HOWTO ADDRESS THE JUDGES © Always refer judges as “Your Honour/ Your Lordship/ Your Ladyship” OPENING ® Stand up when judges approach the room * Ask their permission to approach the podium “The Counsel seeks permission to approach the podium” INTRODUCTION ° Begin with “May it please the Court, I am the counsel for the .... In the case of ....”ARGUMENTS e JURISDICTION -“The Counsel seeks permission to begin with the Statement of Jurisdiction” e FACTS - Most of the judges are well-verses with facts; you can ask permission to move to issues raised to save time “If the court is well aware of the facts, may I proceed to the issues?” - If they ask you to state facts, explain briefly within 1-2 mine ISSUES RAISED - Tell the bench the issues you and your co-counsel will be dealing with “1 will be dealing with Issue 1 & 2 (state your issues)... & My co-counsel will be dealing with...” - Tell the amount of time needed for your and your co-counsel’s arguments “T will be taking _ minutes of the Court's time & my co-counsel will be taking...’*@ PLEADINGS - After stating the issues raised, ask permission to begin with your arguments advanced Thing to follow during your arguments When the time allotted for your arguments is over, do not continue any further; If you want time extension ask the judges “The Counsel seeks extension of ... Minutes” If judges do not grant you time extension, do not argueae - When judge poses a question, stop talking; Listen carefully to the question - Never speak while the judge is asking question; answer only after the question is complete - If you do not understand the question, you can ask them to repeat the question for clarification ; - When judge poses a question contradicting your argument, say “I humbly disagree, Your Honour..” and then explain your stance - If judge poses a question which your co-counsel will be dealing with, answer these too; do not say your counsel will cover itIf you do not know answer to a question, you can say “The Counsel pleads ignorance” or “The Counsel is not aware about...” (However, it is strongly encouraged to never plead ignorance) Ifa judge corrects you, say “Apologies, your Honour” - If you finish arguing an issue, you may ask “If the Court does not have any (further) questions, may I proceed with my next issue” - If your pleadings are complete, you may ask “Unless the Court has any further questions, that concludes my submission...”© Prayer - The other teammates (speaker & researcher) should stand up during prayer -The last speaker can end with “It was a pleasure arguing before this Hon'ble Court” © Rebuttals/ sur-rebuttals - Refer your opponents as “The learned counsel for the applicant /respondent” - Never disrespect the other teamGeneral tips * Do not get or look irritated while judges are asking questions © Do not read from your memorials; your oral rounds are a conversation between you and the judges © Speak slowly ° Avoid phrases like “In my opinion” or “I think” or “I feel” ¢ Use only formal language like “It is submitted..”