RULES OF PROCEDURE

1. MEMORIALS
1.1 Submission of Memorials
(a) Each Team participating in the Competition must prepare one Applicant and one Respondent Memorial.
(b) Each Team must submit its Applicant and Respondent Memorials to the Executive Board by ____________.
(d) All electronic and paper copy versions (if any) of Memorials submitted to the Executive Board must be identical.

1.2 Memorial Formatting
(a) File Type: All parts of each Memorial must be contained in a single file. Memorials must be in Microsoft Word format and have a .doc or .docx file extension.
(b) Paper Size/Margins: All pages of the Memorial must be letter size, with margins of at least one inch on all four sides.
(c) Font and Font Size: The font and size of the text of all parts of the Memorial, excluding the Cover Page and page numbers but including the footnotes, must be in Times New Roman 12-point.
(d) Line Spacing: The text of all parts of the Memorial must 1.5 line spaced.

1.3 Memorial Content
The Memorial must contain the following parts in the following order:
(i) Cover Page;
(ii) Table of Contents;
(iii) Index of Authorities;
(iv) Statement of Jurisdiction;
(v) Questions Presented;
(vi) Statement of Facts;
(vii) Summary of Pleadings;
(viii) Pleadings; and
(ix) Conclusion/Prayer for Relief.

1.4 Cover Page
The front cover of each Memorial must have the following information:
(a) the name of the court (i.e., "In the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India");
(b) the year of the Conference (the year during which the PIL is filed);
(c) the name of the case; and
(d) the title of the document (i.e., "Memorial for Applicant" or "Memorial for Respondent").

Questions Presented
This is a short introductory statement of the legal issues or points of law involved in the case. It tells the judges precisely what legal issues the speaker wants the court to decide. These statements should be phrased to help one to argue for a particular conclusion rather than simply against the other side. These issues are stated in question form and should be phrased in such a way that it showed on its favor side. These issues are very short and not lengthy so as to make an individual understand the very essence of it. They are not more than one sentence. The sentence should start with 'Whether' and end up with the 'Question mark'.

Summary of Pleadings
This is a brief summary of arguments based on the issues raised. It is short introductory of issues mentioned in your memorial and each argument should not be more than one paragraph. It only shows what you are arguing for in brief.

Pleadings
This is the heart and soul of the memorial. Every part of the argument must be supported by legal authority. Arguments should be well-organized and convincing. Each point the team wants the court to consider in deciding the case must be described, the reasons explained with appropriate references to research materials used, and text citations should be inserted as frequently as needed. Arguments should address legal precedent and policy issues. Each part of the argument first addresses the issues supporting one's own case.

Then, address contentions anticipated to be brought up by the opposing party. The argument should be written in forceful, active, positive language. It is best to avoid the passive tense. Headings and subheadings are used to help in clearly organizing the arguments. The same structure of headings and subheadings should be summarized in the Table of Contents. The idea is to do everything in terms of both form and substance to help the court understand the reasonableness and logic of the argument, and thus decide in one's favor.

Prayer
It is the relief claimed by the parties which should be clearly mentioned. More than one relief can be claimed in one cause of action. Following the prayer signature of the council must be stated.
This acts as the ending of the Memorial. This clearly declares what an individual be it a petitioner or the defendant actually wants from the Court in his favor. This is the relief mentioning sentence, and in it the basic motive of filing the suit is mentioned through reliefs claimed.

1.5 Index of Authorities
The Index of Authorities must list all legal authorities cited in any part of the Memorial and must indicate the page number(s) of the Memorial on which each is cited.
Include in the Index of Authorities only those that the writer has incorporated, whether negatively or positively, in the memorial's legal arguments. To do otherwise evidences laziness, because the writer has shown no consideration how that authority supports the legal proposition under review. Judges are looking at how the teams use these authorities to develop legal analysis that leads to a conclusion. Double check to assure that the listing is correct. Otherwise, a memorial judge may regard the listing as deception rather than error.

1.6 Citation Requirement
(a) Footnotes must be used to identify the source of statements or propositions made in the body of the Memorial. Endnotes are not permitted. Footnotes may include substantive pleadings in addition to the text of the citation itself.

A citation (or cite) in legal research is a reference to a specific legal source, such as a constitution, statute, reported case, treatise, or law review article. One basic format of a legal citation includes the volume number, the title of the publication, the page or section number, and date.

Citation alone does make the legal argument. Writing legal citations follows thorough legal research. As you carry out your research, your notes should capture all the information you will need to write the necessary citations. The writer must explain what the cited authority is about and how it helps the court to decide the case before it. Moreover, the writer must explain what legal authority the cited case has. No case will be mandatory. The cases and other legal sources vary in degrees of persuasive authority, which depends largely upon who decided it, the circumstances, when it happened, and whether it was the result of litigation or arbitration.
Prioritize case law over scholarly writings to support the argument. Make sure that you cite the correct paragraph of the respective decision.

It is inappropriate and unprofessional to throw several citations into a footnote without understanding the relevance of that authority to the proposition made by the party. Never cite to a case without knowing the facts and circumstances of that case for relevance to your submissions.

In the Common Law practice of citation (which is increasingly used in international legal tribunals), a note may be added after the citation to further explain the relevance of the case to the argument. For example, "While Judge A gave a dissenting judgment; this did not find significant support from learned publicists." Or "The subsequent rejection of the applicant's case by the Supreme Court was founded on a different matter."

1.7 Memorial Evaluation The maximum score for each memorial shall be 100points. The memorials shall be evaluated on the following criteria:
Knowledge of Law and Facts: 30
Proper and Articulate Analysis: 20
Extent and Use of Research: 30
Clarity and Organization: 10
Grammar and Style: 10

FURTHER RESOURCES
http://pricemootcourt.socleg.ox.ac.uk/preparation/participant-overview/987-2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVLaUgT2-Qw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWsKHyW72VA
http://www.rmlscconlinemoot.in/media/Memorial%20Filed%20on%20behalf%20of%20Petitioner.pdf
https://www.lawctopus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Memorial-on-behalf-of-Petitioner.pdf

2. ADMISSIBABILITY
2.1 Admissibility of Petition
- Admissibility is generally a question of whether the respective Court has the jurisdiction or the power to take cognizance of the matter presented to the Court. Thus, if a dispute is non-legal or purely political, then the Court has no jurisdiction to entertain that case.
- On the other hand, admissibility of petition has an additional element of whether the dispute at hand is being agitated by the right means in front of the Court. Specifically, the following points must be noted:
1. A Writ Petition is filed to redress a violation of fundamental rights. As long as the petitioner can show that a fundamental right has been violated by an action of the State, the Writ is admissible. However, if there is no violation of rights, or a non-state actor violates the rights, a Writ cannot be filed.
2. A Special-Leave Petition (SLP) is filed when the Supreme Court uses its residuary powers to be exercised in cases where a substantive question of law involved or gross injustice has been done. Basically, the petitioner is asking for a special leave of the SC to argue a case, which has already been decided by the High Court. The Constitution of India under Article 136 vests the Supreme Court of India, the apex court of the country, with a special power to grant special leave, to appeal against any judgment or order or decree in any matter or cause, passed or made by any Court/tribunal in the territory of India. It is to be used in case any substantial constitutional question of law is involved, or gross injustice has been done.
- Initially, the two parties have to argue whether the petition filed is admissible or not, by proving that the elements required for admitting the said type of petition exist or not exist, as the case may be.

3. PRESENTATION
3.1 Questions of Law
It needs to be understood that a case reaches the SC only in two scenarios, ie. by appeal or in direct violation of fundamental rights. In the first case, the evidence has been taken and argued, and all facts have been studied critically at the lower levels of the courts, and what is left to be argued is only the points of law involved. In the latter case, the facts and law need to be argued together but the high level of certainty of evidence is not required. In any case, the SC only seeks to decide important and substantial legal issues. Therefore, the Counsels shall identify the legal questions involved in the case, and argue solely those legal issues.

3.2 Elements of Arguments
To be able to effectively argue legal questions, counsels usually use the following:
- Judicial decisions or precedents
- Opinions of legal authors (in personal law cases, other authorities or publicists of that law)
- Constitutional Assembly debates
- Other research studies to prove a certain fact
3.3 Rules of Presentation
3.3.1 We shall have hearings for each issue, lasting 2-3 hours on an average, following which we will switch to hearings for the other issue, and then switch back to the former issue and so on.
3.3.2 The floor-time and work is divided between the members of each team depends upon the discretion of the team, however we suggest equal distribution since harmonious teamwork is an important marking criterion.
3.3.3 Refer to the Judicial Panel as 'Your Lordships' or 'Your Honor' at all times. Utmost politeness is expected.
3.3.4 Judicial questions can be posed to the parties at any time and should be answered instantaneously.
3.3.5 Prepare a Compendium of resources you are using, viz. studies, reports, judicial decisions and judicial authors. Whatever resources you are using in your arguments, you shall put in a hard copy in a spiral-bound Compendium (prepared separately for each issue).