ICC MOOT COURT
RULES, PROCEDURE & GUIDELINES
THE MEMORIALS
Form and Length
1. The class shall be divided into two (2) teams. And, each team will choose their three mooters.
2. Each team shall submit two memorials for the Prosecutor and the Defendant respectively.
3. Each memorial (including body of the text, citations and footnotes) shall be typed with 1 line-
spacing, using ‘Times New Roman’ font in size 12. Citations must be in the body of the text or in
footnotes (not endnotes) and using a proper legal citation standard.
4. Each memorial (excluding cover sheets) shall not be less than 5000 words but not to exceed
6000 words in length in total, including titles and subtitles, citations, footnotes, endnotes,
sources, etc. Omitting space between individual words to circumvent the word limit would be
subject to mark deduction at the discretion of the Secretary/Assistant Secretary(ies).
5. Each team shall submit an electronic copy for each memorial via a single e-mail (to
attyedler@gmail.com) by 11:59 p.m., 5th of OCTOBER 2016, and must dispatch 4 hard copies
(2 for Judges, 1 for teacher, 1 for Opposing Team) of the same memorials via the College of
Law Department.
ORAL HEARINGS
Proceedings before the court
1. Each team shall consist of a first mooter, a second mooter, and a rebuttalist as designated by
the team.
2. Each team shall speak for no more than 35 minutes. The first mooter and the second mooter for
each team shall each speak individually for a minimum of 15 minutes.
3. Each team may reserve up to 5 minutes for rebuttal (in the case of a Prosecutor team) or
surrebuttal (in the case of a Defendant team).
4. The scope of the Prosecutor’s rebuttal is limited to responding to the Defendant's oral hearings,
and the scope of the Defendant's surrebuttal is limited to responding to the Prosecutor's
rebuttal.
5. Each team shall indicate at the beginning of its oral argument, how long each mooter will speak
and how much time it intends to reserve for rebuttal or surrebuttal.
6. The court may, in its discretion, extend the time for each mooter for good cause, provided that
the maximum extension of time granted to any mooter shall not exceed 5 minutes. In the Final
Round, the maximum extension of time granted to any mooter is at the discretion of the Court.
7. Time shall be kept by a Bailiff, who will indicate to each mooter by appropriate means when they
have: 5 minutes left; 3 minutes left, 1 minute left, to conclude their address forthwith.
8. The order of the oral hearings shall be:
1) Prosecutor’s lead/senior counsel;
2) Prosecutor’s junior counsel;
3) Defendant’s lead counsel;
4) Defendant’s junior counsel;
5) Rebuttal, if any (Prosecutor’s rebuttalist);
6) Surrebuttal, if any (Defendant’s sur-rebuttalist).
9. Every courtesy shall be given to mooters during oral hearings. Communication between team’s
members shall be in writing to prevent disruption, and teams and spectators shall avoid all
unnecessary noise or other inappropriate behavior which distracts from the argument in
progress.
1
GUIDELINES & ETIQUETTE
Before it all begins
- Be early for your moot. There is nothing that will get a judge offside more quickly than
forcing her to wait for a student.
- Instead, sway on the safe side and aim to be 5-10 minutes early. This has two distinct
advantages. First, if you are late you’ll be flustered and it will be difficult to calm down
and focus. Second, if you are early it gives you a chance to check out the room, scope
out the opposition, get all of your papers in order and generally relax.
- Dress? A dark suit (jacket and tie for boys, jacket and skirt for girls) is the optimal
mooting uniform.
Here we go…
- You should be seated at your place when the judge enters. Always stand up when
judge enters the room – they will generally give you a nod or an indication to sit.
- Sit quietly until the judge asks, “Can I have your appearances please?”
- Appearances? The first speaker for the prosecutor, appellant or petitioner will stand
up, walk to the lectern and say,
“May it please the Court. My name is Marion Isobel and I appear with my learned
junior counsel Alex Feros for the prosecution.
They then walk back to their chair and sit down.
The first speaker for the defense or respondent will then repeat that, substituting their
own info.
- Both teams should now be seated back in their places, and quietly waiting for the judge
to speak. The judge will then look to the appellant and say something along the lines of
“I will hear from you now”.
- The order of speaking is usually: Senior Counsel Prosecutor/Appellant, Junior Counsel
Prosecutor/Appellant, Senior Counsel Defense/Respondent, Junior Counsel
Defense/Respondent. Then, if the rules allow, there may be a right to rebuttal and sur-
rebuttal. Please keep in mind that the judge has the right to change any procedure she
wishes, so it is their prerogative to vary the order of speaking and ask to hear the
Respondents first. So be calm and be flexible.
The Introduction to your submissions. First speaker for either side.
- Introductions are the most important minute of your speech. They are also surprisingly
easy. They follow a simple format every single time:
1. Opening sentence – something catchy that goes to the heart of the matter.
Eg. Senior Counsel Prosection/Appellant
2
“Your Honour, this case involves the protection of vulnerable people from
harsh contractual terms. The law should afford protection to those who may
be taken advantage of.”
Eg. Senior Counsel Respondent
“Your Honour, it is a fundamental rule of contract law that people
should be held to their contractual obligations. A person cannot enjoy the
benefits of a contract and then attempt to avoid the responsibilities.”
2. Then move on to a road map
Eg.
“The appellant presents four main submissions. These are A, B, C and D.
I will be dealing with the first two of these submissions, A and B, and my
learned junior will present C and D. I will now move to my first submission
A.”
OR:
“The Defense presents three main submissions. These are A, B and C. I
will be dealing with the first two of these submissions, A and B, and my
learned junior will present C and D. I would like to reserve 2 minutes for
rebuttal. Unless the court would want a brief recitation of facts, I will now
move to my first submission A.”
- If you are the second speaker for either side, your introductions are less important.
You should smoothly continue from where the first speaker left off.
Body of the speech
This will be the main bulk of your arguments. Know exactly what you need to say and how
long it should take to say it. Keep an eye on the time and structure your submissions
accordingly.
Prioritise you arguments. Distil the essential arguments and make sure you cover all of
them. Don’t be afraid to let a point go. If you are really being hammered on a particular point
of law and you don’t know how to answer it, then it’s okay to say “I’m sorry Your Honour but I
don’t think I can help you further on that point” and then move on to a different submission.
Knowing when you are beaten is an impressive skill and it means you do not waste further
time on an unwinnable issue.
NEVER have your speech written out longhand word for word in front of you. You will be
dependant on it, you won’t make eye contact with the bench and you will get messed up the
moment the judge asks a question. Instead, just have a brief outline in front of you that you
can glance down at for structure.
Try having a sheet of paper in front of you that has a few words of summary about each
case you mention. That way if a judge asks what the facts of the case are, you can just
glance down and your memory will be refreshed. You MUST know the facts of every case
you bring up.
SPEAK SLOWLY - Speak clearly and slowly. Usually we all speed up when we are
nervous, so make a conscious effort to speak slower than usual.
3
Always flag where you are going. When moving from one submission to another,
actually say “And now I will move on to my second submission which is that B.”
Be flexible – the judge might not want to hear you on one or two points and may move you
around to areas of law they think are important. Keep an open mind and be prepared to be
shuffled around.
Be ready for questions from the bench – that’s what they’re there for.
When you come to your first case, give the full citation and then ask “Would you mind if I
dispense with full citations?” Usually the judge will tell you that’s fine and then you can just
refer to cases as “Prosecutor v. Tadic, an ICTY case”. You should also give an indication of
the way the judges fell on the issue – (majority judgment etc).
Answering Questions
- Don’t fear the questions from the bench, it allows the judge to let you know what they
think is important and exactly what they want to hear.
- You want to engage the bench in conversation. It gives you an opportunity to get
away from your rehearsed speech and speak candidly.
- NEVER speak over the judge – their mouth opens, your mouth closes.
- Most important – if questions can be answered with a simple YES or NO, then do so.
The ideal answer says yes or no first and then clarifies in a succinct, easy to understand
way.
Eg.
Judge: “But that case X is from the 1950’s – haven’t there been some more
recent cases that have decided on point?”
You: “Yes there has. There have been three cases since then – A, B and C – all
of which have approved the original. Indeed in B, the court held that “X was
a watershed case of it’s time.” Then transition back into your speech … “So
given its importance in this case, we submit that Mrs Penelope should not
be forced to …”
Conclusion
- If you are the first speaker, your conclusion will simply be to sum up your submissions
and introduce your junior counsel who will present C and D.
- If you are the second speaker, your conclusion needs to be more substantial. These are
the last words the judge will hear from you, so it is essential that they are clear, precise
and persuasive. You must sum up ALL of the submissions, both from the first speaker
and yourself and end with a sentence not unlike the first speakers opening sentence.
4
A LIST OF WHAT ALWAYS TO DO AND WHAT NEVER TO DO
ALWAYS
Practise your submissions out loud before presenting to the judge
Shine your shoes and brush your hair. Neat and professional are the key
words. Sway on the side of boring – anything that distracts from your
submissions is a bad idea.
Be 5-10 minutes early. Go in and take your seat – get organised and relax.
Speak clearly and slowly. Usually we all speed up when we are
nervous, so make a conscious effort to speak slower than usual.
Write and memorise an excellent introduction and conclusion. They are
the only two sections of your submissions that you can learn word for
word and recite.
Give them a roadmap in your introduction and flag where you are going next.
Answer questions with a YES or a NO if you can
Make a conscious effort to sustain eye contact with the bench. Even if a
judge isn’t asking many questions, still include them in your eye contact.
Prioritise between essential and non-essential points. Concede unwinnable
arguments.
Don’t waste time when your argument is weak.
NEVER
Never write out your whole speech. Only ever have a structural outline on
the lectern in front of you
Never avoid a judge’s question. Never say “Well Your Honour I was
going to deal with that question later, so I’ll get to that soon.” If they
have asked you, they want you to answer NOW – do not fob them off.
Don’t ask if the judge has any questions. If they have questions, it is their
prerogative to interrupt you whenever they want.
When asked a question, never say “With respect your Honour … the
answer is this”.
Just don’t do it – its rude. You would only ever say it when
disagreeing with something the judge said.
Never EVER speak over a judge. The moment they open their
mouth, you close yours.
Never speak with your partner while the other side is presenting. This is
just common sense – be courteous and respectful. Win or lose, go over
and shake their hands afterwards.
