1ST NILS LWM IHL MOOT COURT COMPETITION

About Moot Court Competition:

Mooting involves submission of written memorials and oral presentation of some legal issues
against an opposing counsel before a bench of judges. It is perhaps the closest experience that
a ‘Law Student’ can have whilst at university to appear in the Court. The experience, exposure,
and memories of mooting are unrivalled for the ‘Law Students’ compared to any other activities
in the ‘Law Departments’ of the esteemed Universities of the world.

Qualification: Undergraduate and graduate law students of Bangladesh with present

studentship.

Benefits & Awards:

• All the participants will be given certificate of participation.
• Other awards include: Best Advocate Award, Best Researcher Award, Best Memorial
Award, Most Promising Team Awards, Championship Trophy, and Runner-up Trophy.

Important Dates:
Team Registration Deadline: 10 March 2019
Memorial Submission: 26 March 2019
Inauguration and Memorial Exchange: 4 April 2019
Oral Rounds: 5 - 6 April 2019

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 The Network for International Law Students-Bangladesh (NILS BD) &

Center for the Study of Genocide and Justice (CSGJ), Liberation War Museum (LWM)

Presents

1st NILS –LWM International Humanitarian Law Moot Court

Competition, 2019

Mooting Rules and Guidelines

1. Introduction:

The Network for International Law Students (NILS) is an international, independent, nonpolitical
and non-profit making organization run by and for law students. And NILS Bangladeshis the
national chapter of NILS and promotes the goal of NILS International. It encourages
communication and cooperation among law students and lawyers internationally; contributes to
legal education by developing skill; promotes social responsibility in the field of law by NILS
Journal, Legal Competition, workshop, Seminars, Webinars, Residential School Program,
Delegation Program and other educational programs.

Liberation War Museum (LWM) has recently established a Center for the Study of Genocide and
Justice (CSGJ) aiming to organize and promote research, documentation, study, education and
networking on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Bangladesh and
other parts of the world. The Center will strengthen the initiatives to establish justice for mass
atrocities and for recognition, restitution, reparation and healing of the victims. The core mission
of the Center is to commemorate those who perished in genocide, to celebrate those who
survived, to educate upcoming generations and to dedicate its effort to uphold the cause of truth
and justice.

This IHL Moot Court Competition is going to be organized by CSGJ, Liberation War Museum &
NILS BD with a view to involving law students from different institutions in order to develop their
mooting skill as well as research skill and for promoting International peace.

1.1 Name/Title:

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 The official name of the competition is 1st NILS - LWM International Humanitarian Law Moot
Court Competition, 2019.

1.2. Objectives:

The objectives of the Moot Court completion are as follows: -

• To enhance the knowledge of the law students

• To capacitate the students regarding international court proceedings
• To develop research skill of the student.
• To raise awareness about the laws of war among the students.

1.3. Eligibility

All universities/schools/institutions imparting legal education on a regular or evening basis in a

program of study that leads to a Bachelor of Laws- LL.B. / LL.B. (Hons.), Master of laws (LL.M.) are
eligible to participate in the Moot Court.

1.4. Official Language

The official language of the Moot Court Competition is English.

1.5. Team Composition

Each participating university shall nominate team consisting of three student members (Two
Speakers & One Researcher), along with a coach/guide (not mandatory) from the faculty of the
institution they represent.

All research, writing and editing of written memorials for the Moot Court must be the exclusive
product of the team members. Faculty members, coaches and team advisors of the participating
team may only render external assistance to the team. During oral presentation, consultation
with coaches shall be strictly prohibited.

1.6. Implementation and Interpretation of Rules

Regarding Moot Court practice and procedures, the final decision on the interpretation and
implementation of rules lies with the Organizers.

1.7 Venue
‘The Moot Court Competition’ will be held in a venue which is situated preferably at CSGJ,
Liberation War Museum and the venue has the ability to accommodate at least 500 persons for
sitting.

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 2. Memorials

2.1. Submission of Memorials

Each participating team shall prepare both memorials and counter memorials, in English. Teams
are required to submit soft copy of the memorial via email to the Organizers before the deadline
specified by the organizing committee in its invitation letter. Five sets of printed copies of the
memorials should be handed in the day of competitions. Failure to do so will result in
disqualification from the competition. Cover page of the Petition shall be in Blue color and
Respondent will be in White Color.

During oral presentations, the participating teams should retain copies of their memorials for
their use. There will be exchange of memorials between the teams during the competition.

All memorials shall be prepared to the following specifications: -

• The pleadings portion of the Memorials for the applicants and respondents shall not exceed 12
pages.

• Memorials must be submitted as soft copy/mail copy and typed on A4 size paper setup.

• Font and size of the text of all parts of the memorial (excluding footnotes) must be the same and
must be in Times New Roman 12 font size.

• The texts of all parts of each memorial must be double-spaced, with one-inch margin on both
sides.

• The text of footnotes and headings may be single-spaced. The font size of footnotes must be 8
font size.

• The table of Contents, Index of Authorities and Case Title are not included in the 12 typed pages
limit.

2.2. Description of Memorials

The Memorial shall consist of the following parts:

• Table of Contents
• Index of Authorities
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• Statement of Jurisdiction
• Identification of Issues
• Statement of Facts
• Summary of Pleadings
• Pleadings including the Prayer for Relief.

3. Rules for Oral Pleadings and Procedures

The competition shall consist of Preliminary, Semi-final & Final rounds. The
Moot Court problem for all rounds shall be the same.

3.1. Rules for the Preliminary Rounds

• All participating teams in the competition will be divided by the Organizers into groups,
depending on the number of teams participating.

• Teams shall argue cases against each other; the matching of teams will be decided by a draw of
lots prior to the commencement of the competition.

• During the preliminary rounds, each team will have the opportunity to argue both sides of the
case (applicant and respondent).

• Time allotted for arguments will be 10 minutes for the applicant and 10 minutes for the
respondent. Extra minutes will be given to answer questions asked by the judges.

• There will be time allotted for rebuttals. Each team will be allowed 2 minutes for rebuttals
during the preliminary rounds.

3.2 Rules for the Semi-Final Rounds

• The top four teams from the preliminary rounds shall qualify to participate in the semi-finals.
Selection will be based upon the assessment results of the written memorial and marks
awarded by judges for the oral presentations by teams during the preliminary rounds.

• The arrangement of teams selected for the semi-final rounds shall be as follows:

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• The team with the highest score in the preliminary round will compete against the team with
the lowest score.

• The team with the second highest score will compete against the team with the third highest
score.

• During the semi-final rounds, the teams will be required to argue twice; on behalf of both
applicant and the respondent.

• Each team will be allotted a total of 12 minutes to present its argument during the semifinal
rounds.
• There will be extra time allotted to respond to the questions posed by the judges, as necessary.
In each round, two minutes will be allotted for each team for rebuttal.

• Time limits shall be strictly followed.

• Written memorials marks will not be taken into consideration during the marking of
semifinal rounds. Only the marks awarded by the judges during the oral round of
presentation will be considered to select the finalists.

3.3. Rules for the Final Round

• The top two teams from the semi-final rounds will be selected to compete in the final round of
the Moot Court competition.

• The final round of the competition will take place during the second session of the final day of
the competition.

• The sides to be argued by the teams will be decided by a draw of lots prior to the
commencement of the final round of the competition.

• Each team will be permitted to speak for a total of 14 minutes during the final round. There will
be a warning bell at the end of 12 minutes and a final bell at the end of 14 minutes.

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• There will be extra time allotted to each team, as necessary, to respond to questions posed by
judges. Each team will have three minutes for rebuttal in each round.

4. Criteria for assessment

The assessment of the teams during the Moot Court competition shall be out of 100 marks,
divided as follows:

Written Memorials 30
Marks
Appreciation of Facts and Laws 15
Marks
Advocacy (Arguments, Framing of Issues, expression and articulation) 30
Marks
Use of Authorities and Citations 15
Marks
Question-answer and Court Manner 10
Marks
5. Facts of the Competition

The Moot Court Competition will be held on an issue of real set of facts connected to any
International Humanitarian law.

6. Appointment of Judges

6.1 There should be a Judges bench in every Moot Court session.

6.2 The Judges of the competition will be selected from the following categories:
• Academicians
• Serving or Retired Judges
• Senior advocates
• Legal practitioners/ Legal advisers to the Government/diplomats etc.
• University Teacher
• Judicial officials.

6.3 The Judges must be aware of the Rules and Regulation of the Competition prior to the
session.
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 6.4 The Judges must not have any conflicts of interest.

6.5 No Faculty Member, Team Coach or any other person who is directly affiliated with the
team or has any connection to the team can act as a Judge in any session of the
Competition.

6.6 The Bench of Memorandum shall be distributed to the judges for the purpose of briefing
them on the legal issues addressed in the Moot Court competition. The contents of such
are strictly confidential.

6.7 Judges of the Moot Court competition shall follow Rules, as follows: Judges shall follow the
time limit as closely as possible. Interventions are permitted at any stage of the oral
presentations. However, these interventions must be relevant to the issue and it is
suggested that these should be kept to a minimum.

6.8 Judges are encouraged to provide feedback to the teams regarding their performances, at
the completion of round.

7. Anonymity & Impartiality

7.1 Each registered team will be provided with a unique Team Registration Number (TRN),
which shall serve as their identification code for the Competition.

7.2 Once the teams have been provided with their TRN, the TRN will have to be mentioned by
the teams in all communication(s) with the Organizers. Please note that apart from the TRN,
the names or logos of their Colleges, Universities or Law Schools shall not be mentioned
anywhere in any communication(s) addressed to the Organizers.

7.3 It is also strictly prohibited to disclose the identity of the participant’s institution in both
the memorial and during oral arguments before the Judges.

8. Miscellaneous Rules of the Competition

• No electronic device, including (but not limited to) laptops, tablet computers, mobile
phones etc. may be used by any member of the teams during the course of the round,
including when the opposite team is addressing arguments. Teams are therefore advised
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 to ensure that the delivery of their oral arguments is not dependent on electronic
devices
• Upon completion of the competition, the organizing committee reserves the exclusive
right to use the memorials submitted to them, as they deem appropriate.

• Participating teams shall be expected to maintain the proper decorum of the courtroom
during the proceedings and shall conduct themselves in a manner befitting the legal
profession.

• The organizing committee reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to take appropriate
action for any unethical, unprofessional and wrongful conduct during the entire period
of the Moot Court competition.

• The organizing committee's decision as regards the interpretation of these rules or any
other matters related to the Moot Court competition shall be final and binding. If there
is any situation, which is not covered by these rules, the decision of the organizing
committee shall be final.

• The organizing committee reserves the right to amend, modify or repeal any of the rules
if so required and as they deem appropriate. Participating teams shall receive adequate
notice of any/all such amendments or modifications to the rules.

• The organizing committee shall not be held responsible for any loss or non-delivery of
the Memorials.

9. Accommodation and Travel

The organizing committee will not provide any TA/DA and accommodation to members
(Participants, Coach/Adviser) of the participating teams for the duration of the competition.

10. Clarification/Complaints

Any feedback concerning the organization or conduct of the Moot Court should be directed
directly to the Organizers. Formal complaints or suggestions for improvement of the
competition should be addressed formally, in writing, to the nilsbangladesh@gmail.com