

2.5 The Freshers’ Moot Pool 2023-24 (“Pool”) shall be formed on the basis of cumulative scores
of each participant, scored individually, in each of the two Preliminary Rounds and the
memorial scores.
2.6 In case of a tie between two participants in the rank list of the pool, the participants with a
higher memorial score, if each of them belonged to separate teams, shall be ranked higher in
ranking, and if they belong to the same team, then the ranking shall be decided on the basis
of the scores in the section ‘knowledge of law’. In case a tie further exists, the ranks would be
determined on the basis of a coin toss.
2.7 The top sixteen (16) teams from the Preliminary Rounds shall advance to the ‘Octa-Finals’.
The results of Preliminary Rounds, for the purpose of Octa-Finals, shall be determined on
the basis of aggregate scores of oralists. In case of a tie between the teams, it shall be
determined by the memorial scores. In case of a further tie, it shall be determined by a coin
toss.
2.8 The Octa-Finals shall proceed on a Power Match-Up, i.e., the team ranked 1 in Preliminary
Rounds will face the team ranked 16, the team ranked 2 will face the team ranked 15, and so
on.
2.9 For the advanced rounds, the side that each team shall be expected to argue will be determined
on the basis of a coin toss.

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 2.10 The Octa-Finals, Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals shall be knock-out rounds.
2.11 The eight winning teams from the Octa-Finals shall proceed to the Quarter-Finals, four
winning teams from the Quarter-Finals shall proceed to the Semi-Finals and ultimately two
teams shall proceed to the Final Round.
2.12 The match-ups for Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals shall be determined according to Rule
2.8.

3. WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

3.1 All teams shall submit Written Submissions (“Memorials”) consisting of the written
arguments of both the Petitioner and the Respondent.
3.2 Each memorial shall be evaluated out of 50 marks.
3.3 If a team does not submit either or both Memorials, in accordance with the deadlines
prescribed by the MCA, then such team shall be disqualified from the Tournament. One (1)
mark shall be deducted from each memorial for the delay of every 1⁄2 hour in submission
beyond the prescribed time limit. No memorials shall be accepted beyond 12 hours after the
deadline.
3.4 All teams shall be given access to their opponent’s memorial prior to the commencement of
rounds, in what is called the “Memorial Exchange”.
3.5 The Memorials must only contain the following sections in the following order: a)
Cover Page
b) Table of Contents
c) Table of Abbreviations
d) Index of Authorities
e) Statement of Jurisdiction
f) Statement of Facts
g) Issues for Consideration
h) Summary of Arguments
i) Arguments Advanced
j) Prayer for Relief
3.6 Each memorial shall have the following and only the following on its cover page:
a) The team code on the top right-hand corner of the Cover Page

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 b) The name and the place of the forum
c) The relevant legal provision under which the case is filed
d) Name of parties and their status(es)
e) Written Submissions on behalf of Petitioner or Respondent
3.7 A team code shall be assigned to each participating team.
3.8 There shall not be any representation of the name of the participants in the Memorials.
Violation of this rule shall attract a severe penalty even leading to disqualification from the
Tournament.
3.9 The copies of the Memorials must bear a cover page in conformity with the following
scheme:
Petitioner(s)/Appellant(s): Blue
Respondent(s): Red
3.10 The Memorials’ soft copies shall be submitted to the MCA through a google form, which
will be circulated at a later time. The memorials must be in ‘.doc’ or ‘.docx’ and ‘.pdf’ format.
The file names of the soft copy of the Memorial must contain only the team code and the
side being represented in the following format: 01P or 01R, where ‘P’ and ‘R’ should
represent the Petitioner and the Respondent in the Moot Problem.
3.11 The Memorials should be drafted on ‘.doc’ documents compatible with Microsoft Word
2003 (or higher version) only.
3.12 The page size should be A4 and the text must be justified throughout the main body of the
memorial except in the headings, sub-headings and the cover page. The font shall be “Times
New Roman” throughout the main body of the memorial with font size 12 (including
headings), 1.5 line-spacing & 1-inch margin (2.54 cm) on each side. Footnotes shall be in
“Times New Roman” with Font Size 10 and 1.0 spacing.
3.13 The ‘main body of the memorial’ as mentioned in Rule 3.12 shall include the header,
footer, and footnotes, in addition to the main text of the memorial.
3.14 The participants may use uniform page borders. Participants shall adhere to OSCOLA for
citations.
3.15 No amendment of the Memorials will be permitted after submission.
3.16 Word limits for various parts of the memorandum are as follows:
Statement of Facts: One Page
Summary of Arguments: One Page

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 Arguments Advanced and Prayer: 14 pages

4. EVALUATION

4.1 Each Memorial shall be evaluated, out of 50 marks, based on the following criteria:

S. NO. CRITERIA MARKS

1.
10
Application and Appreciation of Facts

2.
10
Structure, Brevity, Coherence and Clarity of Arguments Advanced

3.
10
Application of Legal Principles, Authorities and Precedents

4.
10
Ingenuity and Logical Reasoning

5.
10
Presentation Style and Formatting

4.2 For the oral rounds (Preliminary and Advanced Rounds), each oralist shall be marked on
the basis of following criteria:

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 CRITERIA MARKS
S. NO.

1.
Knowledge of Law and Facts 20

2.
Interpretation of Law and Application of Facts 20

3.
Use of Legal Principles, Authorities and Precedents 20

4.
Organisation of Arguments, Articulation and Clarity 20

Response to Questions, Novelty in Arguments and

5.
Persuasiveness 20

5. PENALTY

5.1 Penalties shall be deducted after each such memorial has been evaluated. Non-compliance
with rules concerning formatting and submission of memorials will result in a deduction
from the allocated marks. Penalty for late submission shall be governed by Rule 3.3.

RULE VIOLATION PENALTY

1. Breach of memorial anonymity Disqualification from the Moot

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 2. Missing or additional section 1 mark for every violation

3. Incorrect order of sections 1 mark (one time deduction)

Incorrect font size in the main body of the 0.5 mark for every page on which
4.
memorial there is a violation

Incorrect line spacing in the main body of the 0.5 mark for every page on which
5.
memorial there is a violation

Incorrect font style in the main body of the 0.5 mark for every page on
6.
memorial which there is a violation

Incorrect page size and/or page margin in 0.5 mark for every page on
7.
the main body of the memorial which there is a violation

Missing or unnecessary information on 0.5 mark per piece of

8.
cover page information

Substantive legal arguments outside the 1 mark for every page on which
9.
arguments advanced section there is a violation

2 marks for every page that is

Exceeding the page limit of the arguments
10. in excess of the prescribed page
advanced section
limit

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 Exceeding the page limit of the Statement of 1 mark for every page that is in
11.
facts section excess of the prescribed page limit

Exceeding the page limit of the Summary of 1 mark for every page that is in
12.
arguments section excess of the prescribed page limit

0.5 mark for each violation (0.5

mark will be deducted for every
13. Extra information in footnotes
footnote that has extra
information)

14. Use of endnotes 1 mark

15. Uniformity in Footnotes 0.5 mark per page

6. FRESHERS’ MOOT POOL 2023-24

6.1 The number of students selected to be a part of the Freshers’ Moot Pool 2023-24 shall depend
upon the quality and quantity of participation in the Tournament. The final decision for such
shall rest with the MCA.
6.2 Once a member of the Pool, a student shall have the right to exercise their option to
participate in a Moot oriented to such Pool, in accordance with their rank. The Pool shall
operate on an ‘Effective Ranking’ formula.

7. AWARDS

7.1 The following shall be the awards of the Tournament:

● WINNER

● RUNNERS-UP

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 ● BEST ORALIST

● 2ND BEST ORALIST

● BEST MEMORIAL FOR THE PETITIONER

● BEST MEMORIAL FOR THE RESPONDENT

8. IMPORTANT INFORMATION

8.1. Any attempt to communicate with the other teams or any attempt of scouting, or to take
help from members of the MCA or the authors of the moot problem, shall be considered
as ‘Unfair Means’ and shall entail a punishment which may extend up to suspension of the
student(s) from all the MCA activities for the session 2023-24.
8.2. In case there is found to be an instance of plagiarism prevalent in a certain memorial, the
participating team alleged to have committed plagiarism will be asked to show cause by the
MCA. If found guilty of plagiarism, the MCA may impose any sanction deemed fit,
including disqualification from the Pool.
8.3. The authority to decide the quantum of punishment in all cases shall vest with the MCA.
8.4 The MCA reserves the right to add, modify or repeal any rule in order to facilitate the
smooth conduct of the Tournament. However, the MCA shall ensure that the participants
are given reasonable notice of any such changes.
***

Yash Tayal
Convenor

Akshita Dhawan
Co-Convenor

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