UWSL International Moot Court Competition 2023

The Kingdom of Zeronesia is a small island country surrounded by Malada Sea. The Kingdom of Zeronesia has been under the adverse effect of climate change over the last 12 years. Currently, the Kingdom of Zeronesia is facing major hardship due to the rise of sea levels. The Kingdom of Zeronesia comprises of 114 islands in total, out of which 54 islands are extremely low-lying; hence they are generally under the water during high tide. However, the rest of the 60 islands were in habitable condition. Unfortunately, in 2016, three islands were submerged, and again in 2017, four more islands were submerged. Presently out of the 114 islands, only 53 islands are now habitable to sustain a population of 5.7 crores. Additionally, 53 islands fall short of a population of 5.7 crore people. The available resources of the Kingdom of Zeronesia are scarce for its population. Where is a scarcity of:

• Land Space
• Agricultural Land
• Job Opportunities
• Drinking Water

Facing various difficulties and fear of losing livelihood and land due to the rising sea level. Abdul and his wife Rehana decided to enter the territory The Republic of Victesia on 6 June 2017 by crossing a narrow stretch across the Malada Sea. The Republic of Victesia is also an island country, which is also surrounded by Malada sea on one side and Victoria sea on the other side. The Malada Sea is in between the Republic of Victesia and the Kingdom of Zeronesia.  However, The Republic of Victesia is much bigger in size than the Kingdom of Zeronesia.  The Republic of Victesia is a country of 800 islands; however, it is also under the threat of climate change. Victesia has the advantage of having islands that are quite high above sea level, protecting them from submersion for the time being. Geographically The Republic of Victesia and the Kingdom of Zeronesia are adjacent to each other. They share a mangrove forest named, Sundarbala, which is enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Sundarbala mangrove forest is situated on the coast of the Malada Sea in between the Republic of Victesia and the Kingdom of Zeronesia. Out of which, 60% of the mangrove forest lies in the territory of the Kingdom of Zeronesia, and the rest, 40 %, lies in the territory of The Republic of Victesia Mr. Abdul and his wife reached the coast of the Malada Sea of the Republic of Victesia by a boat crossing through the Sundarbala mangrove forest. They stayed as illegal migrants from 6 June 2017 until 14 October 2021, when the immigration officers arrested them and decided to deport them to their State of Origin, the Kingdom of Zeronesia. When Abdul and their wife were arrested, they requested diplomatic intervention.  Zeronesia’s government requested Victesia’s government to accept Abdul and his wife as climate refugees, as there are serious concerns about the survival of its citizens. It is predicted that there is a possibility that by the next ten years, there will be a rise of the sea level by two feet, which would consequentially submerge 30 habitable islands.

However, The Republic of Victesia showed concern with the current condition of the Kingdom of Zeronesia but denied Abdul and his family asylum.

However, both countries decided to take this case to the ICJ. The issues raised in ICJ are as follows:

• Whether Abdul and his wife be considered refugees under the existing Refugee Convention?
• Whether Abdul and his wife could seek protection under the ‘Right to Life’ status under Art 6(1) of ICCPR, 1966?

Both countries have ratified the following conventions/covenants/treaties etc.:

• The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951
• The 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
• Optional Protocol to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982

Both countries are State parties to the following:

• United Nations
• International Court of Justice
• International Criminal Court

A) Administration & General Rule

• Organizer means the Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University.
• Competition means UWSL International Moot Court Competition, 2023.
• Participating Team/ Institution means the team that has registered itself for the competition as per the rules.

B) Time, Date & Venue

• The UWSL International Moot Court Competition, 2023, shall be held during 6th- 8th April, 2023.
• Venue: Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University Uvarsad-Adalaj Road, Knowledge Village, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382422

C) Language

• The official language for the Moot Court Competition shall be English only.

D) Eligibility

• The Competition is open to all students, enrolled bona-fide on a regular basis in an undergraduate/postgraduate law course or its equivalent conducted by any recognized College/ Institution/ University.

E) Team Composition

• Each participating university/college/institute can nominate a team consisting of three student members, out of whom, two will be speakers and one will be the researcher.
• Any additional member will not be entitled to local hospitality. He shall also be not entitled to any kind of prize/ award in the competition.

F) Dress Code

• Participants are required to adhere to the following dress code while present in any court room during the Competition
• Ladies: White shirt and black pant/black skirt along with black tie, black coat and black shoes.
• Gentlemen: White shirt, black trousers, black tie along with black coat and black shoes.
• Strict adherence to the dress code is solicited. Failure will result in disqualification.

G) Accomodation

• Accommodation shall be provided to the participants only on the days of the Competition. Teams that intend to arrive prior to or leave after the specified dates are required to make their own arrangements.
• Teams shall be responsible for their transportation to and from the airport/railway station/bus station to the accommodation. They will be received by the OC at their respective places of accommodation.

NOTE: Accommodation shall be provided on filling the accommodation form

• The formal commencement of the competition shall be on 6^th April 2023 the Inaugural Session with registration of teams, allotment of rooms for the participants, draw of lots and exchange of memorials. Any team which arrives late will not be allowed to participate in the competition.
• The competition will start with inaugural ceremony on 6^th April 2023. The Preliminary Rounds and Quarter finals will take place on the 7^th April 2023. The Semi-finals and finals will be conducted on the 8th April 2023 followed by the valedictory function. Certificates and prizes will be distributed only during the valedictory function. No prize/certificate will be given to participants who are not present at the valedictory session.

A) Preliminary Rounds

• There shall be two preliminary rounds on 7^th April 2023, and every team shall be given the opportunity to argue for each side. The Lots for the Preliminary rounds will be drawn on 7^th April 2023
• The Petitioner shall be allotted a total of 15 minutes to speak, including any surrebuttals. The Respondent shall be allotted 15 minutes for rebuttal and arguments. Any extension of time beyond the specified period shall be subject to the discretion of the judges.
• The division of time between the speakers is the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 8 minutes for one speaker.
• Before the commencement of the each round, each team shall indicate to the ‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.
• At the end of the preliminary rounds, the top 8 teams will qualify for the Quarter Finals. The top 8 teams will be selected on the basis of number of rounds won.
• A team shall be credited with a win, if its total marks in the respective session are higher than those of its opponent team.
• In the case of a tie, combined total marks of both the preliminary rounds shall be considered. The team with the higher score will advance to the Quarter Finals.
• If the situation of the tie still persists, then it would be resolved by considering the memorial scores.

B) Quarter Finals

• The Quarter Finals will be a ranking round and will take place on 7^th April 2023. The top 4 teams, with the highest total scores in these oral rounds shall qualify for the semi-final rounds.
• The side to be represented by a team shall be determined by way of draw of lots with the teams picking the lots after the completion of the preliminary rounds.
• Each team shall get a total time of 20 minutes to present their case and this shall include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Surrebuttal’. Any extension of time beyond the specified period shall be subject to the discretion of the judges.
• The division of time between the speakers is the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 12 minutes for one speaker.
• Before the commencement of the round, each team shall indicate to the ‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.

C) Semi-Finals

• The Semi-Finals will be held on 8^th April 2023.
• The Semi-Finals will be a ranking round. The top 2 teams, with the highest total scores in these oral rounds shall qualify for the Final rounds.
• The side to be presented by the team shall be determined by way of draw of lots with the teams picking the lots after the completion of quarter-finals rounds.
• Each team shall get a total of 25 minutes to present their case. This time will include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Surrebuttal’. Any extension of time beyond the specified period shall be subject to the discretion of the judges. The division of time between the speakers in the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 14 minutes for one speaker.
• Before the commencement of the round, each team shall indicate to the ‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.

D) Finals

• The Final will be held after the Semi-Finals on 8^th April 2023. A team will be Credited with a win in the Final if the total marks are higher than those of its opponent team.
• Each team shall get a total of 30 minutes to present their case. This time will include the time for ‘rebuttal’ and ‘Surrebuttal’.
• The division of time between the speakers is the discretion of the team members, subject to a maximum of 18 minutes for one speaker.
• Before the commencement of the round, each team shall indicate to the ‘court officer’ as to how they wish to allocate their time.

• All memorials submitted for all purposes of the Competition shall strictly adhere to the rules of the Competition.
• Each Team participating in the Competition must prepare one Memorial on behalf of Petitioner(s)/ Appellant(s) and one on behalf of the Respondent(s).
• Each team has to submit 5 hard copies of the Memorials from each side at the time of registration. Non-compliance will entail a penalty of deduction of 10 points per copy not submitted.
• The mode of citation throughout the memorial shall be 19th Edition of Harvard Bluebook.
• Appellant memorials are required to have a light blue cover and Respondent memorials are required to have a bright red cover.
• The memorials shall not contain any form of identification apart from the team code.If any such identification or mark, symbol, etc. which has the effect of identifying the team is found on the memorial, then it shall result in instant disqualification.
• The hard copy of memorial must be exact replica of the soft copy submitted with the Organizers. Any difference in the same will result in disqualification from the Competition.
• Each Team must send a soft copy of their memorials, in PDF format only, for evaluation by 24th March 2023 before 11:59 P.M. to kumcs.uwsl@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in with the subject “Memorials for UWSL International Moot Court Competition” followed by TEAM CODE. Memorials submitted beyond the deadline shall incur a liability of 10 points for the first day of delay, and 10 points each day for every subsequent day till 26th March, 2023. No extension of time will be granted with respect to this deadline. Memorials shall be sent as an attachment with the mail in the form of a single file for each side of the memorial.

Winning Team: Rs. 50,000/-

Runner up Team: Rs. 40,000/-

2nd Runner up Team: Rs. 30,000/-

Best Memorial: Rs. 10,000/-

2nd Best Memorial: Rs. 5,000/-

Best Speaker: Rs. 10,000/-

2nd Best Speaker: Rs. 5,000/-

• Certificates for participation will be given to all the participants.
• Separate Certificates will be provided to the Quarter-Finalists, Semi-Finalists, Runners-up and Winners.
• All Certificates and awards will be presented to the participants only at the Valedictory Ceremony on the evening of 30th April, 2022. The participants are advised to finalize their travel plan accordingly.
• The certificates will not be provided to any participant who is not present at the Valedictory Ceremony and the same will not be sent by post/courier to any participant under any circumstances whatsoever.

Registration

• The registration of team is considered to be complete, once the registration fee is paid and the registration form is e- mailed with all necessary details.
• Registration fees one paid will not be refunded.
• Every team which has registered under the Rules shall be allotted a unique code. Once the unique code has been allotted, every team must use the team code for any communication with the Organizers during the course of the Competition

A) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

1. Ms. Grishma Brahmbhatt – E-mail: grishma@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

2. Mr. Saksham Mishra – E-mail: saksham@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

STUDENT COMMITTEE:

1. Harshika Mehta – President : +91-9428592175 – E-mail: harshika20180401031@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

2. Prakhya Shah – Vice President (Hospitality) : +91-7340092788 – E-mail: prakhya20180401060@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

3. Abhinav Jha – Secretary (Logistics & Communication) : +91-7979931035
E-mail: abhinav20190401004@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in

For Further Queries Email us at  kumcs.uwsl@karnavatiuniversity.edu.in