The Rules
1. The 4th Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot (2006) (the “Competition”) shall be run under the auspices of an Advisory Board, which shall have the power to:
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co-opt members;
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appoint a Secretary and Assistant Secretary to administer the Competition;
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appoint judges; and
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amend and apply these rules as it thinks fit.
Composition
2. The Competition shall be open to not more than one delegation from each participating institution.
3. Each delegation shall send one team of two students. Each participating institution may also opt to include one student as a researcher (the “Researcher”) in its delegation.
4. Each delegation will represent either the Applicant or the Respondent. The roles of Applicant and Respondent will be allocated by means of a random draw conducted by the Advisory Board on or before 31st December 2005. Each delegation will be advised whether they represent the Applicant or the Respondent by means of e-mail by 2nd January 2006.
Eligibility
5. Participating students shall be registered with the relevant participating institution as of 15th September 2005, either for a first degree in law or for any postgraduate qualification in law below the level of a doctorate. A person is ineligible to participate in the Competition if, as of 15th September 2005, he or she is:
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Registered for a doctoral degree in law, at a participating institution or at any other institution;
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Holds any doctoral degree in law, regardless of the institution that conferred such doctorate;
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Holds a full time or part time teaching post in any tertiary institution; or
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Has been admitted or licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction.
6. Participating students need not be nationals of, or normally resident in, the country in which their participating institution is located.
Registration
7. Each participating institution must notify the Secretary via e-mail (to ihl@redcross.org.hk) by 23rd December 2005 of:
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The names of the two students and the researcher in its delegation;
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The law degree or programme in which each student and the researcher, if any, in its delegation is enrolled (e.g. LL.B.); and
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The name, address, e-mail address, fax number and telephone number of a contact person for the participating institution, who shall be a member of the teaching staff of the participating institution.
Contact Person
8. Each contact person for a participating institution will be sent:
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The individual moot number assigned to each of its teams;
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Information relating to accommodation and transport in Hong Kong; and
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Any other relevant organisational material.
The contact person for each participating institution is responsible for distributing the foregoing information and material to each member of its delegation. Communication between each delegation and the Secretary or Advisory Board through any person other than the relevant contact person for that delegation is at the risk of that delegation and its team.
Substitute members
9. A delegation will normally not be permitted to make any substitution of its members after they have been registered under Rule 5.
10. In exceptional circumstances and with the express prior consent of the Secretary, a delegation may for the oral hearings of the Competition substitute a student registered as a member of its Applicant or Respondent teams with the student registered as its Researcher. Any other substitution of registered members of a delegation shall be permitted only in extraordinary circumstances and with the express prior consent of the Secretary.
Selection
11. The Secretary shall have the sole power to determine the mooting problem to be used in the Competition.
Distribution
12. The mooting problem will be distributed on 21st December 2005 by posting on the website of the Hong Kong Red Cross at the following URL: http://www.redcross.org.hk
Facts
13. The facts in the dispute that constitutes the subject matter of the Competition are given in the mooting problem. No additional facts may be introduced into the mooting problem unless they are a logical and necessary extension of the given facts.
Clarifications
14. Requests for clarification shall not be entertained unless the clarification would have material significance in the context of the mooting problem. In particular, teams should bear in mind that the mooting problem provides a limited set of facts. Teams should not use a request for clarification merely to obtain additional facts to those contained in the mooting problem.
15. Before making any request for clarification, a team must discuss the necessity for making such a request with the contact person for their delegation under Rule 8. Any request for clarification of the mooting problem shall be brought to the attention of the Secretary via e-mail (to ihl@redcross.org.hk) by 10th January 2006. A request for clarification must include a brief explanation of the expected material significance of the clarification.
16. The Secretary shall have absolute discretion to determine whether it is necessary to respond to any request for clarification and to resolve such request in a manner in which he or she thinks fit. If the Secretary deems it necessary to respond to a request for clarification, such clarification shall be distributed to all teams by 13th January 2006 using the same method for distribution as used for distribution of the mooting problem. Clarifications issued become part of the mooting problem.
Receipt of Problem and Clarifications
17. Any team that is unable to receive the mooting problem or any clarification in the manner distributed should notify the Secretary immediately via e-mail (to ihl@redcross.org.hk), fax (to the attention of Wilson Wong, at 852-2802-7359) or telephone (at 852-2802-0021), to arrange an alternative method of distribution.
Form and Length
18. Each team shall submit a memorial for the Applicant or the Respondent, depending upon whom they are assigned to represent in the draw referred to in Rule 4.
19. Each memorial shall be typed with 1 ½ line-spacing, using ‘Times New Roman’ font in size 12. Each memorial shall not exceed 2000 words in length, including citations. In the event that any team submits a memorial of a length exceeding 2000 words, the Secretary shall deduct marks from that team’s memorial score out of 100 (calculated pursuant to Rule 46) according to the following scale:
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1-50 words in excess – deduction of 5 marks;
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51-100 words in excess – deduction of 10 marks;
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101-200 words in excess – deduction of 20 marks; and
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Over 200 words in excess – deduction of 30 marks.
20. Citations must be in the body of the text or in footnotes (not end notes) and should be in an intelligible form.
21. Each memorial must have two cover sheets:
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The first cover sheet must indicate the name of the participating institution, the names of the two student members of the team, whether the memorial is for the Applicant or the Respondent, and the word count of the memorial; and
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The second cover sheet must have on it only the team's individual moot number which was supplied to the contact person of the team's relevant delegation upon registration (see Rule 8). (The purpose of this requirement is to protect the anonymity of the teams to ensure no prejudice or bias is shown in the assessment of the memorials.)
Submission of Memorials
22. Each team shall submit a copy of its memorial via e-mail (to ihl@redcross.org.hk) by 14th February 2006, and must dispatch via DHL (or a similar express mail service) by that same day a computer diskette containing the same memorial, together with 12 hard copies of the same memorial, to the Secretary at the following address:
Mr. Wilson Wong
Deputy Secretary General
Hong Kong Red Cross Headquarters
33 Harcourt Road
Hong Kong S.A.R.
The copies of the memorial which are e-mailed and contained on computer diskette must be in one of the following word processing formats: Microsoft Word for Windows (.doc), or Rich Text Format (.rtf). No other data format will be accepted without the express prior consent of the Secretary. The computer diskette should be prominently labeled with the name of the participating institution, stating whether the memorial is for the Applicant or the Respondent, and the word processing format used.
23. The 12 hard copies of the memorials must be single-sided (i.e. reproduced on only one side of the paper).
24. The hard copies of the memorials must be securely stapled or bound together so that the stapling or binding will hold throughout the Competition. Memorials should not be held together by rubber bands, lightweight staples, paperclips, pins or other insecure means.
Revision of Memorials
25. A memorial may not be revised for any purpose whatsoever once it has been submitted.
Draw
26. The Advisory Board will determine which Applicant and Respondent teams will meet each other in the general rounds of the Competition by means of a random draw conducted on or before 24th February 2006. No team shall compete against the same team twice in the general rounds.
27. After the draw has been conducted, the Secretary shall forward each team’s memorial to the judges who will adjudicate that team’s oral hearings in the general rounds of the Competition.
Exchange of Memorials
28. The Secretary will convene a meeting in Hong Kong, which all teams must attend, at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, 17th March 2006, at a venue to be advised. At the meeting, the Secretary will announce the results of the draw conducted under Rule 26, and will make available a copy of each team’s memorial to its opposing teams.
General Rounds
29. There shall be two general rounds of the Competition. Each team shall argue once in each general round.
30. Unless otherwise notified by the Secretary, the first general round will be held on the evening of Friday, 17th March 2006. The Secretary will give due notice to the contact persons for participating institutions of the venue of the first general round. Unless otherwise notified by the Secretary, the second general round will be held on the morning of Saturday, 18th March 2006 at the High Court of Hong Kong, 38 Queensway, Hong Kong in principle.
Final Round
31. Unless otherwise notified by the Secretary, the final round will be held in the afternoon of Saturday, 18th March 2006 at the High Court of Hong Kong, 38 Queensway, Hong Kong in principle.
Rules Applicable to the General Rounds and the Final Round
32. Each team shall consist of a first counsel and a second counsel, as designated by the team or by its relevant participating institution.
33. Each team shall speak for no more than 40 minutes. The first counsel and the second counsel for each team shall each speak individually for a minimum of 15 minutes.
34. Each team may reserve up to 10 minutes for rebuttal (in the case of an Applicant team) or surrebuttal (in the case of a Respondent team).
35 Each team shall indicate at the beginning of its oral argument, how long each counsel will speak and how much time it intends to reserve for rebuttal or surrebuttal.
36 Either the first counsel or the second counsel may address the court in rebuttal or surrebuttal. For the avoidance of doubt, the time reserved for rebuttal or surrebuttal is not included in the minimum time for each counsel to speak specified in Rule 34.
37. The court may, in its discretion, extend the time for each counsel for good cause, provided that the maximum extension of time granted to any counsel shall not exceed 5 minutes.
38. Time shall be kept by a court clerk, who will warn counsel by appropriate means when they have:
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5 minutes left;
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1 minute left;
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to conclude their address forthwith.
37. The order of the oral presentations shall be:
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Applicant’s first counsel;
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Applicant’s second counsel;
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Respondent’s first counsel;
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Respondent’s second counsel;
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Rebuttal, if any (Applicant’s first or second counsel);
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Surrebuttal, if any (Respondent’s first or second counsel).
38. Every courtesy shall be given to oralists during oral hearings. Communication at the counsel table shall be in writing to prevent disruption, and teams and spectators shall avoid all unnecessary noise or other inappropriate behavior which distracts from the argument in progress.
39. Team members seated at the counsel table shall not be permitted to communicate with spectators, or with any other external person except the judges. Without limiting the foregoing, with respect to delegations that include a Researcher, counsel shall not be permitted to communicate with the Researcher during the oral hearings and the Researcher shall not be permitted to sit with counsel at the counsel table.
Finalist Teams
40. The Applicant team and the Respondent team with the highest aggregate score out of 500 after the completion of the general rounds will meet in the final round. Each team’s aggregate score out of 500 shall be determined by combining its memorial score out of 100 with the average of its two oral presentation scores out of 400 awarded in the general rounds, pursuant to Rules 45 through 47 below.
41. In the event that, after the completion of the general rounds, two Applicant teams or two Respondent teams tie for the highest score out of 500, the Applicant or Respondent team which will proceed to the final round shall be the team which has the highest average score out of 400 for its oral presentations in the general rounds. In the further event that both such teams are also tied in their average score out of 400 for oral presentations in the general rounds, the team which will proceed to the final round shall be the team whose first counsel has the highest average score out of 200 for his or her oral presentations in the general rounds.
Memorials
42. All research, writing and editing relating to the memorial must be work of the team of two students submitting that memorial, except that:
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if a participating institution has registered a Researcher as a member of its delegation pursuant to Rule 6, the Researcher may assist in the research, writing and editing of the memorials of both teams in the delegation.
Oral Hearings
43. Each participating institution shall be permitted to arrange practice moots.
Assistance from Staff and Other Advisors
44. Staff of the participating institutions and other coaches, assistants or advisors should restrict their advice to general matters, such as to a discussion of the issues, suggestions as to research sources, and a general commentary on structure, organisation and flow of arguments, format, presentation and style.
45. Scoring shall consist of two parts: the scoring of memorials and the scoring of the oral presentations.
46. Each memorial shall be assessed by two judges, at least one of whom is a current or former judge, lawyer, or law teacher, or otherwise experienced in the practice of international humanitarian law. The judges will be supplied with copies of the memorials with cover sheets showing only the teams’ individual moot numbers. The maximum score for each memorial shall be 100. The score for each memorial shall be the average of the scores out of 100 awarded by the two judges assessing their memorial.
47. The oral presentations shall be assessed by two judges in each oral hearing of the general rounds and by at least three judges in the oral hearing of the final round. At least one judge in each oral hearing of the general rounds, and at least two judges in the oral hearing of the final round, shall be a current or former judge, lawyer, or law teacher, or otherwise experienced in the practice of international humanitarian law. In each general round and in the final round, the maximum score for each counsel shall be 200 and the maximum score for each team’s oral presentation shall be 400.
48. The decision of the judges shall be final.
49. The winning team shall be the team participating in the final round with the highest aggregate score out of 500, after combining its memorial score out of 100 and its oral presentation score in the final round out of 400. The other team participating in the final round shall be the runner-up team.
50. The winning team shall be awarded a trophy and the prize of an overseas field trip that will enhance the understanding on the application of the International Humanitarian Law.
51. The runner-up team shall be awarded a certificate and the prize of a field trip to a country in the Asia-Pacific region, including a visit to an ICRC regional or country delegation.
52. The top five teams with highest average score out of 500 in the general rounds will be announced.
53. The counsel with the highest score out of 200 in the oral hearings of the general rounds shall be adjudged the Best Mooter and shall be awarded a certificate.
54. The counsel with the second highest score out of 200 in the oral hearings of the general rounds shall receive an honorable mention and shall be awarded a certificate.
55. The memorial with the highest score out of 100 shall be adjudged the Best Memorial and the team that submitted such memorial shall be awarded a certificate.
56. The Advisory Board may in its discretion decide to award alternative prizes in lieu of the prizes described above.
57. The Advisory Board shall have absolute discretion to resolve any question concerning the interpretation of these rules. If there is not sufficient time for the Advisory Board to meet, the Secretary or Assistant Secretary shall have absolute discretion to resolve any such question.