“The Mooters” is a weekly series where Bar & Bench interviews the Moot Court Committees of different law schools in the country. .In this piece, the team from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow talks about the selection process followed, challenges faced while organising a moot and the benefits of mooting for a law student..Bar & Bench: How are members inducted into the Moot Court Committee and what are their main responsibilities? .RMLNLU:The functioning of the Moot Court Committee of RMLNLU, Lucknow is governed by the Constitution of the Moot Court Committee, which lays down rules governing induction of Members and Office Bearers, their responsibilities, the general procedure of conducting committee meetings, most importantly the organization of Intra University Moot Court Competitions and promotion of moot court activities in the University. The induction procedure of members in the Moot Court Committee is on the basis of a CV and personal interview. Every year before the completion of the academic year, the committee is dissolved and reconstituted by way of fresh inductions. Members from First to Third Year are interviewed by the Student Office Bearers of the Committee. Induction of students from the First Year is conducted on liberal parameters. Students are expected to have some prior organizational experience in co-curricular or extra-curricular activities. However, they are not expected to have any prior knowledge of law or any Moot Court activity. .The induction of students from the subsequent batches is based on their performance in the preceding years, their active participation in the Committee’s activities and their contribution to the Committee. It is preferred by the Committee to have Members who have participated in Moot Court Competitions, in order for them to have a better insight into what goes inside a Moot Court Competition, from the organizer’s and the participant’s point of view. The Office Bearers of the Committee consist of the Convener(s) (from the Fifth Year), 2 Co-Conveners (from the Fourth Year) and 3 Secretaries (from the Fourth Year). Office Bearers are selected on the basis of an interview conducted by the Faculty Advisors to the Committee. Exceptional leadership qualities, trustworthiness, efficiency and smooth PR skills are some of the qualities that the interviewing panel looks for while inducting the Office Bearers. There is effective channelization and distribution of work through the Committee Members and the Office Bearers, to ensure successful working of the Committee. .B&B: What is the process of organizing an inter-college moot court competition? How do you find sponsors?.RMLNLU: Organizing a Moot Court Competition at a National or International level is a tedious process. Foremostly, it involves brainstorming at every level, right from approaching the sponsors, choosing the subject area of the competition to holding the valedictory ceremony. .Finding Sponsors is a herculean task. For the RMLNLU SCC – Online Media Law Moot Court Competition, we have been really fortunate to have the Eastern Book Company, as the title sponsors, whom we approached two years ago through one of our faculty members. They have been making this Competition a success by taking care of all our needs. Apart from them, the Best Western Plus Hotel Levana is our Hospitality Partner. They have been ensuring a comfortable stay to our judges..Once the task of managing funds is done, the process is set in motion. A formal announcement about the moot is done across all the moot court committees and societies. Most law schools have a student run moot court committee. Official invitations are sent to them including the timeline of the competition, in expectance of participation from their institution. This initial or pre invitation is sent to ensure the listing of our ompetition in other law schools’ moot court allotment lists..A lot of other processes run parallel to each other, for example: .Drafting the rules and regulations of the competition – we consider the rules which should be adopted for the competition, including the rules regarding registration, written submissions, oral rounds etc. After a long process of incorporating details pertinent to every aspect of the Competition relevant for the participants, the Official Rules of the Competition come up;.Drafting the Moot Problem – A competent person, well established in the subject area of the Competition as well as having a mooting experience is selected to frame the moot problem. Giving the drafter an outline of our requirements, he is offered a research team to assist him in drafting the problem..Once the Moot Problem and the Official Rules are set for release, a formal invitation is sent to all the moot court committees and societies, clearly setting out the deadlines, rules and Moot Problem of the Competition..The next big step to be taken is regarding the invitation to judges. Calling Supreme Court Judges, Senior Advocates, other Advocates and Law Firm Associates takes a lot of planning and coordination on part of the organizers. Invitations are sent via post and/or email. Follow ups over telephone, personal meetings and/or emails follows the sending out of invitations. A database is prepared, recording the confirmation status, contact details, travel itinerary and other relevant information of every judge..What keeps going on besides the management of judges is the process of registration of participants. What is left after these tasks are completed is internal work which includes handling the accommodation and food arrangements for teams and judges, travel and conveyance arrangements of teams and judges, preparing court room documents, training the court bailiffs and formulating the tab room mechanism. The whole committee is involved in planning all the tasks. Work is effectively delegated to Sub-Committees to avoid confusion. Efforts are made to ensure that even the minutest details are not left unplanned. Like they say, take care of the small things, and the big ones shall automatically fall in place..B&B: How do you select judges for various rounds?.RMLNLU: The selection of judges for the RMLNLU-SCC Online Media Law Moot, the flagship moot of the University is done on the basis of their profile and expertise in the field of media law. It includes their prior exposure to mooting and respective achievements in various National and International Moot Court Competitions. The Flagship Moot of our University is judged by Supreme Court Judges, Senior Advocates, other Advocates and Law Firm Associates. A round-wise priority list is made of all the plausible names to be invited. The bench of the Final Rounds has Supreme Court Judge(s), Academician(s) and Senior Advocate(s). The bench of the Semifinal Rounds entails Advocates from the Supreme Court, High Court of Delhi and Lucknow Bench of the High Court of Allahabad and Partner Associates from prestigious law firms. For the internal selection rounds of the University, Alumni are invited as judges..B&B: In your opinion, how does mooting benefit a law student?.RMLNLU: Mooting makes an unparalleled contribution to the academic and extra-curricular experience of a law student. Apart from the opportunity that it gives to attain in-depth knowledge of the subject, it is arguably an enjoyable exercise as a whole. It helps in developing the skill-set and nuances of advocacy which a lawyer is expected to display and deliver in a real-life court room. It is particularly beneficial for students who wish to pursue litigation after graduation. Even for others, it gives an insight in the way law comes to rescue when problems arise. And even though mooting doesn’t contribute equally when compared to publications and academic marks for job-prospects, it still is a value-addition to one’s CV..The Moot Court Committee of RMLNLU, Lucknow comprises Shantanu Singh, Chanakya Sharma, Arnab Roy, Lakshya Dheer, Srijan Jha, Harsh Pathak, Shaurya Joshi, Shashank Shekhar Misra, Paarth Nithani, Neel Kamal Mishra, Saurabh Verma, Anwesha Padhi, Aishwarya Gupta, Aanchal Jain, Smriti Singh, Anamica Singh, Charu Singh, Mavis Cardoz, Garima Prakash..(If you would like your college moot court team to be featured, send us a mail at shreya@barandbench.com)
“The Mooters” is a weekly series where Bar & Bench interviews the Moot Court Committees of different law schools in the country. .In this piece, the team from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow talks about the selection process followed, challenges faced while organising a moot and the benefits of mooting for a law student..Bar & Bench: How are members inducted into the Moot Court Committee and what are their main responsibilities? .RMLNLU:The functioning of the Moot Court Committee of RMLNLU, Lucknow is governed by the Constitution of the Moot Court Committee, which lays down rules governing induction of Members and Office Bearers, their responsibilities, the general procedure of conducting committee meetings, most importantly the organization of Intra University Moot Court Competitions and promotion of moot court activities in the University. The induction procedure of members in the Moot Court Committee is on the basis of a CV and personal interview. Every year before the completion of the academic year, the committee is dissolved and reconstituted by way of fresh inductions. Members from First to Third Year are interviewed by the Student Office Bearers of the Committee. Induction of students from the First Year is conducted on liberal parameters. Students are expected to have some prior organizational experience in co-curricular or extra-curricular activities. However, they are not expected to have any prior knowledge of law or any Moot Court activity. .The induction of students from the subsequent batches is based on their performance in the preceding years, their active participation in the Committee’s activities and their contribution to the Committee. It is preferred by the Committee to have Members who have participated in Moot Court Competitions, in order for them to have a better insight into what goes inside a Moot Court Competition, from the organizer’s and the participant’s point of view. The Office Bearers of the Committee consist of the Convener(s) (from the Fifth Year), 2 Co-Conveners (from the Fourth Year) and 3 Secretaries (from the Fourth Year). Office Bearers are selected on the basis of an interview conducted by the Faculty Advisors to the Committee. Exceptional leadership qualities, trustworthiness, efficiency and smooth PR skills are some of the qualities that the interviewing panel looks for while inducting the Office Bearers. There is effective channelization and distribution of work through the Committee Members and the Office Bearers, to ensure successful working of the Committee. .B&B: What is the process of organizing an inter-college moot court competition? How do you find sponsors?.RMLNLU: Organizing a Moot Court Competition at a National or International level is a tedious process. Foremostly, it involves brainstorming at every level, right from approaching the sponsors, choosing the subject area of the competition to holding the valedictory ceremony. .Finding Sponsors is a herculean task. For the RMLNLU SCC – Online Media Law Moot Court Competition, we have been really fortunate to have the Eastern Book Company, as the title sponsors, whom we approached two years ago through one of our faculty members. They have been making this Competition a success by taking care of all our needs. Apart from them, the Best Western Plus Hotel Levana is our Hospitality Partner. They have been ensuring a comfortable stay to our judges..Once the task of managing funds is done, the process is set in motion. A formal announcement about the moot is done across all the moot court committees and societies. Most law schools have a student run moot court committee. Official invitations are sent to them including the timeline of the competition, in expectance of participation from their institution. This initial or pre invitation is sent to ensure the listing of our ompetition in other law schools’ moot court allotment lists..A lot of other processes run parallel to each other, for example: .Drafting the rules and regulations of the competition – we consider the rules which should be adopted for the competition, including the rules regarding registration, written submissions, oral rounds etc. After a long process of incorporating details pertinent to every aspect of the Competition relevant for the participants, the Official Rules of the Competition come up;.Drafting the Moot Problem – A competent person, well established in the subject area of the Competition as well as having a mooting experience is selected to frame the moot problem. Giving the drafter an outline of our requirements, he is offered a research team to assist him in drafting the problem..Once the Moot Problem and the Official Rules are set for release, a formal invitation is sent to all the moot court committees and societies, clearly setting out the deadlines, rules and Moot Problem of the Competition..The next big step to be taken is regarding the invitation to judges. Calling Supreme Court Judges, Senior Advocates, other Advocates and Law Firm Associates takes a lot of planning and coordination on part of the organizers. Invitations are sent via post and/or email. Follow ups over telephone, personal meetings and/or emails follows the sending out of invitations. A database is prepared, recording the confirmation status, contact details, travel itinerary and other relevant information of every judge..What keeps going on besides the management of judges is the process of registration of participants. What is left after these tasks are completed is internal work which includes handling the accommodation and food arrangements for teams and judges, travel and conveyance arrangements of teams and judges, preparing court room documents, training the court bailiffs and formulating the tab room mechanism. The whole committee is involved in planning all the tasks. Work is effectively delegated to Sub-Committees to avoid confusion. Efforts are made to ensure that even the minutest details are not left unplanned. Like they say, take care of the small things, and the big ones shall automatically fall in place..B&B: How do you select judges for various rounds?.RMLNLU: The selection of judges for the RMLNLU-SCC Online Media Law Moot, the flagship moot of the University is done on the basis of their profile and expertise in the field of media law. It includes their prior exposure to mooting and respective achievements in various National and International Moot Court Competitions. The Flagship Moot of our University is judged by Supreme Court Judges, Senior Advocates, other Advocates and Law Firm Associates. A round-wise priority list is made of all the plausible names to be invited. The bench of the Final Rounds has Supreme Court Judge(s), Academician(s) and Senior Advocate(s). The bench of the Semifinal Rounds entails Advocates from the Supreme Court, High Court of Delhi and Lucknow Bench of the High Court of Allahabad and Partner Associates from prestigious law firms. For the internal selection rounds of the University, Alumni are invited as judges..B&B: In your opinion, how does mooting benefit a law student?.RMLNLU: Mooting makes an unparalleled contribution to the academic and extra-curricular experience of a law student. Apart from the opportunity that it gives to attain in-depth knowledge of the subject, it is arguably an enjoyable exercise as a whole. It helps in developing the skill-set and nuances of advocacy which a lawyer is expected to display and deliver in a real-life court room. It is particularly beneficial for students who wish to pursue litigation after graduation. Even for others, it gives an insight in the way law comes to rescue when problems arise. And even though mooting doesn’t contribute equally when compared to publications and academic marks for job-prospects, it still is a value-addition to one’s CV..The Moot Court Committee of RMLNLU, Lucknow comprises Shantanu Singh, Chanakya Sharma, Arnab Roy, Lakshya Dheer, Srijan Jha, Harsh Pathak, Shaurya Joshi, Shashank Shekhar Misra, Paarth Nithani, Neel Kamal Mishra, Saurabh Verma, Anwesha Padhi, Aishwarya Gupta, Aanchal Jain, Smriti Singh, Anamica Singh, Charu Singh, Mavis Cardoz, Garima Prakash..(If you would like your college moot court team to be featured, send us a mail at shreya@barandbench.com)
