What is a moot court?

Artificial courts for the law students are called moot courts. It is a kind of a debate on the
specific case decided by the court or specific subject or issue or an imaginary case prepared for
this purpose. It is an extracurricular activity organized at many law colleges in which students
take part in mock court proceedings that involve drafting memorials and speaking at oral
argument.

It is a great method of learning law and legal skills that require the students to analyze and argue
both sides of a hypothetical legal issue using procedures. Mooting is considered a specific form
of stimulation in which students are asked to argue points of law before a stimulated court. Moot
court, however, does not involve actual testimony by witnesses or the presentation of evidence,
but is based solely on the application of law to a fabricated legal issue.

The Moot problem is designed to argue before the appellate form because in most colleges they
are conducting National level or International Level moot courts where judges pretend to belong
to the Supreme Court or International Court of Justice. In fact, the moot problem can also be
designed to argue before the trial court. Practically, it is done rarely.

Where to get started in a moot problem

The best way to start a memorial is to read the problem as many times as you can and clear up
your basic regarding the topic involved in proposition. A lot of reading skill is required. Your
initial reading will give you a lot of insight as to how to go about the entire research and then
accordingly members can divide their work.

Firstly, issues should be decided and divided among team members. It is very important to
maintain a constant coordination regarding the research involved and keep on discussing various
lines of arguments. It will make the work easier for all the team members and then all members
can carry out their work accordingly.
Every moot, like every court proceeding, has two sides, the appellants and the respondents.
Usually you have to prepare for both sides. A Moot team comprises of, generally, 2 speakers and
1 researcher.

Every moot has 2 aspects you are judged on. They are:

– Written submission called the memorial

– Oral submission

The written submission of memorial must contain the following things. The facts have to be
arranged in the following manner. They are:

• Cover page
• Table of contents
• Table of abbreviations
• Index of authorities
• Statement of jurisdiction
• Statement of facts
• Issues raised
• Summary of arguments
• Arguments advanced
• Prayer

Cover page
The cover page of each written submission of Memorial must have the following information:

The name of the forum before which the proceedings are being conducted;
The title of the competition;
The name of the case;
The Title of the Memorial (“Memorial submitted on behalf of the Plaintiff or Petitioner or
Appellant” or “Memorial submitted on behalf of the Defendant or Respondent or Respondent”).
The cover pages must be Blue for Plaintiff or Petitioner or Appellant and Red for Defendant or
Respondent or Respondent.
Plaintiff (Blue) v. Defendant (Red);

Petitioner (Blue) v. Respondent (Red);

Appellant (Blue) v. Respondent (Red);

The upper right side of the cover page must contain the Team Code that shall be assigned to each
participating teams during Registration. Names of Participants, or Colleges or Universities
should not to be mentioned anywhere on the Written Submission of Memorial (you should check
the specific rules regarding this though).

Table of contents

It contains a list of chapters and paragraphs that are included in the memorial. We can also
mention page numbers of chapters and paragraphs. By mentioning page numbers it will be easy
for the judges and speakers to find out the mentioned arguments. The argument is the most
complex part of the brief. Therefore, the headings and subheadings used within the argument
section should also be listed in the Table of Contents with the corresponding page number.

Index of authorities

In this all the materials which support your argument have to be added. The authorities of
Supreme Court and High courts, foreign judgments, statutes, and parliamentary debates are
mentioned under the index of authorities. Sources refer through articles, text books, journals, and
websites are also mentioned. This is not only helpful for the speaker but also useful for the judge
and other side speaker to easily determine what case laws, constitutional provisions, statutes or
other materials are being cited. Uniform citation method has to be followed. Citation is crucial
part of memorial; it should be in correct format. Citation helps to determine from where the
certain cases, statutes or other materials have been taken. It gives easily reference to the judges
from where certain part has been taken.
List of abbreviations

It should contain all the abbreviations used in your memorial. Each abbreviation should contain
the full meaning and in whole memorial same abbreviation should be followed. It is also
necessary for the speaker to know what abbreviations they are citing in their memorial.

Statement of jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the most important part of memorial. The jurisdiction of the court should be
clearly mentioned with the reason. Finding the proper jurisdiction is very important. Judges
surely ask questions and thereby it is important to know the jurisdiction of the court.

Statement of facts/ Synopsis of facts

These statements of facts/ synopsis of facts are an important part in memorial presentation. It
generally convinces the court about your client’s position and its point of view. A judge may be
well versed in law but he doesn’t know about the facts of your particular case. So, a brief
summary of facts have to be written clearly in the beginning of the memorial but generally it
should not be more than two pages. Knowing of facts in brief is very necessary, so it is important
for a speaker to go through the facts carefully and only relevant facts should be mentioned in
your memorial. Facts should not be uninteresting. It should be in a manner that a person enjoys
reading and it proves on your side. The facts should not be assumed one; it should be real as
given in the proposition.

Statement of issues

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 arguments
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.

Arguments advanced

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.