Moot is never a sole effort but a collective effort of a team. Together we all learn much more from our mistakes as well as that of others. There are few things that you always need to consider while choosing a team mate for Moot Court Competitions.
1. Choosing a team mate is a very important part of and the very beginning of the process. You have to chose someone whom you're compatible with and someone with whom you enjoy a great professional relationship. One should feel free to open up as well as take constructive criticism in a team.
2. When you're in a team, each participant has to follow the rules of mutual respect towards each other regardless of differences. Your partner might be your junior or your senior in college but eventually the relationship has to workout in the competition as equals.
3. Chose a team mate who gives you constructive criticism. There's a very important difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. Helping your team mate will do no harm for you and will benefit you as a team. Most importantly, chose someone who works hard.
4. There are two roles to play or say, two duties to be performed that is of Speaker and Researcher. Speaker presents the oral submission in the oral round and both speaker and researcher prepare the proposition together.
5. A researcher has to read the matter and comprehend relevant case laws precisely. Some Moot Court Competitions have Researcher test as well.
6. A speaker can never rely on rote learning while preparing for oral rounds. There will be unexpected questions from the bench for which you might not be prepared beforehand. Speak has to be prepared for the worst and be dynamic.
7. Practice by reciting your transcript multiple times. Remembering everything word to word is not important but understanding every point is.
8. Role of researcher is equally important and dynamic as hat of speaker even during oral round. If the speaker is unable to answer a question, the researcher notes down the question, looks for the answer and presents it to the speaker which he can use to answer the bench.
9. A compendium is a part of the proposition which is a compilation of all the contents in the proposition.
10. Both oral round and proposition drafting should involve the efforts of both the participants.
11. Participants are also allowed to pass chits to the bench to send hand written messages.
"Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
There are no fixed and definite rules or facts for preparing for a moot court. Moot courts could be very hard to win if one goes without preparations. The earlier you start, the better it gets. Preparation for a moot starts months before the day or competition or the day or proposition submission. The number of days you allocate to each part of preparation should be planned with respect to deadlines for proposition submission and date of actual competition when you have your oral round.
Every day there are hundreds of court orders and judgments given, directed and pronounced which makes the national and international legal environment very capricious and dynamic. Thus, one needs to read everyday to be updated and thorough with important legal advancements. Lawyers who develop a habit of reading everyday get numerous advantages in their future practice and during competitions.
The best way to improve yourself is to work on yourself and accept your shortfalls. Team mates accepting and giving constructive criticisms to each other is an essential part of preparation. Each team should go through previous years' problems and arguments used in the competition to understand the competition and its needs better. This was you can learn about the nature of the competition.
Participants should read the given problem multiple times. The more times number of times you read it, the better you understand.
The problem will have a list of events that have occurred. Writing down notes and creating a chronology next to dates and dividing the matter into small parts can be of great help to prepares with quality. Like this, one can study each and every point and make notes for it accordingly to construct arguments. Never feel shy to make notes. The deeper you study the matter and make detailed classified points, the better you can understand your cause and defend and construct your arguments. An effective strategy that could be used is that instead of dividing particular points amongst team members for research, both the participants should study all the points which would result in diverse inputs.
It is important to take multiple hard copies of the matter to read them multiple times and make notes. Also, feel free to take fresh copies and make notes if you want to dispose off the earlier notes. Discussing the matter deeply with your partner(s) is also an essential practice of preparation. You'll come up with new points through brainstorming and frank discussions.
Once your drafts are ready, you must give them to few people to read and
consider their valuable and constructive feedbacks to make changes. A professor
or senior law student can help you out with improvements.
During oral round, it is advisable to keep forward your strongest arguments
first. While arguing the matter, one should remember that his/her goal is to
argue the matter politely to persuade the bench to get a favourable order or
judgments and not to give a huge public speech to impress the jury.
Before arguing, the team should prepare a chronology of arguments in the manner they plan to put before the court. It is advised to stick to the pre-determined chronology while arguing.
Speaker may refer any international or domestic treaty in his/her argument. He/she may also refer any judgment pronounced by a court of a foreign country as well in his/her argument. Even useful international judiciary opinions can be referred to. Some international court judgments do have binding effects on few listed countries.
Your every argument in oral round should be backed by a law. In the end, the
quality of your argument is what you're judged on and what will fetch you
positive results.
Judiciary does not work the way you've seen in movies and on television.
Causes are won through quality of arguments. A proposition is the petition
you submit before the bench for the matter you have got. It has to always be
strictly according to the required format and work limit. One should make
the proposition as real as it can be with respect to format of a real
petition format for the court in which the moot will happen.
In the proposition you'll be listing out the parties to which the matter
will affect i.e. the ones who are answerable. If it requires the passing of
a new lay, the secretary of the respective and concerned ministry too has to
be addressed. Welfare bodies or unions representing a section of the class
of people who will be affected through the cause too shall be included in
the cause. In case a party which is essential in the cause is missed out
while sending legal notice that is mention in the proposition, and you face
a counter argument from the other side during oral round, you can simply
tell the bench that you will include them and send a notice.
Contents should be prepared in the index in such a manner that it is as convenient as it can be for the bench to read and comprehend. For every matter, the bench already has an ideal memorial. Your proposition will be compared to the ideal memorial they have and you'll be marked accordingly. A proposition should have maximum similarities with the ideal memorial.
You have to give a citation for the unpublished relevant cases as well. Every index should have contents in alphabetical order with page numbers. One can also mention under which article, each argument is made.
A research for a moot court should lasts at least up to 3 weeks. For research, it is advisable that each issue has to be divided into sub issues. Each member of the team should do research about each sub issues at his personal level. After all the data is collected, both the team members can together compile the data but another important aspect which has to be considered here is that each person has his/her own way of writing. The compilation of research work has to be such that the entire matter is in one style of writing.
While researching every person comes across few doubts which is very natural but its important that one has full clarity of concepts and clears all doubts while researching. Unless your concepts are clear, you cannot argue at your best.
While researching for a moot court competition, you will be reading many judgments. In most of the judgments the initial points help you know about the matter and the final points contain the order passed and relief provided. One should read as many judgments as possible, during preparation. While arguing, one should seek for permission from the bench before starting any argument and try to explain the point as quick and precise as possible.
Your memorial should have short paragraphs and sentences. Nobody likes to
read a long complex paragraph or sentence. Speaker can also, ask for
permission and then submit any additional judgment print out before the
bench. Presentation of the arguments have to be like natural story telling
such that the bench can understand the matter properly within less time One
should also manage the speed and tone while arguing and the argument can end
with a minute taken to sum up the entire arguments. All these points for
argument have to prepared during research. It is also advisable to ask if
the bench has any further questions for the counsel. One should never
disagree with a judge or interfere while a judge is speaking.