THE RGNUL

FRESHERSINTRA MOOT
COURT COMPETITION
RULES, 2016

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

THE RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016

CHAPTER I-PRELIMINARY
1.

Short Title and Commencement

(1) These Rules may be called the RGNUL Freshers Intra Moot Court Competition
Rules.
(2) It shall come into force on the day as shall be notified by the RGNUL Moot Court
Committee.
2.

Definitions

Unless otherwise provided, the words used in the rules shall construed as hereinafter provided
a) Administration means the administration of the University and shall include
decisions of the committee.
b) Aggregate Score means {Average Marks (Speaker 1) + Average Marks (Speaker
2) + Memorial Score } Penalty.
c) Batch means Batch of 2016.
d) Committee means the RGNUL Moot Court Committee.
e) Competition means the RGNUL Freshers Intra Moot Court Competition.
f) Draw of Lots means the picking up of chits by the Teams in order to determine the
fixture of the competition.
g) Hard Copy refers to the printed version of the written submission submitted to the
committee.
h) International Moot means all international competitions with or without national
or regional level qualifying competitions
i) Moot Proposition means the case or the fact sheet released by the committee for
the purpose of the competition.

Page | 2

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

j) Moot Court Competition means various moot court competitions, regional,

national or international, organized by various colleges, universities and institutions in
and outside India wherein the University shall be represented.
k) National Moots means as all national competitions except competitions in Punjab
l) Team means as per Rule 5 of the Competition.
m) Oral Pleading Rounds means the oral pleadings presented by the Teams before
the judges.
n) Regional Moots means competitions being organized by any university/college in
Punjab [Does not cover qualifying rounds of international moots]
o) Rules mean the RGNUL Freshers Intra Moot Court Competition Rules, 2016.
1) Scouting means witnessing or attempt to witness another courtroom proceeding
before or after its rounds.
p) Soft Copy refers to the electronic version of the written submission mailed to the
committee on rgnul.rmcc@gmail.com.
q) Team Code means the unique code that shall be provided to the registered Teams
after the registration and shall be used by the Teams for all further communication.
r) University means Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.
s) Written Submission means the document prepared by the Team in accordance
with Rule 10.
3.

Interpretation

The interpretation placed upon these Rules by the Committee shall be conclusive. The
decision of the Committee regarding the application of these Rules shall be final and binding
on all the participating Teams of the Competition.

Page | 3

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

CHAPTER II ELIGIBILITY AND TEAM COMPOSITION

4.

Eligibility for Participation

Every Student of the University of Batch of 2016 who is pursuing B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) and is
not barred by any administrative order to represent University at any Moot Court
Competition shall be eligible to participate in the Competition.
Provided that nothing in the said clause shall prohibit the student from participating in the
Competition if the any action is pending or the penalty so imposed have been waived off on
or before the last date of registration.

Page | 4

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

CHAPTER III FORMAT AND REGISTRATION

5.

Team Composition for the Competition

There shall be a three member Team. The Team so constituted can register itself of 2
Speakers and 1 Researcher. Once registered no change in composition shall be allowed.
Registration of Team
(1) The Team shall register themselves as a three member Team.
(2) The Team shall register itself by sending an e-mail torgnul.rmcc@gmail.com in the
following format:
a. Participant 1:
Participating as:
Phone No.:
Email id:
b. Participant 2:
Participating as:
Phone No.:
Email id:
c. Participant 3:
Participating as:
Phone No.:
Email id:
Each Team has to register itself on or before the stipulated date as notified by the
Committee.

Page | 5

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

6.

Format of the Competition

(1) The Batch of 2016 shall be given a Moot Proposition.

(2) Each Team shall be allotted a side as either an Appellant or a Respondent for which
the written submissions would have to be made
(3) The Oral Pleading Round shall be conducted for all the Teams.
(4) The Appellants shall be put up against the Respondents, through a draw of lots for the
purpose of oral rounds.
(5) Publication of Final Result and Allotment of Moots: Notwithstanding anything
contained in these Rules, the final result published at the conclusion of the
Competition shall consist of a consolidated list of all the Teams ranking , which
subject to the RGNUL Moot Court Allotment Rules(2016-17) will be considered for
all future purposes.
7.

Allotment of Sides

The Teams which have been successfully registered shall be allotted side from which they
will have to prepare Written Submission as well as prepare Oral Arguments.
8.

Allotment of Team Code

Every Team registered for the Moot Court Competition shall be allotted a unique code which
shall be used by it for any further communication with the Committee.

Page | 6

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

CHAPTER IV WRITTEN SUBMISSION

9.

Written Submission

(1) The written submissions shall be submitted by the Teams of one side only allotted
after the registration.
(2) The written submission shall be submitted in soft copy as well as hard copy.
(3) Written Submission is mandatory for all the Teams.
10.

Parameters for the Written Submission

(1) Qualifying Marks: Each Team will have to score a minimum of 30% marks in
written submissions to be eligible for allotment of any Regional Moot. Team scoring
less than the aforementioned criteria would be automatically disqualified from any
participation.
(2) Printing: The Memorial must be in English, and must be printed on both sides of A4
size sheets, in black ink. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark.
(3) Margin: The Memorial must maintain an equal margin of 1 inch on all sides. Noncompliance will result in a penalty of 0.5 marks per page.
(4) Font, size and line spacing: The text font should be Times New Roman, size 12 and
must be in 1.5 line spacing. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 0.5marks per
page.
(5) Footnotes:The footnotes must be in font Times New Roman, size 10 and singly
spaced.

The

Bluebook:

Uniform

System

of

Citation

(19th

Edition)

[APPENDIX]should be followed in the memorial throughout. Non-compliance will

result in a penalty of 1 mark per page.
(6) Header and Footer:The font used for the header/footer, if any, shall be Times New
Roman, size 10, 1 spacing. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 0.5marks per
page.
(7) The Memorial must contain all of the following sections:

Page | 7

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

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 Raised;
h. Summary of Arguments;
i. Arguments Advanced/ Pleadings;
j. Prayer
Non-compliance with respect to sections (a) to (h) and (j) will result in a penalty of
1 mark for each missing section. Non-compliance with respect to section (i) will
result in the Memorial not being considered for evaluation at all.
(8) Cover Page:The Cover Page of the Memorial for the Plaintiff/Petitioner/Appellant
must be Blue and the Defendant /Respondent must be Red/Pink. Non-compliance will
result in a penalty of 2 marks for each violation.
The Cover Page of each memorial must contain the following information:
a) The Team Registration code in the upper right-hand corner. The format of
the registration code shall be notified later.
b) The name of the forum before which the proceedings are being conducted;
c) The year of the Competition;
d) The name of the case;
e) The

Title

of

the

Memorial

(either

Memorial

for

Plaintiff/Petitioner/Appellant or Memorial for Defendant/Respondent).

Page | 8

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark for each deviation.

(9) Index of Authorities:The Index of Authorities must list all the authorities cited in the
Memorial. The Index must indicate the page number(s) and/or the paragraph
number(s) of the Memorial in which the authority is cited.
(10) Statement of Facts:The Statement of Facts must contain a concise statement of the
relevant facts of the dispute. As far as may be, the Statement of Facts should be
limited to the stipulated facts and legitimate inferences which can be drawn from
those facts. Statement of Facts shall not exceed 2 pages. Non-compliance will result
in a penalty of 1 mark for each exceeded page.
(11) Summary of Pleadings:The Summary of Pleadings should contain a summary of the
substance of the arguments, and should not merely be a reproduction of the various
headings and sub-headings of arguments. The Summary of Pleadings should not
exceed 2 pages. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark for each
exceeded page.
(12) Arguments Advanced:
a. All legal arguments must be limited to the Pleadings/Arguments Advanced
section of the Memorial. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 2 marks.
b. The Pleadings/Arguments Advanced and Prayer must not exceed 18 pages.
Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark per exceeded page.
(13) Substantive/Speaking footnotes are strictly prohibited. Non-compliance will result in
a penalty of 1 mark per substantive citation.
(14) The aforementioned page limits are inclusive of footnotes.
(15) The memorials must be e-mailed in MS Word format (doc.) and PDF format to
rgnul.rmcc@gmail.com on the notified date. Non-compliance of either will result in
a penalty of 1 mark.
(16) Teams are required to submit 3 (three) hard copies of the memorial from the side
allotted by the committee on the notified date. Non-compliance will result in a
penalty of 3 marks per copy not submitted.
Page | 9

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

(17) Binding of Written Submission: Since the University encourages eco-friendly

practices hence, it is recommended that the Teams bind their written submission with
thread or staple the pages and tape the same or use any eco-friendly method of
binding. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 2 marks per copy submitted.
(18) Late Submissions: If the Team fails to submit the soft copy of the written
submission; and hard copy of the written submission within the time as stipulated by
the committee, such Team shall be disqualified.
(19) The written submissions shall be marked on the parameters which are laid down under
Schedule I of the Rules and as determined by the committee.

Page | 10

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

CHAPTER V ORAL ROUNDS AND RESEARCHERS TEST

11.

Oral Pleading Rounds

(1) The Team shall be marked out of maximum of 100 marks.

(2) Qualifying Marks: Each Team will have to score a minimum of 50% marks in the
oral rounds to be eligible for allotment of any moot. Team scoring less than the
aforementioned criteria would be automatically disqualified from any participation.
(3) Each Team shall be allotted a maximum time of 30 minutes inclusive of time for
rebuttals and sur-rebuttals. Each speaker shall be given minimum 12 minutes and
maximum 16 minutes. The rebuttals and sur-rebuttals shall be maximum 2 minutes
(4) Extra time shall be at sole discretion of judges.
(5) The oral rounds shall be marked in accordance with the marking criteria as provided
under Schedule II of the Rules and as determined by the Committee from time to
time.

Page | 11

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

CHAPTER VI PENALTY
12.

Written Submission Penalty

All penalties in relation to the written submissions shall be deducted in accordance with Rule
10 and 11 under Chapter IV.
13.

Difference between hard copy and soft copy of Written Submission

If there exists difference between the Soft and Hard copy of the written submission, then such
Team shall be disqualified from the competition.
14.

Scouting

No Team shall be allowed to hear or see the Oral Rounds of any other Team until the Oral
Round of that Team is completed.
15.

Punishment for Scouting

If any Team is found indulged in Scouting, it shall be disqualified from the Competition.
16.

Punishment for use of Unfair Means

Any person or Team found indulging in use of any unfair means during the course of
competition shall be punished with disqualification from competition and a ban of one
academic year or two semesters whichever is later from participating in any Moot Court
Competition.
Provided that no punishment under this Rule shall be levied unless an opportunity to present
his/her case is given to the accused.
17.

Punishment for Violation of any Rule

All deductions under Rule 10 and 11 shall be made from the aggregate score of each Team
(except deduction under Rule 10 (18); which shall be made from the memorial marks) and
shall not be more than 15% of the Aggregate Score.
Any person or Team found in violation of any other provisions of these Rules or any other
Rules made by the Committee for the Competition shall be liable with punishment of not less
Page | 12

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

than deduction of 10% of his/her aggregate score but not more than deduction of 20% of
his/her aggregate score.
Provided that if the person is a habitual offender under the Rules then such person or Team
shall be punished with a deduction of not less than 15% of his/her aggregate score but not
more than 30% of his/her aggregate score.

Page | 13

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

CHAPTER VII MISCELLANEOUS

18.

Determination of Ranks

The rank of the speaker shall be determined on the basis of the aggregate of the marks
awarded in the oral rounds and written submission including penalty.
The rank of the researcher shall be determined on the basis of the aggregate of the marks
awarded in the researchers test and written submission including penalty.
19.

Clarification

Any Team having any doubt regarding the moot proposition or registration or any other rule
shall mail the same to rgnul.rmcc@gmail.comon or before the date as shall be notified by
the committee. In case of any discrepancy the decision of the committee shall be final and
irrevocable.
20.

Copyright

The copyright with regard to the memorials submitted for the participation in the Competition
is assigned by participants and shall also vest completely and fully withthe committee. The
participants shall certify the originality of the memorials and the materials used and shall be
responsible for any claim or dispute arising out of further use and exhibition of these
materials.The committee shall have the right to publicly display, distribute either
electronically or otherwise and they shall not be responsible for any liability to any person for
any loss caused by errors or omissions in this collection of information, or for accuracy,
completeness or adequacy of the information contained in these materials.
21.

Power to Amend or Alter Rules

The rules mentioned herein are not exhaustive. The committee reserves the right to alter,
amend or add to the rules mentioned herein at any point of time. All decisions made by
committee in case of any disputes, doubts or related issues shall be final and binding.
Imposition of all penalties including disqualification rests solely with the committee in case
of failure to comply with the rules mentioned herein.

Page | 14

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

22.

Contact Details

In case of any queries or clarifications regarding the competition feel free to mail your
queries at rgnul.rmcc@gmail.com
23.

Dress Code

The participants shall adhere to the following dress code when present in any court room
during the Competition.
a. Ladies: White salwar and kurta or white shirt and black pant or skirt along with
black coat and black shoes; and
b. Gentlemen: White shirt, black trousers and black tie along with black coat and
black shoes.
24.

Language

The language of the Competition shall be English.

Page | 15

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

SCHEDULE I

Marking Criteria

Maximum Marks Allotted

Original Thought, Correct format and

20

citation

Knowledge of Law and Facts

20

Proper and Articulate Analysis

20

Clarity, Organization and Grammar and

20

Style

Extent and Use of Research

20

TOTAL

100

Page | 16

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

SCHEDULE II

Marking Criteria

Maximum Allotted Marks

Knowledge of Law

20

Application of Law and Facts and

20

reference to written submission

Ingenuity and Ability to Answer Questions

20

Style, Poise, Courtesy and Demeanour

20

Organization and Flow of Arguments

20

TOTAL

100

Page | 17

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

SCHEDULE OF COMPETITION

DATES

EVENT

9th August, 2016

Release of Moot Proposition

12th August, 2016

Last date for registration of Teams

15th August, 2016

Last date to send request for clarifications

18th August, 2016

Release of Clarifications

24th August, 2016, 11.59 PM

Last date for submission of soft copy of

memorials

26th August, 2016, 3-4 PM (Moot Court

Last date for submission of hard copy of

Committee Room)

memorials

3rd September, 2016

Date of the RGNUL Freshers Intra Moot

Court Competition, 2016

Page | 18

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

APPENDIX
BLUEBOOK (19thed.) CITATION FORMAT EXAMPLES
(FOR FOOTNOTES)
GENERAL RULES

Times New Roman, Size 10, 1 line spacing, Justified.

Add full stop after every footnote.

Months should be written in abbreviated forms: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June,
July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Tables given at the end of the Bluebook should be referred to for abbreviated forms.
Eg. Abbreviations of geographical terms, periodicals, publishing terms etc.
I. BOOKS

Volume No. (if any) NAME OF AUTHOR, TITLE OF THE BOOKpg. cited (Editors/Translators
Name, edition cited year).
Eg:

2 FREDERICK POLLOCK & FREDERIC WILLIAM MAITLAND, THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH

LAW205-06 (2d ed. 1911).

CHARLES DICKENS, BLEAK HOUSE49-55 (Norman Page ed., Penguin Books 1971)
(1853).
Rules & Exceptions

Follow the font format as has been illustrated above, for e.g. name of author must be
in SMALL CAPS.

The first name must always be written before the surname.

For two authors, write both their names separated by &.

Page | 19

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

In case of citing a book that has been edited, write ed. or eds. after the name of
the editor. If translated, write trans. after name of translator. If both, then first write
editors name and then translators name.

For more than two authors, editors or translators write the name of the author, editor
or translator that appears first followed by et al.

Do not add p or pp before the page number. Just write the numerical.

In case the book is being published by more than one publishing house, write the
name of the publisher cited after the name of the editor in sentence case.
II. JOURNAL ARTICLE

a) For consecutively paginated journals (Where the periodical is organised by volume and
page numbers continue throughout the volume, it is a consecutively paginated periodical)
Name of Author, Title of Article, Journal volume no. ABBREVIATION OF JOURNALPage on
which Article Begins, Page Cited (Year).
Eg.

Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 YALE L.J. 733, 737-38 (1964).
Rules & Exceptions

For two authors, write both their names separated by &.

For more than two authors write the name of the author that appears first followed by
et al.

b) For non-consecutively paginated journals (works appearing in periodicals that are

separately paginated within each issue)
Name of Author, Title of Article, ABBREVIATION OF JOURNAL, date of issue as appears in the
cover, at first page of work, page cited.
Eg:

Page | 20

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

Barbara Ward, Progress for a Small Planet, HARV. BUS. REV.,Sept.-Oct. 1979, at 89,
90.
III. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Authors name, Name of Artcile/ news report, ABBRV. OF NAME OF NEWSPAPER,
Month Date, Year, at pg. no.

Eg.

Ari L. Goldman, O'Connor Warns Politicians Risk Excommunication over Abortion,

N.Y. TIMES, June 15, 1990, at A1.
IV. INTERNET

(When an authenticated official or exact copy of source is available online, citation can be
made as if to the original print source without any URL info appended.)
Name of the Author, Name of article, INSTITUTIONAL OWNER OF DOMAIN (Month date, year,
time), URL.
Eg:

Eric Posner, More on Section 7 of the Torture Convention, THE VOLOKH CONSPIRACY
(Jan. 29, 2009, 10:04 AM), http://www.volokh.com/posts/1233241458.html.
Rules & Exceptions

Format for time as illustrated.

Dont write available at or at before the URL.

Write the entire URL as appears in the address bar of the browser, remove hyperlink.
V. CASES

a) U.S. cases:
First Party v. Second Party, Reporter Vol. No., Reporter Abbrv., First Page of Case, Specific
Page Reference (Year).
Page | 21

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

Eg:

Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 60 (1986).

b) Indian cases:
Case name, (year of reporter) Vol No. Reporter Abbreviation, First page (year of decision if
different from year of reporter (India, if not evident from context)
Eg:

Charan Lal Sahu v Union Carbide, (1989) 1 S.C.C. 674 (India).

Reporters that depart from this format shall be written in their own format.
Eg:

Jabalpur v. Shukla, A.I.R. 1976 S.C. 1207 (India).

Rules & Exceptions:

Do not italicise the case name.

If there are more than one parties, list only the first party.

Italicise the procedural phrases, for e.g., In re, Ex parte etc.

VI. STATUTES

a) U.S. Law
Official name of act, U.S.C. title number Abbreviation of Code cited, sections symbols and
span of sections containing statute (Date of Code edition cited).
Eg:

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C.

9601-9675 (2006).

b) U.S. Constitution

Page | 22

-RGNUL INTRA MOOT COURT COMPETITION RULES, 2016-

Abbreviation of Constitution cited Abbreviation for Amendment No of amendment cited,

section symbol and no. of section cited.
Eg.

U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, 2.

LA. CONST. art. X, pt. IV.

c) Indian Law
Act name, Act No., Acts of Parliament, Year of Volume (India, if not evident from context).
Eg:

The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1992, No. 13, Acts of Parliament, 1992 (India).

d) Indian Constitution
Eg:

INDIA CONST. art. 1, cl. 2.

VII. SHORT FORMS

DICKENS, supra note 2.

Reich, supra note 3, at 739.
Id. at 740.
SOURCE: The Bluebook A Uniform System of Citation Nineteenth Edition

Page | 23