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2013 NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITIONON INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

18-22 November 2013

Or ganized by the:PHILIPPINE RED CROSSINTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS

I n partnershi p with th eSUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES

H osted by the:University of the Philippines College of Law

INTRODUCTION

The 2013 National Moot Court Competition on International Humanitarian Law (hereinafter

"National Competition") provides a venue for law students to become acquainted and proficientin IHL issues, including related conventions, principles, and jurisprudence, as this is clearly ofmajor concern to peoples lives. Furthermore, it offers an opportunity for students to practiceand hone their skills in the art of argumentation.

The general rounds, quarterfinals and semifinals will be held at University of the PhilippinesCollege of Law, on the 20 th and 21 st of November 2013. The final round and awardingceremonies will be held at the Supreme Court En Banc Session Hall on the 22 nd of November2013.

The winning team will represent the Philippines in the 12 th Red Cross International

Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition to be held in Hong Kong, in March 2014.

MOOT COURT RULES

I. THE NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION COMMITTEE

The National Moot Court Competition Committee (hereinafter "Committee") is composed ofrepresentatives from the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) and Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC). The Committee shall have the followingfunctions and powers, to wit:

1. Organize the National Competition;2. Set the Rules to govern the National Competition;3. Amend, interpret and apply such Rules;4. Appoint the Judges;5. Provide the Moot Problem (hereinafter "Compromis");6. Receive all the Memorials submitted by the participating teams;7. Have the sole discretion in responding to any requests for clarification; and

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8. Disqualify or penalize teams for violation of any of the Rules.

II. REGISTRATION AND FEE

A letter of invitation will be sent to the Deans of different law schools or heads of educational

institutions. The representative of the school shall inform the Committee of its intention to participate in the National Competition by submitting the following:

A Letter of Intent, duly accomplished and signed by the team coach, and A Certification Letter from the Dean attesting to the fact that the participants are currently

enrolled and not graduating by October 2014.

These documents must be submitted not later than 26 July 2013 through the following modes:

Email address : ihlmoot@yahoo.com.ph Postal address : Philippine Red Cross - IHL Office

Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila

The participating schools are required to pay a Registration Fee of PhP 4,500.00 . Thefee is non-refundable. Payment should be deposited to:

Bank : Banco De Oro (BDO)Account Type: : Savings Account Account Name : PNRC ICRC Communication and DisseminationAccount Number : 453 001 042 5

Registration payment should be sent not later than 30 August 2013. The deposit slip should be sent

via email to ihlmoot@yahoo.com.ph . Non-payment of registration fee will nullify the team'sregistration.

Duly registered teams will be entitled to the following:

Gold membership to the PRC Insurance for one (1) year Meals Roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations for two (2) participants, for teams from outside

Metro Manila

Each team must designate an official representative with contact details. Information given to

the representative shall constitute notice to the team.

The Registration Form will be sent to those teams which have signified their intention to participate in the 2013 National Competition. The completely filled up registration form mustalso be submitted on or before 30 August 2013.

III. PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY

mailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.phmailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.phmailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.phmailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.phmailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.phmailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.phmailto:ihlmoot@yahoo.com.ph

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A. Eligibility

A person may be a member of the team if he or she is:

1. Enrolled in the participating institution as of First Semester, academic year 2013-2014;

2.

Not graduating by October 20141

; and3. Not a member of a team which has previously reached the final round of the NationalCompetition.

B. Team Composition

The participating school is allowed to send only one team to the Competition composed of two(2) members and one (1) coach. The team members must satisfy the eligibility requirementsstated in III.A.

C. Team Anonymity

Schools will be assigned team numbers through their representative s on or before 3September 2013. The participating teams and their companions must not reveal their schoolaffiliation to the judges for the entire duration of the National Competition, whether intentionallyor inadvertently, such as by using their school jackets, pins, ID laces or other similar itemswhich bear the school colors, name, initials, logo, or slogan. This Rule is intended to maintainthe impartiality of the judges.

IV. THE COMPROMIS AND CLARIFICATIONS

A. Compromis

The Committee will release the Compromis in June 2013 . All correspondence and any othermaterials will be sent through the teams official representative, and may be downloaded fromthe PRC website (www.redcross.org.ph) and the official National Moot Court CompetitionFacebook page (www.facebook.com/IHLmootcourtPHL).

B. Clarifications

Teams may submit written requests for clarification not later than 7 September 2013 . A requestfor clarification must be accompanied by a brief explanation of the material significance of thesame. Clarifications must not be requested to obtain facts other than those already contained inthe Moot Problem.

The Committee shall determine the necessity of responding to the request for clarification andshall respond as it deems fit. Clarifications issued shall be considered part of the Compromis andwill be sent to all team representatives.

1 T o assure the teams eligibility to represent the Philippines in the 12 th Hong Kong Red Cross Moot CourtCompetition

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V. THE MEMORIALS

A. Submission of Memorials

Each team participating in the Competition is required to prepare and submit Prosecution and

Defense Memorials on the Compromis which MUST BE RECEIVED BY THESECRETARIAT ON OR BEFORE 5:00 PM OF 1 OCTOBER 2013. Memorials submittedto and received by the Secretariat beyond the specified date will be given the corresponding

point deduction(s).

The Teams are required to submit twelve (12) hard copies of their Prosecution and DefenseMemorials through personal delivery, courier or similar express mail service to:

Postal address: Philippine Red Cross - IHL OfficePRC National HeadquartersBonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila

Teams must likewise send via electronic mail a copy of each Memorial toihlmoot@yahoo.com.ph in Microsoft Word format (.doc) on or before 1 October 2013 . The filename must bear the school s team number and side (Format: 21Prosecution.doc,21Defense.doc).

Revisions to the Memorials shall not be allowed once submitted.

Delay in the submission of Memorials shall incur a penalty equivalent to ten (10) points forevery day of delay, up to a maximum of thirty (30) points. A fraction of a day shall beconsidered as one day.

B. Format of Memorials

All parts of the Memorial must be in Times New Roman, Size 12, with 1 line spacing and printed on standard short bond paper (8 x 11). Quotations and footnotes shall have the sameformat but with single line spacing except between separate footnotes. The Memorials must havecorresponding page numbers in the following format: Page 1 of X.

The Memorials must be stapled on the upper left side.

The Cover Page, Table of Contents, and Index of Authorities must be double-spaced.

The Pleadings section of each Memorial, including the Summary of Arguments,Conclusion/Prayer for Relief and citations, shall not exceed 4,000 words. Words in excess of themaximum shall have a corresponding deduction in the teams Memorial score, to wit:

1-50 words, deduction of 5 points 51-100 words deduction of 10 points 101-200 words, deduction of 20 points

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Over 200 words, deduction of 30 points

C. Parts of the Memorial

1. Cover Page

The cover page should only bear the following information:

The team number followed by Prosecution for the Prosecution Memorial ( Format:21Prosecution ) or Defense for the Defense Memorial ( Format: 21Defense ). This must

be indicated on the upper right corner of the cover page Title of the case Month of the Competition ( Format: November 2013 )

2. Table of Contents

The Table of Contents must list all the contents of the Memorial, including the headings andsub-headings.

3. Index of Authorities

The Index of Authorities provides a list of the authorities cited in the Memorial, i.e. , laws,commentaries, cases, and other articles used as references.

The list must be segregated according to type of source (i.e. treaties, judicial decisions, etc.), andalphabetically arranged within each category. It must specify the pages in the Memorial whereeach authority is cited.

4. Statement of Facts

The Statement of Facts in narrative form contains the stipulations and inferences in theCompromis. It must present the facts found in the Compromis in a form according to the teams

position without adding or distorting the facts or making unreasonable inferences therein.

5. Summary of the Pleadings

The Summary of the Pleadings provides a substantive summation of the arguments presented inthe Memorial. It should not be a reproduction of the headings and sub-headings found therein.

To be effective, it must present the arguments concisely and direct to the point preferably in nomore than two sentences.

6. Pleadings (Body of the Memorial)

This is the core of the Memorial. The Pleadings contain the arguments, position, or standpoint ofthe team. It provides the law and jurisprudence on which the arguments are founded.

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7. Conclusion/Prayer for Relief

The Conclusion/Prayer for Relief states the remedy the team is asking the Court to order. This isnot to be used for presenting new information or as the summation of the teams case.

D.

Research and Assistance

The team members shall solely be responsible for the research, writing, and editing of theMemorials. However, student-researchers may assist a team in the preparation of the Memorials.

The coach may provide advice to the team but it must be limited to:

a general discussion of the issues; consultations on oral argumentation techniques; suggestions on research materials and sources; and comments on argumentation structure.

VI. THE PAIRING PROCEDURES

The pairing of teams for the general rounds as Prosecution or Defense shall be determinedthrough a random draw by the Committee. The Committee has the power to adjust the pairing inorder to account for absentee teams or other contingencies.

No team shall compete against the same team twice in the general rounds.

The Memorials of the opposing teams will be distributed on 19 November 2013 .

VII. THE ORAL HEARING PROCEDURES

A. The Rules applicable to all the rounds

1. Each team shall consist of a first counsel and a second counsel, as designated by theteam.

2. The order for the oral arguments is as follows: Prosecution 1 Prosecution 2 Defense 1

Defense 2 Rebuttal, if any (Prosecution 1 or 2) Surrebuttal, if any (Defense 1 or 2)

3. Each team is given a total of 40 minutes to speak, allocated as follows: 30 minutes to be distributed between the first and second counsel Maximum of 10 minutes for rebuttal (Prosecution) or surrebuttal (Defense)

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4. Entry of appearance . After introductions, the first counsel shall indicate at the start howlong each counsel will speak and the time allotted for the rebuttal or surrebuttal. The timeof the first counsel shall begin from the entry of appearance.

5. Time Limitations. The remaining time in the oral arguments, if any, may not be used to

extend the time allocated for rebuttal or surrebuttal. Neither can the time allocated forrebuttal or surrebuttal be used to extend the time for oral arguments.

6. Rebuttal may be waived. If the Prosecution waives the rebuttal, the Defendant shall notappear for surrebuttal.

7. A counsel may ask the Court for an extension before the end of his/her designated time.The Court has the discretion whether to allow such request for extension.

8. There will be a timekeeper who will notify the counsels when they have: 5 minutes left

1 minute left 30 seconds left no time left

9. Any communication at the counsel table shall be in writing to prevent disruption. Theteam members must avoid any noise or inappropriate behavior which may disturb the

proceedings.

10. Team members are not allowed to communicate with the audience or their respectivecoaches.

11. During the general and quarter-final rounds, team supporters are only allowed to observethe matches in which the school they are affiliated with is competing. The semi-final andfinal rounds are open to everyone.

12. Participants and members of the audience are not allowed to use electronic devices suchas laptops, tablets, handheld computers, mobile phones, mp3 players, cameras, recordersand other similar gadgets during the rounds.

B. Rebuttal and Surrebuttal

The Prosecution's Rebuttal shall be limited to the points raised in the Defendant's Oral

Presentations. The Defendant's Surrebuttal shall be limited to the points raised in theProsecution's Rebuttal. Any infraction of the foregoing shall incur deductions of up to ten(10) points from the total team score in the round.

C. The General Rounds

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All participating teams that have submitted their Memorials shall participate in the GeneralRounds. Each team shall argue twice in the General Rounds, once as Prosecution and once asDefense, on 20 November 2013 .

D. The Quarterfinal Round

The top eight (8) teams in the general round, based on their aggregate scores in the oral roundsand their memorials, shall advance to the quarterfinal round, which will be held in the morningof 21 November 2013.

Two brackets (Brackets A and B) will be created. The pairings for the quarterfinal round shall bedetermined based on their general round rankings, as indicated in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1.

Bracket A Bracket B

The sides will be determined by a coin toss. The winner of the toss shall be given theopportunity to choose their side.

The four (4) winners in the quarterfinal round shall advance to the semifinal round.

E. The Semifinal Round

The winners in the quarterfinal round shall compete in the semifinal round, according to their brackets, as indicated in Figure 2 below.

Finalist 1 Finalist 2

Quarterfinals 4 simultaneous matches

Ranked 1stvs. ranked 8th

Ranked 2ndvs. ranked 7th

Ranked 3rdvs. ranked 6th

Ranked 4thvs. ranked 5th

QF Winner 1 QF Winner 3QF Winner 2 QF Winner 4

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Figure 2.

Bracket A Bracket B

The sides will be determined by a coin toss. The winner of the toss shall be given the

opportunity to choose their side.The semifinal round shall be held in the afternoon of 21 November 2013 at the University of thePhilippines College of Law.

The Final Round

The two winners in the semifinal round shall compete against one another in the final round, asindicated in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3.

Bracket A Bracket B

The final round shall be held in the morning of 22 November 2013 at the Supreme Court En Banc Session Hall.

The team which will argue as Prosecution or Defense shall be determined by a coin toss. Thewinner of the toss shall be given the opportunity to choose their side.

F

F

F

F

Semifinals 2 consecutive matchesQF Winner 1

QF Winner 3QF Winner 2 QF Winner 4

Final Round

SF Winner 1 SF Winner 2

SF Winner 1 SF Winner 2

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VIII. COMPETITION SCORING

The scoring shall consist of two parts:

The scoring of the Memorials; The scoring of the Oral Rounds.

A. Scoring of Memorials

Each Memorial shall be assessed by at least two judges, one of whom is a current or former judge / lawyer / law professor or an expert in International Humanitarian Law.

Each judge shall score a Memorial on a scale of fifty (50) to one hundred (100) points. Theaverage of the scores given by the judges will be the final score of a Memorial.

B.

Scoring of the Oral Rounds

The oral presentations in the general, quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds shall be evaluated by at least three judges. At least one judge in the general rounds and two in the quarter-final,semi-final and final rounds shall be a current or former judge / lawyer / professor or an expert inInternational Humanitarian Law.

In each of the general, quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds, the maximum score for eachcounsel shall be 200 and the maximum score for each team shall be 400.

C. Scores per Round

For each round, the teams aggregate score out of 500 shall be determine d by combining itsMemorial score with the two oral presentation scores, pursuant to the above rules.

D. Tie-Breaking Procedure

In case of a tie for a particular slot in the quarterfinal round, the team that has the highestaverage score for its oral presentations in the general rounds shall proceed to the next round.

In the event that the tie is still not decided, the team whose first counsel has the highest averagescore for his or her oral presentations in the general round shall qualify for the quarterfinal

round.E. Finality of Judging

The scores given by the judges, as computed and verified by the official tabulators, shall befinal.

F. Tabulators

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The PRC shall designate the official tabulators for the National Competition.

IX. PENALTIES

A.

Memorial Penalties

The Memorial penalty shall be deducted from the Memorial's final score.

The Committee shall notify the teams of the imposed penalties prior to the general round. Thedeadline for filing an appeal is on or before 7 October 2013 .

No further appeal is allowed after a final decision is made by the Committee.

RULE SUMMARY PENALTY

V. A. Late submission of memorial 10 points for every day of delay

(maximum of 30 points)V. B. Use of incorrect size/format 1 point per violation, up to a maximum of 10 points

V. B. Excessive length of pleadings

1-50 words in excess, deduction of 5 points 51-100 words in excess, deduction of 10 points 101-200 words in excess, deduction of 20 points Over 200 words in excess, deduction of 30

points

V. C. 1.Failure to include thenecessary information in theCover Sheet

2 points (one-time penalty)

III. C. Violation of Anonymity 10 points (one-time penalty)

V. Other violations of memorialformat requirements 2 points (one-time penalty)

B. Oral Round Penalties

RULE SUMMARY PENALTYIII. C. Violation of Anonymity 10 pointsVII. A.8-9 Disruptive noise, inappropriate behavior,

prohibited communication10 points

VII. A.10 Scouting 10 pointsVII. A.11 Use of prohibited electronic devices during the

rounds10 points

VII. B. Exceeding the allowed scope of the Rebuttal orSurrebuttal

Maximum of 10 points

C. Other Penalties

RULE SUMMARY PENALTY

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III. C. Violation of Anonymity 10 points

IX. G. Other penalties (absences and tardiness) 5 points for everyinfraction

D. Complaint Procedure

A complaining team must submit a written notification to the Committee within fifteen (15)minutes from the conclusion of the oral round, if they will allege that any violations have beencommitted. The notice must specify clearly the violation and the parties involved. Failure tofollow this procedure shall result in the nullification of the teams complaint.

Reports of alleged violations may also be received by the Committee from assigned bailiffs, judges and members of the organizing group.

The Committee's decision on the complaint shall be final.

E.

Judges prohibited from deducting penalties

Only the Committee shall deduct penalties from the scores of the oralists. The judges shall scorethe round as if no violation was committed by the oralists.

F. Notice of Penalties

The Committee shall notify the teams of the Memorial penalty they incurred prior to the GeneralRound.

The Committee shall likewise notify the teams of any Oral Round Penalties they incurred.

G. Other Penalties

Attendance in all activities is mandatory. Absence or tardiness by any of the team members inany of the activities lined up for the duration of the Competition will result in a five (5) pointdeduction, for every infraction.

Teams which abandon the competition without valid cause shall be disqualified from joiningsubsequent competitions, and shall be required to reimburse accommodation and travelexpenses. For this purpose, abandonment is defined as leaving the competition premises with nointention to return or finish the competition.

X. AWARDS

The winning team in the Final Round shall be awarded the National Moot Court Cup and willrepresent the Philippines in the 2014 Hong Kong Red Cross IHL Moot Court Competition.

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The top three (3) highest scoring counsels in the oral hearings of the general rounds will beawarded certificates as 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd Best Mooters, respectively. The highest ranking oralist inthe general rounds will be awarded the Justice Ines Luciano Best Mooter Award.

The other teams which entered the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds shall be given Plaques of

Recognition.

The Prosecution Memorial and Defense Memorial with the highest scores shall be adjudged asthe Best Memorials for the National Competition.

XI. INTERPRETATION OF RULES

The Committee shall have absolute discretion to resolve any issues concerning theinterpretation of rules

TIMELINE

DATE ACTIVITY June 2013 Release of the Compromis

26 July 2013 Deadline for the submission of letters of intent, certification lettersfrom the Dean and the registration feeDeadline for submission of registration forms

7 September 2013 Deadline for submission of written requests for clarificationsregarding the Compromis

1 October 2013 Deadline for submission of memorials

4 October 2013 Late submission of memorials (with corresponding deductions)18 November 2013 Briefing and IHL Talk for participating teamsSupreme Court tourWelcome dinner

19 November 2013 IHL Role Play ChallengeExchange of memorials

20 November 2013 General rounds21 November 2013 Quarterfinal rounds

Semifinal rounds22 November 2013 Final round

Awarding ceremony