AGISS National Moot Court Competition, 2022 ED. 1.0

AGISS NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022 ED. 1.0 (16^th December, 2022 – 18^th December, 2022)

INDEX

S.NO	DETAILS	PAGE NO.
1.	ABOUT AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE	02
2.	INVITATION TO TEAMS	04
3.	TIMELINE	06
4.	MOOT PROPOSITION	08
5.	RULES OF THE COMPETITION	11

ABOUT AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE is a think tank registered as a trust under the Indian Trust Act, 1882. This project of setting up a think tank was undertaken so as to fill the vacuum that has arisen in the field of Law, and the research shall also be conducted in 24 areas earmarked by the think tank for efficient and effective policy-making and providing support to the Governmental institutions, Schools, Colleges, Universities and so on and so forth.

In the various fields earmarked for research by the Think Tank, we have garnered support from various Academicians, Lawyers, Retired Judges, IT Experts, Business Executives, Doctors, Business people and so on.

The Aims and Objectives of the Think Tank are to enlighten people with different areas of research, to conduct studies in various fields and sectors, to organise conferences, and seminars, to organise competitions pertaining to the educational sector, to highlight work done by eminent people and to guide as to the Research required in the various fields of education.

The Think Tank shall also endeavour to prepare students for upcoming challenges in their area of educational interests with a specific focus on research, logical reasoning and leadership training programs for creating a better tomorrow as we believe that students of today are the future of the country.

AGISS Research Institute shall also work in conjunction with various Government bodies and Think Tanks so as to assist them in the field of research for the welfare of the people.

We are delighted to inform you that numerous distinguished people have already consented to be a part of the AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE and the details regarding the same are already available on the website. We extend warm wishes and humbly invite you to be part of our journey in the educational research arena and be a part of AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE.

AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Website: www.agiss.org

E-mail id: agissmootsociety@gmail.com

INVITATION

AGISS NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022. ED: 1.0

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Greetings!

AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE is gearing up to organise AGISS National Moot Court Competition, 2022. Ed:1.0

It gives me colossal pleasure to most genially invite your revered institution to participate in National Moot Court Competition, 2022 being tabulated by AGISS Research Institute on 16^th,17^th and 18^th December 2022.

The competition seeks to promote interest in the area of law by especially focusing on the Right to Life, Right to Privacy, Right of Unborn Child, Writ Petition and convergence of the same into civil, criminal and other laws.

The competition will indeed be an ideal forum to bring together some of the most stimulating and ingenious young minds, and thus we will together witness their mastery of advocacy and research to be adjudged by oracle in the Law field. We, therefore, expect the teams from paramount Law Schools from all across India and abroad to participate.

Your esteemed Law School/ Institution/ College is cordially invited to confirm participation up to the 05th of December, 2022 by applying via email at agissmootsociety@gmail.com.

We look forward to welcoming your team cordially to AGISS Research Institute, to take active participation in the National Moot Court Competition

With warm regards

Suvesh Kumar,

Advocate, Supreme Court of India

& Founder, AGISS Research Institute

LIST OF IMPORTANT DATES

S. No.	IMPORTANT DATES	SCHEDULE
i.	29^th October 2022	Release of Moot Problem, Invitation and Rules
ii.	1^st December 2022	Last date for submission of the Registration Form along with a scanned copy of transaction id. The registration amount is Rs. 3000/- per team.
iii.	5^th December 2022	Post-Dec 1, 2022 registration amount shall be Rs. 3300/- till Dec 5, 2022, as the last date of registration.
iv.	6^th December 2022	Last date of the approval of Teams by AGISS Moot Society with Team Code
v.	8^th December 2022	Last Date for Memorial Submission (soft copy)
vi.	11^th December, 202	Last Date for submission of hard copies of Moot Memorials
vii.	15^th December 2022	The draw of lots and Exchange of Memorials
viii.	16^th December 2022	Inaugural Session and Preliminary Rounds
ix.	17^th December 2022	Octa Round and Quarter Finals respectively.
x.	18^th December 2022	Semi-Final Rounds, Final Round and Valedictory Session

MOOT PROPOSITION

“The touch of children is the delight of the body; the delight of the ear is the hearing of their speech”. – The great Tamil Saint Thiruvalluvar

Kushan is a country whose social, legal, cultural, and economic conditions and systems are similar to that of India. Its constitutional structure is exactly the same as that of India. Kushan has a parliamentary form of government and is the epitome of the biggest democracy in the world. The governments are chosen every 5 years and the Parliament is bicameral, exactly like that of India.

Akash and Tara got married on 20.11.2020 in the city of Mahindra according to Hindu rites and rituals. Akash is in the Army and Tara is working for a foreign company she has a heavy travel schedule as she was in charge of a new unit being set up and will have to frequently travel abroad.

After marriage, both of them agreed to visit a doctor for family planning counselling and contraception as they did not want to have a child for at least 3 years.

Despite contraception within a period of 6 months, Tara had some symptoms so she took pregnancy tests. It was confirmed that she was 6 weeks pregnant. Tara informed her husband Akash regarding this and decided to go for an abortion but Akash, strangely, had developed some kind of affection for the unborn child, the moment he heard that Tara was pregnant.

Akash informed his family about Tara’s pregnancy and everyone started building pressure on Tara for giving birth to the baby and not going for an Abortion. They said the termination of pregnancy is like the murder of the foetus.

Tara was firm about her decision as she had work commitments and could not have a baby at such a crucial time. She was mentally not prepared to have a baby at this time, therefore, Tara decided to go for an abortion.

Upon reaching the hospital, Tara was asked to fill in a form which had a section where the husband’s consent was mandatory. Since, Tara’s husband wanted a baby, he did not consent to it and therefore, the hospital was not ready to perform the abortion.

Seeing no alternative, Tara approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Kushan for relief.

Examine the above case in light of the following questions :

1. Whether the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Kushan has the jurisdiction to entertain such a Petition?

2. Whether Tara has the right to Abortion without the consent of the husband?

3. Whether a mother has a right to abortion vis a vis the right to life of the unborn in lieu of her reproductive rights?

Abortions have been legal in India since 1971, but over the years authorities have made strict rules for who can terminate a pregnancy because of the abortions of millions of female foetuses, leading to a terribly skewed gender ratio in the country. Traditionally, Indians have shown a preference for male children over daughters.

The law has to take care of the liberty of the mother as well as the unborn. As a hospitable community, we should seek ways of providing support for lonely and frightened mothers, and for lonely and abandoned babies. We need to offer women with unplanned pregnancies as much love and support as they require and assist them in finding compassionate alternatives to abortion.

The apex court admitted the said Writ Petition and the matter is now posted for final arguments.

** Teams are free to frame more issues.

RULES GOVERNING NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022

The rules will be titled as ‘Rules for the National Moot Court Competition-2022’.

In case of any discrepancy/doubt, the decision reached by the Moot Court Committee shall be final. The Committee reserves all rights to prescribe/modify rules, procedure and overall layout of competition in such a manner as will be proper to conduct the competition in a better and more efficient manner.

Article 1: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Competition seeks to promote interest in the area of Law focusing especially on abortion rights and the right to life and the convergence of the same into General Law of the land.

To kindle, among law students, the interest in ever-expanding fields of law on the Right to information, this Moot Court Competition focuses upon the nature of information which is supposed to be revealed and made available for the public in the wider interest of the general public.

Article 2: THE DEFINITION CLAUSE

The following terms shall have the corresponding meanings unless otherwise specified:

1. “Applicant” means the side of the team which argues on behalf of the applicant at any given point of the competition.

2. “Memorandum” means a memorandum of the Laws and authorities concerning the competition problems.

3. “Case clarification & Correction” (hereinafter referred to as clarifications) means the official clarifications and corrections as communicated officially to the competition.

4. “Competition” means and includes the sum total of activities arising out of or consequential upon the National Moot Court Competition, 2022.

5. “Memorials” means the written submissions framed and submitted by a team in pursuant to the rules and admitted by Moot Court Committee.

6. “Moot Court Committee” (to be read hereinafter as MCC) for the purpose of this Moot Court Competition means the Committee as constituted for proper organisation and fair conduct of the competition including any other person authorised so to deal with all events, consequential upon or incidental to the competition.

7. “Official Team Contact Person” means the individual identified by the team during the registration process to acknowledge the receipt of official correspondence relating to the competition.

8. “Oral Pleading” means the pleading before a panel as explained under the Evaluation criteria for the evaluation of Written Submissions.

9. “Jury Panel” means the adjudicators appointed/ nominated by MCC for judging the performance of participants during oral pleading sessions of the Competition.

10. “Participant” means a person authorised by referring Institution and approved by Noida International University as eligible to participate in a Competition including the Moot Court Researcher.

11. “Penalty” means the consequence of the violation of any rule whether by way of deduction of a point or declaring disqualified and such a person would be referred to as penalized.

12. “Rebuttals” refer to the set of arguments/challenges that the applicant shall raise at the end of the main pleadings of all the orators. This shall be replied to in the appropriate manner by the respondent.

13. “Team Code” means the code allotted to a team to throw a draw of lots.

14. “Team” means the total of all registered participants representing any university or college allowed to participate in the competition excluding dummy /observer/ escort/ coach.

15. “Moot Court Observer” means a person entitled to witness proceedings of moot sessions, inaugural and valedictory functions and who is expected to use gained information/ knowledge only for his personal knowledge pursuits.

ARTICLE 3: ORGANISATION

The organisation of the competition will take place under the overall supervision and control of the AGISS Research Institute. For this purpose, The AGISS Research Institute has constituted a Moot Court Committee which has been authorised to conduct/ carry on all activities having a direct or indirect bearing upon fair conduct of the National Moot Court Competition 2022.

ARTICLE 4: ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION

1) The competition is open to all students enrolled bona fide on a regular basis as full-time learners in Undergraduate Law Programme (3 Year/ 5 Year)/pursuing LL.M or its equivalent Law degree conducted by any recognized institution / College/ University operative in/outside India.

2) Eligibility for becoming a team member-

Any person may become a team member

(i) If he/she is pursuing a Law Graduation Degree Course or pursuing a Masters’s degree in Law.

(ii) If he/she has formally applied to compete on behalf of an institution under which he/ she is enrolled as a full-time regular student.

3) Any number of teams allowed from one college/institute/university.

ARTICLE 5: TEAM COMPOSITION

1) Each team may comprise a maximum of two (2) and not more than three (3) members. The team composition may be of two (2) speakers only or of two (2) speakers and one (1) researcher. It is henceforth clarified, that if a participating team would be comprising of 2 members, then one of them shall also be appearing as a Researcher in the Researcher’s Test.

2) Once registered, a team will not be permitted to vary the composition of the team members in any manner. Changes, if any, may only be made with the express permission of the MCC (at their discretion), if the due reason is shown for the same.

3) Any changes with respect to the contact details shall be notified to the MCC with immediate effect. This obligation to inform shall continue throughout the course of the competition.

4) Each team will be assigned a specific code and each participant shall be given an individual code.

5) Teams shall not disclose their personal identity or their institution. Any disclosure of the aforementioned nature may invite penalties including disqualification. It stands within the competence of MCC to initiate any disciplinary action against any participant or to do anything to redress any grievance related to competition and participation therein.

ARTICLE 6: CLARIFICATIONS OR QUERIES

With the purpose to sort out any complication or doubt, teams may request clarifications by writing an email at agissmootsociety@gmail.com or may telephonically contact the persons designated as Coordinators and Conveners for Moot Court Competition, 2022.

ARTICLE 7: LANGUAGE

The medium of oral pleading and script to write memorials during the competition shall be English Language only.

ARTICLE 8: DRESS CODE

Participants shall be appropriately attired throughout the conduct of the competition (Inauguration, Oral Rounds & Valedictory) in the manner provided below:

Male(s) – White formal shirt with black formal trousers, a black blazer and a black tie; and

Female(s) – Western Formals (White formal shirt with black formal trousers/skirt and a black blazer) or Indian Formals (White kurta, black salwar and black dupatta along with the black blazer).

[Presence of collar bands in the attire detailed above is strictly prohibited.]

ARTICLE 9: REGISTRATION

* Please note that the moot court competition will be conducted in Online Mode

i. Procedure for Registration: The procedure for registration for the competition, is as follows:

a. Registration – Interested teams are required to register themselves to participate in the Competition by filling out a registration form. The link to the form is given below:-

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfqbNDquMXd3TWiY9HLWyr-qOiUCXjnTy–t-U2umEioXAVA/viewform?usp=sf_link

b. The teams are also required to mention the E-Mail ID of either the respective committee or the head/dean/mentor of the Institution in the Registration Form.

ii. The Deadline for the Online Registration – is December 1st, 2022 (Till 11:59 P.M. IST) without additional charges, and December 5th additional charges.

iii. Registration Fee – INR 3,000/- [Indian Rupees Three Thousand Only (Per Team)]

iv. The confirmation of Registration will be notified to the teams by the Organisers, after the completion and verification of the Registration formalities.

v. Payment of Registration Fee: The procedure for the payment of the Registration Fee shall be as follows:

All the teams shall be required to make a payment of INR 3,000/- (till December 1, 2022).

** Registration amount will be 3,300/- (Post Dec 1, 2022, till December 5, 2022, thereafter the registration shall be closed).

Payment Details are as follows :

AGISS RESEARCH INSTITUTE NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022 (16th- 18th DECEMBER, 2022)

ACCOUNT DETAILS:

Account Holder – AGISS Research Institute
Account no. – Current Account no. 326621010000045
Bank Name – Union Bank of India
Branch Name – Faridabad Greenfield Branch
IFSC Code – UBIN0932663

The last date for completion of all the registration formalities is on or before December 5th, 2022 (till 11:59 P.M. IST).

Prior information regarding the change in the composition of the team must be communicated in advance via email before or on 8^th December 2022.

ARTICLE 10: ABOUT ORAL ROUNDS

Rounds during the Moot Court Competition :

i. There shall be five rounds of argument(s) namely a preliminary, octa round, quarter-final, semi-final, and final round. The Octa round, Quarterfinals and Semi-Finals shall be the knockout round(s). Lots picked by the teams will decide the side of the arguments in the Preliminary, Octa round, Quarter-finals, Semi-finals & Final Rounds.

ii. Draw of Lots: The fixtures/match-up of teams in Preliminary Rounds shall be determined on the basis of the draw of lots.

iii. Preliminary, Octa and Quarter Final Rounds: Each side shall get a maximum time of 30 minutes to present their arguments of which no Speaker shall be permitted to address the Bench for more than 18 minutes. The time limit is inclusive of the time for Rebuttal or Sur-rebuttal respectively. The maximum time for Rebuttal is 2 minutes and the maximum time for Sur-rebuttal is 1 minute. Each speaker is required to speak for a minimum of 12 minutes exclusive of the time taken for Rebuttals and Sur-rebuttals.

Semi-final & Final Rounds

iv. Each team will get a total of 45 minutes to present their case.

v. The division of time is at the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 25 minutes per speaker. The division of time should be informed to the Court Assistants/ Clerks before the beginning of the rounds.

IMPORTANT DATES REGARDING THE COMPETITION

S. No.	EVENTS	DATES
1.	Preliminary Rounds	December 16, 2022
2.	Researcher Test	December 16, 2022
3.	The Octa Round & Quarterfinals	December 17, 2022
4.	The draw of Lots and Octa Round	December 17, 2022
5.	The draw of Lots and Quarter Finals	December 17, 2022
6.	The Semi-Finals & Finals	December 18, 2022
7.	The draw of Lots for the Semi-Finals & Semi-Final Round	December 18 2022
8.	The draw of Lots for Finals & Final Round	December 18 2022

vi. The qualification to the knockout stage (Octa Round) will be based on Win Points. In the case of a tie, the teams with the highest aggregate of scores are in the preliminaries (inclusive of memorial marks).

vii. A written test of one-hour duration to access the mooting research skills of Researchers will be conducted on December 16, 2022, online mode.

ARTICLE 11: MEMORIALS

The memorials have to be submitted in both soft and hard copy formats. The following requirements for memorials must be strictly followed. Any non-compliance shall attract penalties.

1) Each team must prepare memorials for both sides of the dispute (Petitioner and Respondent).

2) The briefs shall be consistent with the Supreme Court Rules, 2013.

3) Once the memorials have been submitted, no revisions, supplements, or additions will be allowed.

4) Six (6) hard prints of each of the memorials for Petitioner & Respondent reach to:

Mr. Suvesh Kumar, W 1503, Amrapali Sapphire, Sector-45, Noida-201301

5) Guidelines for Formatting :

i. Memorial Structure: The Memorial must contain the following contents in the order as stated below:

a. Cover Page – The Cover Page must be BLUE for the Petitioner and RED for the Respondent.

A penalty of 1 (One) mark per side shall be levied in case the team uses the wrong cover page in their Memorial. The Cover Page of the Memorial must contain the following information:

• The ‘team code’ in the top right corner.

• The ‘name’ and ‘year’ of the Competition.

• The name of the case (Case Title).

• The ‘side’ for which the Memorial has been prepared.

• Name of the ‘forum’ adjudicating the dispute.

b. Table of Contents

c. List of Abbreviations

d. Index of Authorities: The Index of Authorities must list all the authorities cited in the Memorial.

e. Statement of Jurisdiction

f. Statement of Facts: The Statement of Facts must contain a concise statement of the relevant facts to 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. Argumentative facts are prohibited. Statement of Facts shall not exceed 2 pages.

[Note: Non- compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark for each exceeded page.]

g. Issues Raised

h. Summary of Arguments: The summary of arguments should contain a summary of the substance of the arguments, and should not merely be the production of the various headings and sub-headings of arguments.

The Summary of Arguments shall not exceed 2 pages.

[Note: Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark for each exceeded page.]

i. Pleadings/Arguments Advanced: All legal arguments must be limited to the Pleadings/Arguments Advanced section of the Memorial. The Pleadings/Arguments Advanced must not exceed 20 pages.

[Note: Non- compliance will result in a penalty of 2 marks for each exceeded page.]

j. Prayer: The Prayer shall not exceed 1 page.

ii. Team Code:

The team code must be ascribed to the top right corner of the cover page. The code must be succeeded by the side for which the Memorial is prepared. The teams must use “P” for Petitioner and “R” for Respondent. For instance, in the case of Team Code being TC-100, the team must write “TC-100 P” in the case of Memorial for ‘Petitioner’ and “TC-100 R” in the case of Memorial for ‘Respondent’.

iii. Margin: The Memorial must maintain an equal margin of 1 inch on all sides.

iv. Basic compliance for Memorial: The Memorial (including the preliminary pages and excluding the cover page) shall adhere to the following mandatory specifications: Paper size: A4, Font type: Times New Roman, Font size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5, Body of text: Justified.

[Note: Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 02 marks for each side of the written submission.]

v. Footnotes:

The footnotes must be in font type: Times New Roman, Font size: 10, Line spacing: 1.0, Paragraph spacing: 0, no additional space between 2 footnotes and the body of text and Justified with a Uniform Style of Citation (Bluebook, 20th Edition) to be strictly followed throughout the Memorial.

[Note: Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 (One) mark per page.]

vi. Header and Footer: The font used for the header/footer, if any, shall be Times New Roman, size 10 with single spacing.

Article 12: EVALUATION OF MEMORIAL

i. Every memorial will be marked on a total of 100 marks and the team memorial marks will be the average of the total of both sides.

ii. The following shall be the marking scheme:

S. No.	Marking Criteria	Marks Allotted
1.	Knowledge of Facts and Law	20
2.	Proper and articulate Analysis	20
3.	Extent & Use of Research	20
4.	Clarity and Organization	20
5.	Correct Format & Citation	10
6.	Grammar and Style	10
	TOTAL	100

The performance of Moot Researchers shall be evaluated based on Written Test scheduled to be held on December 16, 2022.

Article 13: SCORING

The Marking scheme for the evaluation of the oral arguments shall be the following-

S. No.	Marking Criteria	Marks Allotted
1	Knowledge of Facts & Law	20
2	Logic and Reasoning to apply the Legal Principles	20
3	Ingenuity & Ability to answer questions	20
4	Time Management and Organization	20
5	Court Etiquettes/ Deference to the court	10
6	Persuasiveness	10
	TOTAL	100

Article 14: AWARDS, PRIZES AND CERTIFICATIONS :

i. Best Team Award: Rs 10000/- cash, perks, and certificate

ii. Second Best Team Award: Rs.7000/-cash, perks, and certificate

iii. Best Mooter Award: Rs. 5000/- cash and perks and certificate

iv. Best Memorial Award: Rs. 5000/- cash, perks, and certificate

v. Best Researcher Award: Rs. 5000/- cash, perks, and certificate

vi. Teams qualifying in Semi-Finals shall also be awarded Rs. 3,000/- cash, perks, and certificates.

Note:

Certificate of Merit shall be presented to all the Teams qualifying for the Quarter-finals Round.
In addition to Awards under the categories mentioned above, Certificates, as a token of appreciation, shall be distributed to all members of participating teams and all the volunteers.

Article 15: ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

i) The results of the Preliminary rounds shall be announced shortly after the completion of the rounds.

ii) The results of the Semi-Final Round(s) shall be announced shortly after the completion of each of the rounds.

iii) The winners of the competition will be finalized immediately after the Final round and their names will be announced during the Awards distribution Ceremony on 18^th December 2022 (Sunday).

Article 16: DISPUTES

The participants in the competition shall feel abided by the spirit of the competition and shall endeavor to conduct the activity according to the best of their ability and cooperation.
In case of any dispute or difficulty arising out of or during the competition, the Moot Court Society shall have the sole and absolute authority to remove such difficulty and resolve the dispute.
The marks given by the judges will be final and binding to both the teams for which the Moot Court Society is not answerable.

Article 17: DISCLAIMER

The Moot Court Competition is based on a purely fictitious problem, whereby the characters & the incidents or the course of events in the problem are completely imaginary and the same has no relation to any person living or dead or any past/present real-life incident. The Moot Court problem is made solely for the purpose to train the law students of India for the Bar.

Article 18: COPYRIGHT

i. The copyright over the memorials submitted for participation in the competition is assigned by participants and shall also vest completely in AGISS Research Institute, India. The participants shall certify in writing the originality of materials contained therein and shall be responsible for any claim or dispute arising out of the further use and exhibition of these materials.

ii. Further use and exhibition of these materials, electronically or otherwise, shall be the exclusive right of AGISS Research Institute 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 the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained in these materials.

NOTE:

All the rules are only inclusive and not exhaustive for the competition.
Rules should be strictly adhered to. Any deviation would be taken seriously and may be tantamount to the disqualification/ deduction of points.
In case of any discrepancy/doubt, the decision reached by MCC shall be final. The MCC reserves all rights to prescribe/ modify rules, procedures, and overall layout of competition in such a manner as will be proper to conduct the competition in a better and more efficient manner.
The imposition of penalties including disqualification rests solely with the organizers in case of failure to comply with the rule(s) and deadline(s).

FOR ANY QUERIES, THE PARTICIPANTS CAN CONTACT

THE MOOT COURT COMMITTEE

Ms. Pratishtha Majumdar: +91 97180 82959

Ms. Pooja Gautam: +91 84472 22165

Mr. Devesh Maurya: +91 98076 79324

Mr. Harshit Kiran: +91 94724 34013

Mr. Sahil Chaudhary: +91 83770 77542

Mr. Suvesh Kumar: +91 85870 12770

Or E-Mail with the subject “Query for National Moot Competition 2022” at agissmootsociety@gmail.com

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