DU DEBATE COMPETITION 2023 JUDGES BRIEFING

GENERAL RULES OF DEBATE

1. 3 speaking members per team in each round

2. A debate consists of 2 teams:
a. Side Government (Supports the topic)
b. Side Opposition (Opposes the topic)
● Judges are needed to evaluate the debate and to decide on the
winning/losing team based on persuasion and analytical rigour
3. The standard and maximum speech duration is 7 minutes.
● Debaters are allowed to speak for a shorter duration
● Debaters are not allowed to speak for more than 7 minutes.
4. Speaking order of debaters:

5. Speaker roles
 6. Prepared rounds

SCORING GUIDELINE

(the winning team must have higher total speaker scores than the losing team)
JUDGING GUIDELINES
A. JUDGES SHOULD:
● assess the merits of a proposed policy or solution separate from any
personal perspectives in relation to it
● avoid utilising personal knowledge that they might have of the topic
discussed
● avoid preferencing arguments or styles of speaking that match
personal preferences

B. HOLISTIC ADJUDICATION
● Adjudicators should adjudicate the debate that happened, as
opposed to the debate they might have expected/wanted to see.
○ Adjudicators should not step in to complete arguments, or
read into analysis not explicitly presented by teams
● Claims that are not backed up by any reasoning should be given less
weight
● Judges should take into account rebuttals/responses towards
material presented by opponent teams in crediting arguments