M em orial Writin g (2 ) Research

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 1

 Using Library and other Info

Primary
— sources-the law itself

• Constitution· Cases· Statutes · Administrative

regulations · Municipal codes and Ordinances

Secondary sources-books,
— articles etc.

• Treatises · Books · Dictionary

• Law journals/review articles · Encyclopedias ·
Law Reviews · Magazines · Newspapers

Online
— sources-(open and
paid/subscription) Lexis, Westlaw,
Manupatra etc

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 2

 Most prominent Websites
SCR
 There are many more
SCC ONLINE

INDIAN KANOON

JUDIS
LEXISNexis INDIA

MANUPATRA

WESTLAW INDIA

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 3

 Effective Research-tips
Find
— an authoritative/heavyweight textbook covering
the key point(s) of law--Textbooks- are useful as a
starting point

L—ook for leading authorities (this will mostly be case

law)

L—ook in subscription databases (online)/get access to

physical copies of the Reporter/s

•A
—s you go along make a list of:

• full case citations

• textbook author/title brief details
• keywords-save any useful search results to a pen- drive or e-mail
search results to yourself

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 4

 Using Books

Don’t
— cite text books as
final authority, unless
necessary

R
—eference to articles and
even books (complete
reliance on them) can be
made only if there is no
decided case on that point

Prioritize
— case law over
scholarly writings to
support the argument

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 5

 Citing cases

—eported judgments become citations

R

• T—hey are reported in the official magazines like SCR, SCC or AIR

Unreported judgments
— are not reported in official
reporters. They are MOSTLY available on websites though

Do
— not mention several citations into a footnote without
understanding the relevance of that authority

Never cite
— a case without knowing the facts and
circumstances of that case

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 6

 Do n o t …

Do
— not expect to find a reported case
that comprehensively determines the
law in your favour!

Moot problems
— are designed to be
‘arguable’ for both sides-they are
specially formulated most of the times
to ensure application of mind

So, there may not be any decision

—
waiting to be found. Even if you find a
very similar case –there might be
points that differ

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 7

 Structure/Outline

Meaning: Conceptualization
of the sequence in which
information should appear
in your memorial
• —Golden rule of effective legal
writing: logic in your arguments
should stand out.
• —So before you take up actual typing,
think…organize your thoughts…

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 8

 Coherence is
Important
Check
— your sentences for verbosity-nothing
irritates the reader/judge more

Paragraphs should form a coherent

— whole-one
paragraph should ideally concentrate on one idea

—eep language simple

K

•—
Some teams sprinkle their memorials with foreign terms.
Use Latin or foreign words or phrases sparingly, and only
when legally relevant. Overuse is confusing

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 9

 Footnoting Styles
 B e co n s istent in whatever you
follow…
• OSCOLA
• JILI
• B l u e Book

 E a c h book/ article reference

should ideally provide:
• n a m e of author or creator;
• year of publication;
• title of resource;
• place of publication; n a m e of publisher
• cit at ions for electronic resources should include web
address ( U R L ) and the date that the resource was acce sse d
Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 10
 Triple Mantra to using
outside sources
Q u o t i n g is when you copy a source
word for word, exactly as it ap p ears
in a text , a n d pla c e those words in
quotation m a r k s .

Pa r a p h r a s i n g restates the
information from a source, using
your own words.

S u m m a r i z i n g includes briefly
restating only the main idea s of a
source, using your own words.
Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 11
 Quotation: What to D o ?
“ M a n y w h o l ive, d e s e r ve d e a t h b u t m a n y wh o die
d e s e r ve l i f e … c a n yo u g ive it t o t h e m ? N O . Do n o t t h e n
be to o e a g e r t o d e a l o u t d e a t h in j u d g m e n t f o r e ve n
t h e wise c a n n o t f o re te l l a l l e n d s . ”
L o r d of t h e R i n g s , J R R Tolkie n
 U s e q u o t e s only w h e n :
# when l a n g u a g e is especially vivid or expressive
# when exa c t wording is n e e d e d for tec hnic al a c c u ra c y # when
rephrasi ng it would lose impac t
 P u t b o r rowe d e x p re s s i o n i n q u o t a t i o n marks,
e s p e c i a l ly if it is a u t h o r ' s u n i q u e way of s ay i n g
something.

 A c k n o w l e d g e in Fo o t n o t e and
B i b l i o g r a p hy
Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 12
Paraphrase: What to D o ?

As Tolkien says, we s h o u l d n o t be h asty in

c o n f e r r i n g d e a t h s e n t e n c e s for we are
i n c a p a b l e of g i v i n g l i fe to t h o s e wh o deserve i t .
 U s e your own words (too m u c h of both theoriginal
wording a nd original sentence structure is still
plagiarism)
 U s e attr i butive tags /a simple introductory phrase
 D o not simply fit your own sy n o ny m s into the author' s
sen ten ce structure.
 A c k n o w l e d g e in Footnote and Bibliography

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 13

 Summarise: What to D o ?
Death Penalty (or Capital
P u n i s h m e n t ) s h o u l d be u s e d
sparingly for it involves taking
something we cannot give.

 U s e your own words but shorten the

expression
 A c k n o w l e d g e in Footnote and
Bibliography
Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 14
When do you cross the
line?
Co p y i n g
verbatim from a source, without
acknowledgement

Making small changes - for example

replacing a few verbs/adjective with a
synonym, without acknowledgement in the
footnote/bibliography

Cu t t i n g
and pasting by using sentences of
the original but omitting one or two and
putting one or two in a different order with
no quotation marks; without an in -text
acknowledgement or bibliography

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 15

 Finalize and Proofread
Edit and proofread :
—
Typos, bad grammar,
and poor structure
and flow will cost you
credibility.

Ensure all cases and

—
laws you refer to are
properly cited…AND
• Sources duly acknowledged—
NEVER PLAGIARIZE

Update
— it, if required

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 16

 That’s it
 So much of it can be learnt only while you are at it

 Get on with it

 Good Luck!

Dr. Sunanda Bharti, Faculty of Law, DU-- for Moot 10/30/2023 17