13th January 2012

Dear Convenor / Co-Convenor,

[center]Sub: Invitation to attend The All India Convenors Conference 2012[/center]

National Law Institute University-Bhopal, in association with Surana and Surana International Attorneys, and our Media Partner Legally India, will be conducting an All India Convenors Conference. Convenors and Co-Convenors of various Moot Court Associations from across the country will be present at NLIU-Bhopal on 24th and 25th March 2012 to discuss and deliberate upon various aspects of Moots and Mooting that need overhauling, alteration or standardization. The primary purpose behind conducting this conference is to standardize moot formats across the country. It is our opinion that there exists no perfect mooting format in India at this point in time. We intend to formulate, after intense discussions, a near perfect model that ensures that the best teams win. It is proposed that a resolution be drafted in the course of the conference, which will be signed by all the Convenors, and widely circulated among all law schools. Of course, the resolution will be merely recommendatory in nature.

Since Convenors from various institutions across the country will already be present, it is a good opportunity to discuss other issues pertaining to moots and mooting as well. Some of these matters that can be discussed are:

[ol]

[li]Ensuring maximum participation by timing Moots based on the academic calendars of the various institutions.[/li]

[li]Create a standard scoring parameter that accounts for subjectivity in marking by high scoring and low scoring judges.[/li]

[li]Organize Annual pre-Moots to improve India’s performance at the International rounds of Moots like Stetson, Jessup, Manfred Lachs and Vis (east and west).[/li]

[li]Organize Annual ‘Moot Camps’, to be rotated between various law schools, where aspiring and budding mooters (limited number from each University) will get to interact with pro-mooters (seniors and pass outs) in a non competitive atmosphere that will be both fun and helpful.[/li]

[li]Create uniform email IDs for easy communication between law schools and moot organizers.[/li]

[li]Create a database of prize winning memorials that are easily accessible to all, in order to increase the overall quality of research and memorial drafting.[/li]

[li]Generate a list of necessary legal databases so that Convenors can try to ensure their availability on their respective campuses.[/li]

[/ol]

This list is not exhaustive and any other item may be added to the agenda, at the discretion of the Convenors attending the Conference.

Note:

[li]The Convenor and Co-Convenor (or the 2 senior most members, by whatever designation known) of each University’s Moot Court Association (or Moot Committee by whatever name known) are invited.[/li]

[li]Each University will have to pay a registration fee of Rs.500 (covers 2 representatives) towards the Conference. The payment can be made after your arrival at NLIU. [/li]

[li]Accommodation will be provided to 2 members from each University (23rd evening to 26th morning)[/li]

[li]All meals will be provided to all the representatives at the Conference.[/li]

[li]Pick up and Drop facility to and from the station/airport will be provided.[/li]

[li]Each University is encourage to make a presentation (using a ppt if you so wish) elaborating their ideas and views. Kindly note that the presentation is purely optional.[/li]

[li]An All Star Moot Round involving experienced champion mooters from the past is also planned.[/li]

[li]Certificates and mementos acknowledging their role in this event will be awarded to all participants of the Conference.[/li]

We, NLIU as well as Surana and Surana International Attorneys, would be honoured by your presence at this event to make it a grand success. We hope for strong participation from all the Universities so that the Conference can have a substantial impact on Mooting in India. If you will be participating in the conference, [color=#ff0000]please send an email to ([/color][color=#ff0000]mca.nliu[at-the-rate-of]gmail[dot]com[/color]) confirming the same. Also, please send in your travel details (arrival and departure from Bhopal) as soon as possible. We look forward to hosting in March.

Please find below a short note on the existing Moot Formats in India. The note is meant to give you a background to enable you to criticize, support or form new views on these formats, which possibly need some tweaking and standardization across the country.

Regards

—

Bishen Jeswant

Convenor

Moot Court Association

National Law Institute University, Bhopal

+91 9993706654

[center]---------------------[/center]

[center]A BRIEF NOTE ON THE EXISTING FORMATS[/center]

THE TWO WINS FORMAT

With a few exceptions, most Moots have 8 teams progressing from the prelims into the next stage, i.e. the quarter finals. One of the methods for determining these 8 teams is the “Two Wins” format. All teams argue from both sides in the prelims, and the teams that manage to win both their rounds progress to the next stage. If there are less than 8 teams on two wins, then the teams on one win (with preference given to the teams that have scored higher points) are considered. If there are more than 8 teams on two wins, the top 8 teams in the order of points scored in the prelims go through. Though, the format seems simple and straightforward, there are a couple of problems:

If the best team in the competition faces the second best team in the competition in one of the preliminary rounds, the second best team is likely to be eliminated at this stage itself. This logic is applicable not only to the top two teams, but to any of the top 8 teams. The end result is that the eight teams qualifying into the quarters need not necessarily be the best 8 teams in the competition.

Another problem kicks in when there are more than 8 teams on two wins. Let us say there are 10 teams on two wins. It is very possible that the best team of the competition is 9th on the list due to the lack of uniformity in scoring. Some judges give high scores, while others give lower scores for an identical performance. Though less critical, this subjectivity in marking obviously comes into play even when there are less than 8 teams on two wins.

THE CUMULATIVE SCORE FORMAT

An alternative to the “Two Wins” format, the “Cumulative Score” format is used in a very small minority of Moots. According to this system, the top 8 teams are selected based on their cumulative speaker scores from the two preliminary rounds. Sometimes, the cumulative score includes not only the speaker scores, but even the memorial scores. The eight teams with the highest cumulative scores progress to the quarters. The problem with this format:

The problem with this format has actually already been explained above. Different judges have a different range or scale of marking. If Judge A award 80 marks for certain performance, another Judge B may have given him only 70 for the same. Thus, sometimes the fate of teams is decided by which courtroom they pick. In this format it often happens that a team loses two rounds, yet progresses to the next stage on the basis of having been marked by a high scoring judge.

THE BEST SPEAKER AWARD

In both these systems, for the above mentioned reason of subjectivity in marking, the best speaker award is also often a lottery, won by a speaker who happened to argue in a high scoring courtroom. Of course, this error is never glaring because a good speaker will always win the award, but not necessarily the best.