THE DIRECTORATE OF LEGAL STUDIES

CHENNAI

OFFICIAL RULES OF
THE STATE MOOT COURT COMPETITION
(2022 – 2023)

Prepared by

TAMIL NADU STATE MOOT COMMITTE

1. DEFINITIONS
a) Advanced Round refers to the Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final
rounds of the Competition.
b) Clarifications refer to the clarifications and corrections to the Moot
Problem/Rules issued by the Host College/Organizing Committee.
c) Competition refers to the State Moot Court Competition to be
conducted by the Directorate of Legal Studies.
d) Memorial refers to the written arguments (Hard / Soft Copies)
submitted, on behalf of both the Parties, in accordance with the Rules by
each team. Memorials may also be referred as “Written Submissions”.
e) Official Website refers to the website www.tndls.ac.in.
f) Oral Rounds refer to a team’s pleadings submitted orally by both
Speakers before the Judge(s) on behalf of either one of the Parties,
allotted by the Organizing Committee through lot and / or Fixture
system.
g) Organising Committee (“OC”) means the State Moot Committee for
the purpose of supervision of conducting State Moot Court Competition
and for the other purpose Host College shall be the organising
committee.
h) Plagiarism means and includes,
1. Representation of someone else’s ideas or words mentioned in
books, articles or any other sources as one’s own;
2. To present the content as new and original, which is derived
substantially from an existing source;
3. Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving due
credit or acknowledgment;
4. Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source
without giving credit;
5. Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up

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 the majority of a Memorial;
6. Taking printout of another’s memorials and submitting it as one’
memorial.

i) Rebuttal refers to the counter/arguments presented by the Petitioner in

response to the Respondent’s submissions, at the end of the main
pleadings of all the Speakers.
j) Researcher refers to that member of a Team specifically mentioned at
the time of registration, if it necessitates the researcher will be given a
chance to be a speaker at the discretion of the Organizing Committee.
k) Researcher’s Test refers to the written test conducted during the
Competition.
l) Rules refer to the rules postulated in this document and any other
Regulations, Instructions, Guidelines that the Organizing Committee
may from time to time issue.
m) Speaker refers to that member of the team who will make oral pleadings
before the Judge in the Oral Rounds.
n) Sur-rebuttal refers to counter argument presented by the Respondents
to the rebuttal.
o) Team Code refers to the unique code allotted to each participating team
for the purpose of this Competition by the Organizing Committee.p

2. INTERPRETATION CLAUSE
The State Moot Committee shall have exclusive authority to interpret the
Rules in the interest of fairness and equality. The interpretation placed
upon these Rules by the State Moot Committee shall be conclusive and
the decision of the State Moot Committee regarding the application of
these Rules shall be final and binding.

3. LANGUAGE
The State Moot Court Competitions will be held in English Language
only.
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4. ORGANISATION OF THE COMPETITION
The State Moot Court Competitions will be held under the aegis of the
Directorate of Legal Studies and the State Moot Committee between all
the educational institutions imparting legal education in the State of
Tamil Nadu. The proposition for State Moot Court Competition (SMCC)
may be prepared either by the State Moot Committee or by the host
college. In case the host college prepare the proposition for the SMCC, the
same has to be send to [email protected] and approved by the State
Moot Committee before it is released to the participants.
The State Committee will upload the proposition in the official website
of Directorate of Legal Studies. Any changes in the rules will be
uploaded as an addendum in the official website of the Directorate of
Legal Studies www.tndls.ac.in. All the materials pertaining to the moot
court and the memorials become the sole property of the Directorate of
Legal Studies.

5. STATE MOOT COMMITTEE

The State Moot Committee shall be nominated by the Director of Legal
Studies from time to time. There shall be Chairman, Co-Chairman,
Member Secretary, Members not exceeding five shall be appointed by the
Director of Legal Studies. The State Level Moot Court Committee shall
supervise the conduct of the State Moot Court Competition.
6. STRUCTURE OF THE MOOT
i. All the educational institutions imparting legal education in the
State of Tamil Nadu will be officially invited to participate in the
State Moot Court Competition.
ii. The preliminary rounds, the quarter final round, the semi-final
round and the final round will be conducted by one of the
Government Law Colleges that is selected for the purpose of
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 conducting the State Moot Court Competition.
iii. The moot will be held through offline mode only except in extra-
ordinary circumstance warranting, holding of Moot through
Online mode at the discretion of the organising committee.
iv. It is the discretion of the Host College to decide upon taking part
in the same competition to be conducted by them.
v. Apart from the Government Law Colleges, on a “first come first
serve” basis maximum 10 educational institutions imparting
legal education in the State of Tamil Nadu shall be allowed to
take part in the State Moot Competition.

7. RESEARCHER’S TEST
i. Participation in the Researcher’s Test is mandatory for all teams and
failure to participate may result in disqualification of the team.
ii. The researcher nominated by the institution through the registration form
will be allowed to write the researcher’s test.
iii. The duration of the Researcher’s Test shall be ONE hour and may
include both multiple choice as well as subjective questions. The number
of questions, type, etc., shall be at the discretion of the Organizing
Committee/Host College.
iv. The objective of the researcher’s Test is to test the knowledge of the
laws involved as well as the factual details of the Moot Problem and the
application of the relevant laws to the circumstances in the Moot
Problem.
v. Researcher’s Test shall not be conducted in the open book format i.e.,
notes, bare acts, books or any other material or electronic aid shall not be
permitted during the test.
vi. On the basis of the score in the researcher’s test the best researcher will
be selected.

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 8. PRELIMINARY ROUND

i. The procedure of the preliminary rounds begins with the draw of

lots on the day fixed by the Organizing Committee/Host College.
ii. Each team will be given 30 minutes to present their oral pleadings
and no additional time shall be provided. The teams can reserve 2
minutes for Rebuttal and Sur-rebuttal each from their allotted 30
minutes. The time reservation shall be made before the
commencement of each round. The same must be notified to the
court officials nominated by the organizing committee.
iii. In the preliminary rounds there shall be two rounds fixed on the
basis of the lot picked by each team.
iv. Fixture will be in such a way that in the preliminary rounds each
team will argue on both the sides against different teams.
v. Each Speaker in the team shall be assessed separately and the
consolidated score with the marks of the memorial shall be the
score of the team for preliminary rounds.
vi. The individual scores of the speakers in both the preliminary
rounds excluding the memorial marks shall be the deciding marks
for selecting the Best Speakers of the Moot Competition.

9. QUARTER FINAL ROUNDS

i. Top 8 teams on the basis of the marks obtained in both the
preliminary rounds together with the memorial marks shall qualify
for the Quarter final rounds.
ii. The Quarter final shall be a knock out round, where the side for
pleading shall be determined on the basis of draw of lots and / or
Fixtures.
iii. Each team will get a minimum of 40 minutes to argue from the
allotted side, including 3 minutes’ time that shall be reserved for
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 Rebuttal and Sur-rebuttal each.
iv. The time reservation reserved for Rebuttal and Sur-rebuttal shall be
before the commencement of the round. The same must be
notified to the court officials nominated by the organizing
committee.
v. Time-extension for a maximum of 2 minutes may be granted to each
team at the discretion of the Judges.

10. SEMI- FINAL ROUNDS

i. The winning teams of the quarter finals will qualify for the semi-final
rounds.
ii. The semi-final shall be a knock out round, where the side for pleading
shall be determined on the basis of draw of lots and / or Fixtures.
iii. Each team will get a minimum of 40 minutes to argue from the allotted
side, including 3 minutes’ time that shall be reserved for Rebuttal and
Sur-rebuttal each.
iv. Time-extension for a maximum of 3 minutes may be granted to each
team at the discretion of the Judge.

11. FINAL ROUND

i. The winning teams of the Semi Final Round shall qualify for the Final
round.
ii. The side for pleading shall be determined on the basis of draw of lots and
/ or Fixtures.
iii. Each team will get a minimum of 40 minutes to argue, with an additional
5 minutes for Rebuttal and Sur-rebuttal each.
iv. Time-extension for a maximum of 5 minutes may be granted to each team
at the discretion of the Judge.
v. In case of tie the memorial marks shall be considered.

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12. PROHIBITION OF SCOUTING / ELECTRONIC GADGETS
Scouting in any form and the use of electronic gadgets during
the oral pleadings are strictly prohibited and if any team indulge in
such act shall be terminated from the competition.

13. PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY

i. All the educational institutions imparting legal education in the State
of Tamil Nadu are eligible to nominate their Under graduate students
for participation in the State Moot Court Competition.
ii. No Registration Fee for a team to participate in the State Moot
Court Competition.
iii. The team from the educational institutions imparting legal
education in the State of Tamil Nadu other than Government Law
Colleges can participate on their own expenses.
iv. All the team members have to be students pursuing their 3years / 5years
Bachelor’s degree in law. The year of study has to be mentioned while
registering for the competition along with the copy of the college ID
card and a Bonafide certificate signed and sealed by the Head of the
Institution.
v. Only one team is eligible to participate representing the institutions.
Soliciting in any form with regard to team allotment will strictly lead to
disqualification from the competition.
vi. A team code will be allotted to each team by the moot organisers. The
same shall be the identity for all the correspondence.
vii. Provisional registration is permitted from the date of the announcement
of the competition till the subsequent 10 days.
viii. The Registration shall be done by sending Hard and Soft Copies of
the Registration forms to the Host College.
ix. Once the Registration form submitted the acknowledge mail will be
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 sent within two working days by the Host College to the respective
teams.
x. The team comprising of 3 members is mandatory. While registering for
the competition, it is mandatory to nominate two speakers and one
researcher. The host will not entertain any change in the nomenclature of
Speaker-1, Speaker-2 and researcher as nomination by the Participating
team at the time of Provisional Registration, except under extraordinary
circumstances at the discretion of the Organizing Committee/Host
College.
xi. All Team members and Faculty-in-charge are advised to regularly
check the official website / E-mails of the organizing committee for any
updates on the competition.

14. DRESS CODE

The participants shall adhere to the following dress code while in
the court rooms:
 Gentlewomen: White salwar and kurta with black bottoms
or white shirt and black trousers along with a black blazer
and black shoes.
 Gentlemen: White shirt, black trousers, a black tie, a black
blazer / coat and black shoes.

15. NON-DISCLOSURE CLAUSES

i. The Name of the institution shall not be revealed and the team has to

refer themselves with the team code throughout the competition.

ii. Team must not reveal the identity of their institution to the Judges at

any time during any round. All instances of such disclosure shall be
treated as Disqualification of the team.
iii. The host college should not reveal the name of the participating

institution.

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16. CLARIFICATIONS
Teams may request for corrections and clarifications in the moot
problem by submitting a written request to the email ID provided by
the Organising Committee/Host College on or before the date
mentioned in the official notification. All the clarifications will be
collated and the response will be provided vide a mail on the date as
specified by the Organising committee/Host College to all the
participating Colleges. No further clarifications shall be entertained
after the said date.

17. DECLARATION OF RESULTS

The declaration of results for each round will be declared within a
maximum time limit of One hour. The results declared by the organizing
committee shall be final and binding.
18. SUBMISSION OF MEMORIALS

i. Each team participating in the event must prepare memorials on

behalf of the Petitioner / Appellant / Applicant / Plaintiff side and
Respondent / Opposite Party / Defendant / Other side.
ii. The cover page of the memorials shall be blue colour in the case
of Petitioner / Appellant / Applicant / Plaintiff side and pink
colour in the case of Respondent / Opposite Party / Defendant /
Other side memorial.
iii. Team code shall be printed in the Top Right corner of the cover
page.
iv. And the team code shall not be reflected anywhere other than the
cover page of the respective memorials.
v. The soft copy of the memorials in PDF format shall be submitted
to the Email ID of the organizing committee.

vi. The soft copy of the memorial forwarded within the dead line to the

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 email of the organizing committee shall be final and binding. The
same shall not be altered, changed for any reason at any point of
time.

vii. The five hard copies of the memorials for each side shall be soft
bounded & submitted in person to the organizing committee on the
date specified by the organizing committee. The extra hand copies
for the team has to be kept by themselves. In event the hard copies
submitted to the Organizing Committee shall not be returned to the
teams concerned.

viii. The Soft copy and the Hard copy of the memorial submitted shall
be the same and identical in all aspects. If any change is found, then
the memorial shall be rejected and no marks shall be awarded.

ix. After the deadline for memorial submission, the memorials that
are forwarded to the email ID will be subject to a penalty of 2
marks for each day of delay.

19. MEMORIAL FORMATTING

i. All parts of each Memorial must be contained in a single file.

ii. Memorials shall be submitted only in PDF format. Memorials that

do not confirm to this Rule shall not be accepted.
iii. All pages of the Memorial must be A4 size, with margins of at least
one inch on all four sides.
iv. The Memorial shall be in typewritten. The following content
specifications shall be strictly adhered to:
1. Language: English
2. Body Font & Size: Times New Roman, 12
3. Line Spacing: 1.5 [The spacing need not be followed for the
Cover Page, Tabular Column, Header or Footer]
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 4. Footnotes Font & Size: Times New Roman, 10
5. Line Spacing: 1.0
6. Paragraph Spacing: None
7. No additional space between footnotes
8. Substantive Footnoting is strictly prohibited
9. Alignment (Body & Footnotes): Justified Margin: 1 inch on all
4 sides
10.Citation Method: The Bluebook / Harvard Law Review, 20th
edition. / ILI / A Uniform System of Citation.
v. Memorials submitted for the competition will be subject to
plagiarism check.
vi. The Memorandums shall not contain any Annexure / Appendices,
Photographs, Sketches, Exhibits, Affidavits, etc.

20. MEMORIAL STRUCTURE

Each Memorial shall not exceed 35 pages (A4 size), inclusive of cover page,
and shall contain the following sections:
i. Cover Page (shall include, Cause Title, Forum / Court,
designation as Petitioner or Respondent Memorial).
ii. Table of Contents.
iii. Index of Authorities.
iv. Statement of Jurisdiction (strictly restrict to 1 page).
v. Summary / Statement of Facts (strictly restrict to 1 page;
argumentative Statement of Facts shall be penalized).
vi. Issues Raised.
vii. Summary of Arguments / Pleadings.
viii. Arguments Advanced / Written Pleadings.
ix. Prayer.

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21. COMPENDIUM

i. All relevant case laws and statutory material to be passed on to the

Judges during the Oral Rounds may be submitted in the form of a
Compendium to the organizing committee during the submission of
the hard copies of the memorial.

ii. The teams have to keep a hand copy of the compendium for their
reference during argument before the judges. In event the
compendium submitted to the Organizing Committee shall not be
returned to the teams concerned.

iii. Participants shall ensure that anonymity is not violated in the

compendium.

iv. If any mark, name, seal, symbol or logo of the institution / college is
present, participants must ensure that the same is properly shaded to
maintain anonymity. Violation of anonymity shall result in immediate
disqualification.

22. ASSESSMENT OF MEMORIALS

The memorials shall be assessed out of 100 marks, by a team of experts
nominated by the organizing committee on the predetermined criterion,
as specified here under:
Content Marks

Clarity of Facts 15
Incorporation of Facts into the arguments 20
Use of Authorities / Precedents 20
Knowledge and interpretation of applicable laws 20
Grammar and Style of presentation 10
Originality 10
Appropriate Relief Prayed 05
Total 100

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 23. ASSESSMENT OF ORAL SUBMISSIONS
Team performance of the orators shall be judged in all rounds on the basis
of following criterion
Content Marks

Knowledge of the Facts 10

Knowledge of the applicable law 10
Interpretation of facts and Law 20
Argumentative Skills 15
Clarity of Thoughts and Expression 15
Courtroom Conduct 10
Ability to response to the questions 10
Overall presentation style, poise and demeanor 10
Total 100

24. AWARDS AND HONOURS

a) Certificate of Merit: The winner of the Final Round shall be
declared as the “Winner” of the competition and shall be awarded a
certificate of merit and winner trophy.
b) Runner’s Up: The other team that made it to the Final Round shall
be declared “Runners up” and shall be awarded a certificate of merit
and runner trophy.
c) Best Speaker: Best Speaker (separately for Boys and Girls) shall be
determined on the basis of the highest average marks obtained
individually in the preliminary rounds excluding the memorial
marks and shall be awarded a certificate of merit and a best speaker
trophy.
d) Best Memorial: Best Memorial shall be determined on the basis of
the highest marks obtained in the memorial, and shall be awarded a
certificate of merit and trophy.
e) Best Researcher: Best Researcher shall be determined on the basis

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 of the highest marks obtained in the in the Researcher Test, and
shall be awarded a certificate of merit and trophy.
f) Certificate of Participation: Every participating team shall be
awarded a “Certificate of Participation”. “No Certificate of
Participation” shall be granted to those teams who failed to submit
the memorials in accordance to the rules.

25. Accommodation, Food and Travel Allowance

Accommodation will be provided only to the team of
Government Law Colleges. The other teams can participate on their own
expenses.

i. Accommodation (on sharing basis) to the participating team members

of Government Law Colleges will be provided by the Organizing
Committee/Host College on the request of the teams.

ii. No additional member shall be accommodated under any

circumstances.

iii. The accommodation shall be subject to the conditions imposed by the

Organizing committee/Host college.

iv. Food and snacks shall be provided for the participating team members
at the venue of the competition.

v. The registered team members of Affiliated Government Law Colleges

alone will be provided with travel allowance on the basis of actuals by
submitting travel tickets of the bus or train from the studying
institution to the venue of the Moot competition.

vi. In case of train travel the maximum permissible limit for travel
allowance is second class sleeper.

vii. In case of the bus travel the maximum permissible limit for travel

allowance is Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation sleeper coach.

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 viii. The travel allowance for the return journey is as that of the onward

journey.

ix. The local transit from the place of accommodation to the venue of the

Moot competition will be arranged if necessary by the Organizing

Committee/Host college on the timing fixed by them. The teams

shall adhere to the timings of the organizing committee, failure on

which, teams have to make their own arrangements.

26. CODE OF CONDUCT:

i. No team members shall indulge themselves in any act of
misconduct which is unbecoming of a student.
ii. No team members shall indulge in any misconduct in or outside the
premises and precincts of the venue including the place of
accommodation and transits.
iii. The acts or omissions of any team members undermining the
credibility of judges or that of the competition is also misconduct.
iv. Any behavior of indiscipline with the organizing committee/Host
college or any other staff member or student volunteer of the
venue, damage to the property or goodwill of the institution shall
be dealt with strictly.
v. No team shall ask for feedback immediately on completion of any
round. Any attempt to approach the framer of the moot problem or
judges of the competition, prior to the competition shall lead to
appropriate action by the Organizing Committee/Host college.
vi. Any form of scouting during the Competition is strictly prohibited
and shall entail disqualification of the team.
vii. Committing of any misconduct by any of the team members shall

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 lead to immediate disqualification of the team. The organizing
committee/Host college shall recommend to the appropriate
authority for disciplinary action.

27. RULES FOR VIRTUAL MODE

Only during Extraordinary circumstances when the physical moot
is not possible, Organising Committee can prefer virtual mode. The
rules and regulations for the virtual mode will be issued at that
time.

28. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

i. In case of any dispute arising out of the interpretation of the
Rules, or otherwise, the decision of the Organizing Committee
shall be final and binding.
ii. The State Moot Court Competition 2022 - 2023 shall be
conducted as per the above mentioned Rules. However, the
Organizing Committee has powers to amend, vary, alter, modify,
the Rules in the event of any exigencies. The same shall be Final
and binding upon the Participating Teams. Further, the decision
of the Organizing Committee of concerning the conduct of the
Competition is final and the same shall be binding upon the
Participating Teams.

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