INTERNAL MOOT COMPETITION (IMC) 2019

RULES & REGULATIONS

1. General
The Internal Moot Competition (“the Competition”) is organised by The Moot Club, University
of Malaya (“the Organising Committee). The competition will be held on the 27th and 28th April
2019 at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.

2. Eligibility
The Competition is open to all members of the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.

3. Registration
I. Registration in the Internal Moot Competition consists of the submission of names on the
registration form. The names of the members of each team must be notified to the Organising
Committee.

II. A fee of RM 25.00 shall be charged for the registration of each participant.

III. The registration fee is inclusive of deposit of RM 10.00 per person. The deposit is charged to
ensure that participants/teams do not pull out during the competition and should any
participant/team pull out in the course of the competition, the deposit of RM 10 shall be
forfeited. The Organising Committee shall return the deposit paid upon the conclusion of the
competition.

IV. Withdrawal after confirmation of team participation will adversely affect at least the two
teams paired for exchange of memorial and the oral arguments. Therefore, teams that have
confirmed their participation are expected to participate in the entire Moot, including the oral
submissions.
V. The confirmation of participation shall imply that the participating teams have agreed to be
bound by the rules and regulations of the Competition.

4. Team Composition
I. Each team shall consist of FOUR (4) members.

II. Each team may consist of only ONE (1) senior mooter of tier (1), (2) and (3); OR 2 senior
mooters of moot tier (4) and (5). However, this rule does not permit a team to consist of 3 senior
mooters comprising of 1 senior mooter of moot tier (1), (2) or (3) and 2 senior mooters of tier (4)
or (5).

III. Each team shall be assigned team codes for the duration of the Competition.

IV. The team codes shall be labelled on the oral submission and memorial score Sheets.

V. Competing teams shall be addressed by their team codes for the duration of the competition.

5. Memorials
I. Submission of Memorials
Each team must submit a soft copy of each Claimant and Respondent memorials, in Microsoft
Word (with .doc or .docx file extension) and PDF format. The memorial should also be
submitted to the Organising Committee via email at umimc19@gmail.com, no later than
12:00pm on the 12th of April 2019. The memorial files shall be named with their team code
followed by “C” for Claimant’s Memorial or “R” for Respondent’s Memorial (e.g., Team
Number 123 would name the file as “123C” for its Claimant’s Memorial);

II. Hard copy of Memorials

Teams are also required to submit TWO (2) sets of memorial in hard copy in support of the
Claimant and Respondent respectively. Teams are required to submit the memorials on the 12th
of April 2019, between 8:00am-12pm at the UM Law Society Office.
III. Exchange of Memorials
The memorials shall then be exchanged among opposing teams during the matchmaking of
teams which will be held on the 22nd of April 2019. The Organising Committee will inform the
teams via email on the time and location of the matchmaking.

IV. Format of Memorials

The formatting provisions listed below must be followed:
a. Paragraphs must be numbered and references to statements in one’s own memorial must be
made according to the paragraph number.
i. Description of Memorials
ii. Cover page
iii. Table of Contents
iv. Index of Authorities (including corresponding page numbers)
v. Summary of Facts
vi. Pleadings
vii. Prayer for Relief.

b. Citations must be given in full in the footnotes or endnotes.

c. Pleadings and Prayer for Relief, including footnotes, shall not exceed 3000 words in total.

d. The font shall be 12-point size and Times New Roman, except for Cover Page, Table of
Contents, Index of Authorities, headings and footnotes. The memorial should be typed at 1.5-line
spacing.

e. The front cover of each memorial should have the following information only:
i. The team code in the top right-hand corner followed by “C” for Claimant’s Memorial or “R”
for Respondent’s Memorial (e.g., Team Number 123 would put “123C” in the top right hand
corner of the front cover of its Claimant’s Memorial);
ii. The name of the case; and
iii. The title of the document (i.e., "Memorial for the Claimant" or "Memorial for Respondent")
iv. Word count

f. A memorial shall not be revised once it has been submitted, including for missing pages,
typographical or grammatical errors or for problems caused by faulty computer software.

g. The score for memorials shall only be tabulated for the purpose of Best Memorial Award and
shall not affect the ranking of oral submission.

V. Non-compliance of Memorial Format

a. Word limit: A penalty of 3 points will be deducted from the memorial score for every 50
words in excess of the word count (e.g. 1-50 words in excess = 3 points, 51-100 words in excess
= 6 points, 101-150 words in excess = 9 points, and so on)

b. Late submission: A penalty of 5 points will be deducted from the memorial score for every 24
hours delay after the memorial submission deadline (e.g. 1-24 hours delay = 5 points, 24-48
hours delay = 10 points, 48-72 hours delay = 15 points, and so on)

VI. Printing of Memorials

a. Each Memorial must be printed single sided.

b. Each Memorial shall be bound securely so that it will be able to withstand physical handling
throughout the moot competition.

VIII. Best Memorial Award

The team with the highest combined memorial scores for Claimant and Respondent will be the
winner of the Best Memorial Award.

6. Oral Hearings
I. The oral hearings will be held at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.
II. The number of teams competing and the structure of the competition shall be decided by the
Organising Committee.

III. Every Oralist must attend the oral hearings in courtroom attire, i.e. dark suits with tie for men
and dark suits with skirt or trousers for ladies.

Preliminary Rounds
a. Each team will only present their arguments FOUR (4) times in the Preliminary Rounds; two
times for the Claimant and two times for the Respondent.

b. The teams shall meet opponents with whom they had exchanged memorials.

c. The timetable for Preliminary Rounds will be distributed once it has been finalised by the
Organising Committee.

d. The Preliminary Rounds will commence on the 27th of April 2019.

e. The winner of each Preliminary Round is decided based on the decision of a single judge. The
judge will also score each Oralist between 50-100 points. The combined score for both Oralists
of each team amounts to the team’s Oral Raw Scores (100-200 points).

Quarter-Final Rounds
a. At the end of the preliminary oral rounds, the top EIGHT (8) teams will advance to the
quarter-final rounds based on round wins in the Preliminary Rounds. In the event of a tie, the
team(s) which will proceed to the Quarter-Final rounds will be decided based on the Total Oral
Raw Scores in the Preliminary Rounds.

b. The Quarter-Final Rounds will be determined as follows:

i. 1st placed team vs. eighth placed team
ii. 2nd placed team vs. seventh placed team
iii. Third placed team vs. sixth placed team
iv. Fourth placed team vs. fifth placed team

c. The Quarter-Final Rounds will commence on the 27th of April 2019, Saturday.

d. A coin toss will be done to decide which side the team gets to moot on.

e. The winning team for each round is decided based on the majority votes of judges.

Semi-Final Rounds
a. At the end of the Quarter-Final Rounds, Top FOUR (4) teams will advance to the Semi-Final
Rounds based on round wins in the Quarter-Final Rounds. In the event of a tie, the team(s) that
will proceed to the Semi-Finals round will be decided based on Total Oral Raw Scores in the
Quarter-Final Rounds.

b. The Semi-Final Rounds will be determined as follows:

i. 1st placed team vs. 4th placed team
ii. 2nd placed team vs. 3rd placed team

c. The Semi-Final Rounds will commence on 28th April 2019, Sunday.

d. A coin toss will be done to decide which side the team gets to moot on.

e. The winning team for each round is decided based on the majority votes of judges.

Final Round
a. The winner from the Semi-Final rounds will advance to the Final round.

b. A coin toss will be done to decide which side the team gets to moot on.

c. The champion is decided based on the majority votes of judges.

IV. Best Oralist
a. The participant with the highest average score during the Preliminary Rounds of the
competition will be the winner of the Best Oralist Award for the Preliminary Rounds. A
participant must speak for at least two oral rounds to be eligible for the award.

b. The participant with the highest score in the final round will be the winner of the Best Oralist
Award for the Final Round.

c. The marks for memorial will not contribute to the Best Oralist Award for both Preliminary
Rounds and Final Round.

7. Judges
I. The Preliminary Rounds and Quarter-Final Rounds shall be held before ONE (1) judge.

II. The Semi-Final and Final rounds shall be held before a panel of THREE (3) judges.

III. The Organising Committee shall determine the persons who are eligible to serve as judges in
the Competition

8. Pleadings
I. In each oral round, each team consist of two Oralists submitting for a maximum of 35 minutes
in total (including any rebuttal or sur-rebuttal).

II. Judges have discretion to permit time extensions.

III. The order of the pleadings in each moot round of the Competition is as follows:
a. Claimant 1
b. Claimant 2
c. Respondent 1
d. Respondent 2
e. Claimant Rebuttal
F. Respondent Sur-rebuttal

IV. The scope of pleadings is not limited to the scope of the memorial. The Claimant’s rebuttal is
limited to the scope of the Respondent’s pleadings. The Respondent’s sur-rebuttal is limited to
the scope of the Claimant’s rebuttal, unless the Claimant has waived rebuttal, in which case there
shall be no sur-rebuttal.

V. Communication
Only moot communications listed below are permitted.
a. There shall be no written communication to any judge. Teams are not permitted to submit
written arguments or refer judges to any materials, other than the memorials, during the Oral
Hearings. Teams violating this rule shall be Disqualified.

b. An Oralist may communicate with the judges, and the judges may communicate with that
Oralist, only during the Oralist's allotted speaking time.

c. Moot communication at the counsel table during moot rounds is not permitted as to avoid
distractions i.e. noise, outbursts, or other improper conduct. All communication at the counsel
table shall be in writing to prevent any disruption.

d. Team members at the counsel table shall not communicate either orally or in writing with
spectators or other team members not present at the counsel table.

e. During the Oral Hearings, Oralists are prohibited from using any electronic devices while
seated at the counsel table or during pleadings.

f. No recording of the pleadings during the Oral Hearings is permitted without the advance
permission of the Organising Committee. The Organising Committee reserves the rights to any
form of recording of any Oral Hearings or part thereof.