UWSL National Moot Court Competition 2022

PART I

1. The Union of Nilfgaard is one of the most populous democracies in the world. It is a religiously and ethnically diverse nation, with deep cultural beliefs and complex social mores. Among the many societal mores, having children and epitomizing motherhood is considered very important. This along with the desire of couples to have children drives parents to conceive children. However, where the parents are unable to conceive a child through biological means, they are compelled to take recourse to scientific means. This has inter alia resulted in the increase in commercial surrogacy practices in the Union ofNilfgaard.

2. In the course of time, commercial surrogacy in the Union of Nilfgaard became extremely popular amongst the intending parents from Nilfgaard and developed nations due to the relatively low cost and easy access to the surrogacy clinics. It allowed various sections of society to conceive children including members from LGBTQ community, single parents, unmarried couples in live- in relationships, divorced individuals and couples who suffered from some form of infertility related issues. The demand for surrogacy procedures led to the development of a number of businesses around surrogacy procedures. Despite such prevalence of such procedures and businesses in the Nilfgaardian society for more than 40 years, there was no unified law to regulate either commercial or altruistic surrogacypractices.

3. A number of clinics across the Union of Nilfgaard began to provide surrogacy related services. Some of them conducted themselves professionally while others acted in a nefarious fashion. The rise of the surrogacy market also provided opportunity to a number of women to become surrogates. They by becoming surrogates earned their livelihood and gained some financial freedom. A number of them belonged to economically backward class and participation in such procedures became a means to move out from the vicious cycle of poverty. Also, some of the surrogate mothers agreed to become surrogates not out of their free will but from some form of compulsions either socio- economical or personal. A survey conducted by “Nilfgaard for Women” association showed that 51 % of surrogate mothers are not adequately remunerated and are often exploited due to their socio-economicbackground.

4. An important media house named “Hogwarts Express”, in a story covered the apathy of many surrogate mothers and exposed the iniquitous functioning of various surrogate clinics inthe Union of Nilfgaard. These painful stories of surrogate mothers became a national story and there was opposition on many fronts by pressure groups and social organizations to ban such surrogate clinics. Despite multiple efforts in the past, due to a number of underlying issues, no standardized law had seen the light of the day to regulate commercial or altruistic surrogacy.

5. A newly formed government with huge electoral mandate decided to regulate the altruistic surrogacy procedure and ban commercial surrogacy. The Government received wide support for the ban of commercial surrogacy from the people of Union of Nilfgaard. However, such decision also received several criticisms from many sections within the society. In December 2018, the Surrogacy Arrangements Bill, 2018 (“Bill”) was introduced and passed in the Lower House of the Parliament of Union of Nilfgaard. However, in July 2019 the Bill was rejected by the Upper House. When the government fell short of a majority in the Upper House, it decided to bring an Ordinance to regulate surrogacy. Accordingly, the Surrogacy Arrangements Ordinance, 2019 (“Ordinance”) was promulgated on28.12.2019.

PART II

6. Among the many clinics that provided the surrogacy services, one was Hatter Clinic in Ariana, a State in the Union of Nilfgaard. This clinic was known for its exemplary services for commercial surrogacy procedures. It maintained complete transparency and accountability in its services. It vetted the surrogate mothers properly and kept a proper record register and also ensuring their full health and well being. It provided them great financial rewards and also supported them with full health insurance for life. They also took precautions against nefarious clients. Their client scrutiny and due diligence about the client's intention was considered an industry standard within the Union of Nilfgaard. They had also received a number of awards for their best practices in this business. Both their employees and client were contented, satisfied and happy with their business model.

7. The promulgation of the Ordinance which banned commercial surrogacy acted as a death warrant for these businesses. It imposed restrictions on the surrogacy practice (altruistic surrogacy) and made the business of Hatter clinic and others completely unviable. This resulted in the retrenchment of a number of surrogate mothers on their pay role and made it impossible for Hatter clinic to continue paying the premium of their employee health insurance. Afraid of the penal consequences prescribed under the Ordinance, several indenting parents repudiated the surrogacy contracts with the Hatter clinic and requested refund of the advance amount. The intended parents also threatened to initiate civil and criminal proceedings against Hatter clinic if they failed to refund the consideration for surrogacy arrangements. This put the Hatter Clinic under huge financial jeopardy. Aggrieved by the restrictions imposed by the ordinance, the Hatter Clinic filed a writ petition to challenge the constitutionality of the Ordinance before the High Court of Ariana.

PART III

8. One married couple namely Mr. Atulya who was a Nilfgaardian citizen (38 years old), and his wife Mrs. Anna (50 years old) who was a Zangvebar citizen were also Hatter clinic’s clients. Few members of Ms. Anna’s family suffered from Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) syndrome. As LHON is a mitochondrial disease, Ms. Anna feared that she might be the carrier of this genetic disease and the same will be transmitted to her off springs. Ms Anna went through several processes of genetic counseling/testing for mitochondrial disorders in Zangvebar and it was suggested that there is a high likelihood that her offspring will suffer from LHON. Therefore, Mr. Atulya and Ms. Anna decided to conceive a child throughsurrogacy.

9.They approached the Hatter Clinic in December 2019, for a surrogacy arrangement. Ms. Kritya (28 years old) who is an unmarried, educated and independent women agreed to become a surrogate mother for a consideration of Rs. 10,00,000/-. After the initial round of discussions, Hatter Clinic, Mr. Atulya and Ms. Kritya concluded a traditional surrogacy contract wherein inter alia it was agreed that through artificial insemination using Mr. Atulya’s sperm, Ms. Krityawill is impregnated. Under the contract she was bound to hand over the child to Mr. Atulya and Ms Anna. Pursuant to the traditional surrogacy contract, advance payment was made to Ms. Kritya. However, before artificial insemination process could be conducted, the ordinance was promulgated. Afraid of the penal consequences under the ordinance, Ms. Kritya backed out of the traditional surrogacy contract. Being aggrieved by the provisions of the ordinance which banned commercial surrogacy, Mr. Atulya and Ms. Anna challenged the vires of the provisions of the ordinance before the High Court ofAriana.

PART IV

10. In the State of Tarakota, a State in the Union of Nilfgaard, Mr. Rajiv and Mr. Rhythm being Nilfgaardian citizens, were gay couples belonging to Hindu religion. They met in 2015 and fell in love with each other. Pursuant to the decisions of the Apex court of the Union of Nilfgaard, after a live-in relationship of three years they decided to get married. They belonged to extremely conservative families and afraid of the societal backlash, in 2018 they had a secret ceremony in a temple to solemnize marriage. Subsequently, they were unable to register their marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Thereafter, they also failed to solemnize their marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. In both cases, the authorities were of the view that the text of these enactments only recognises heterosexual unions and homosexual unions are not covered under them

11. Having failed to provide legal recognition to their marriage, Mr Rajiv and Mr Rhythm made an attempt to move on with their lives. They always dreamt of having a family and decided that by utilizing the surrogacy procedure they will relish the joy of parenthood. However, with the promulgation of Surrogacy (Regulation) Ordinance of 2019, all the hopes of becoming parents became grim. The ordinance being exclusionary allowed only a certain set of people to become surrogate parents. Section 4(c) (II) imposed restrictions on couples that they should be “married for at least 5 years and are Nilfgaardian citizen”. This provision has made it nearly impossible for Mr Rajiv and Mr Rhythm to become biological parents and being aggrieved by the ordinance they challenged the provisions of the ordinance before the High Court ofTarakota.

PART V

12. In a different set of circumstances, in the State of Kimanu, a State in Union of Nilfgaard, Mr. Suhas (30 year old) and Mrs. Suhasani (29 year old) a married couple were unable to have children. During a meeting with Mr. Suhas’s brother Mr. Aman, owner of a construction company, they shared their grief about her inability to beget a child. MrAman suggested that they should take recourse of surrogacy procedure. Mr. Aman (40 years old) made them meet Mr. Samark who was a construction labourer working at Mr. Aman’s construction company. Mr. Samark was married to Mrs. Sagrika (35 years old) an uneducated woman and despite being married for ten years Mrs. Sagrika was unable to conceive due to Mr. Samark’sinfertility.

13. Thereafter, in April 2019, Mr. Suhas and Mrs. Suhasani entered into a surrogacy contract with Mrs. Sagrika for a sum of Rs. 15,00,000/-. Asper the surrogacy contract, the gametes were provided by Mr. Suhas and Mrs. Suhasani, and Mrs. Sagrika agreed to bear and give birth to a child for Mr. Suhas and Mrs. Suhasani with the intention of handing over the child three weeks after the birth. The governing law of the surrogacy contract was that of Nilfgaard. It was also provided that the disputes arising out of the surrogacy contract shall be settled by the solemember arbitration tribunal of MrAman and as per the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996.

14. The Ordinance came into effect during the gestation period of Mrs. Sagrika i.e. two three weeks prior to the expected date of delivery of the child. Subsequently, after the birth of child on 21th January 2020, she changed her mind and decided to keep the child and forgo the money. Thereafter, MrSuhas and MrsSuhasani filed a petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking custody of the child before the High Court ofKimanu.

PART VI

15. Since the promulgation of the Ordinance, the aforesaid writ petitions were filed before different High Courts in the Union of Nilfgaard challenging the provisions of the Ordinance. As the cases involved substantial questions of general importance, the Supreme Court of Nilfgaard on its own motion transferred the Writ petitions pending before different High Courts to itself. After completion of the pleadings the Supreme Court listed the writ petitions/transferred petitions for final hearing on April 28,2022.

Note: For the purpose of this moot proposition, the Surrogacy Arrangements Ordinance, 2019 is parimateria to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 (as passed by the Lok Sabha, Parliament of India, Bill No. 156-C of 2019). The rest of the laws and socio-economic situation of the Union of Nilfgaardareparimateria with the laws and socio-economic situation of the Union of India and the laws of Zangvebar are parimateria with the laws of United Kingdom(UK).

Note: Teams are advised to frame additional issues, if any, based on the Factual and Legal aspects.

ADMINISTRATION & GENERAL RULE

• Organizer means the Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University.
• Competition means UWSL National Moot Court Competition, 2022.
• Participating Team/ Institution means the team that has registered itself for the competition as per the rules.

TIME, DATE & VENUE

• The UWSL National Moot Court Competition, 2022, shall be held during 28th – 30th April, 2022.
• Venue: Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University Uvarsad-Adalaj Road, Knowledge Village,Gandhinagar,Gujarat,382422

LANGUAGE

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

ELIGIBILITY

• The Competition shall be open for ‘bona fide’ students who are pursuing an integrated 5 year LL.B. Programme or 3 year LL.B Programme from an institute/university in India. Such institution must be recognized by the Bar Council of India.
• More than one team can register from a particular law school/ College/ Institution/University to participate in the Competition.

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. (More than one team allowed from the same institute/college/university)
• 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.
• The Researcher may be permitted to argue as Speaker in case of illness OR any unforeseen event. Prior permission of the organizers of moot court competition in such case shall be mandatory.

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.

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.
• The OC will be responsible for transportation from the accommodation to the Competition venue.

PENALTIES

• Scouting: No member of any participating team shall view any other oral rounds while the team is still in the competition. If such an incident comes to the notice of the organizers then the scouting team shall be subject to disqualification. Teams may file a written complaint of scouting to the Organizers. The decision of the Organizers shall be final and binding.
• Non – Disclosure of Identity: Teams shall not disclose their identity, i.e. the name of their institution, city, etc. or any other information which has the effect of disclosing their identity and affiliation with a particular university or institution. Such disclosure shall result in disqualification subject to the discretion of the Organizers.
• Copyright: The copyright with regard to the memorials submitted for the participation in the Competition is assigned by participants and shall also vest completely and fully with the Organizers. The participants shall certify the originality of the memorials and the materials used and shall be responsible for any claim or dispute arising out of further use and exhibition of these materials. The Organizers shall have the right to publicly display, distribute either electronically or otherwise and they shall not be responsible for any liability to any person for any loss caused by errors or omissions in this collection of information, or for accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in these materials.

IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF RULES:

• Regarding Moot Court practice and procedures, the final decision on the interpretation and implementation of rules lies with the organizers.
• The Organising Committee reserves the right to amend/change the rules & regulations with prior notice to all registered teams.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Upon completion of the competition, the organising committee reserves the exclusive right to use the memorials submitted to them, as they deem appropriate.
• Participating teams should carry with them required study or reference materials for their own use during the oral rounds of competition.
• Participating teams shall be expected to maintain the proper decorum of the courtroom during the proceedings and shall conduct themselves in a manner befitting the legal profession.
• The organising committee reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to take appropriate action for any unethical, unprofessional and wrongful conduct during the entire period of the Moot Court competition.
• The organising committee's decision as regards the interpretation of these rules or any other matters related to the Moot Court competition shall be final and binding. If there is any situation, which is not covered by these rules, the decision of the organising committee shall be final.
• The organising committee reserves the right to amend, modify or repeal any of the rules if so required and as they deem appropriate. Participating teams shall receive adequate notice of any/all such amendments or modifications to the rules.
• The organising committee shall not be held responsible for any loss or non-delivery of the Memorials.

Note: The last date for seeking clarifications regarding the moot proposition is April 05, 2022. Clarifications (if any) will be issued on April 09, 2022. Clarifications regarding the moot proposition will only be entertained though email. Send your queries at [email protected] with subject line “Moot Problem”.

• The formal commencement of the competition shall be on 28th April, 2022 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 28th of April, 2022. The Preliminary Rounds and Quarter finals will take place on the 29th April, 2022. The Semi-finals and finals will be conducted on the 30th April 2022 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.

Preliminary Rounds

• There shall be two preliminary rounds on 29th April, 2022, and every team shall be given the opportunity to argue for each side. The Lots for the Preliminary rounds will be drawn on 28th April 2022.
• 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.

Quarter Finals

• The Quarter Finals will be a ranking round and will take place on 29th April, 2022. 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.

Semi-Finals

• The Semi-Finals will be held on 30th April, 2022.
• 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.

Finals

• The Final will be held after the Semi-Finals on 30th April, 2022. 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.

MEMORIAL RULES

• 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 April 20, 2022 before 11:59 P.M. [email protected] with the subject “Memorials for UWSL National 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. No extension of time will be granted with respect to this deadline. However, teams submitting soft copies of memorials any time after April 20, 2022 will be subject to immediate disqualification. Memorials shall be sent as an attachment with the mail in the form of single file for each side of memorial

Guidelines for Formatting:

• All memorials shall be prepared to the following specifications:
• Memorial or counter memorial shall not be more than 25 typed pages.
• Memorials must be typed and submitted on standard A4 size paper.
• Font and size of the text of all parts of the memorial (excluding footnotes) must be the same and must be in Times New Roman 12 font size.
• The texts of all parts of each memorial must be double line-spaced, with one inch margin on both sides.
• The text of footnotes may be single line spaced. The font size of footnotes must be 2 points less than the text font.
• There must be double spacing between separate footnotes and between each heading and the body text of the memorial.
• Quotations of sources outside of the memorial of fifty words or more in any part of the memorial shall be block quoted and must be single-spaced.
• The table of Contents, Index of Authorities and Case Title are not included in the 25 typed pages limit.

Content of Memorials

• The Memorial shall consist of the following parts:
• Table of Contents
• Index of Authorities (including corresponding page numbers) iii.Statement of Jurisdiction
• Identification of Issues
• Statement of Facts
• Summary of Pleadings
• Pleadings including the Conclusion and/or Prayer for Relief

MEMORIAL

Winning Team: Rs. 40,000/-

Runner up Team: Rs. 30,000/-

2nd Runner up Team: Rs. 20,000/-

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.
• The participating teams are supposed to refer the REGISTRATION FORM for the purpose of registering their team.

REGISTRATION FESS

• Registration Fee is 3,000/- (Rupees Three Thousands Only).
• Registration Fee is a NON-REFUNDABLE, in case of non-participation or otherwise as may deem fit.

Mode of Payment

• Online Payment: The Online Payment of Participation Fees can be done by making payment on the below Account:

Bank Details for Unitedworld School of Law:

• AccountName : Unitedworld School of Law A
• Unit of KMET PANNo. : AAATK7408C
• BankName : YES BankLtd
• Branch : Bhuyangdev,
• Ahmedabad-380061 SavingAccount No. : 070988700000175
• IFSCCode : YESB0000709

PROGRAM SCHEDULE (Tentative)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Mr. Shrut S. Brahmbhatt, Convener & Assistant Professor of Law, Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University. E-mail: [email protected] 

STUDENT COMMITTEE:

Convener – Ms. Palak Mehta: +91-9586973718

Co-Convener – Mr. Manthan Sharma: +91-8562846724

Moot Registration & Procedural Compliance Committee Coordinator – Mr. Varun Modasia: +91 8140300444

Hospitality Committee Coordinator – Ms. Devanshi Jain: +91 6354139797 | Mr. Ayush Bhandari: +919173530918

For Further Queries Email us at [email protected]