1st DME INTERNATIONAL MOOT COURT COMEPTITION, 2022 (Virtual Edition) : 1st - 3rd April, 2022

 



ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University was established as Indraprastha University (IPU) on 28th March 1998 by the Govt. of NCT Delhi as a state university under the provisions of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Act, 1998 with its Amendment in 1999. The university was ranked 66 among Indian universities by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2019 and 95 in the overall category. The University is
recognized by University Grants Commission (India), under section 12B of the UGC Act.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE

Delhi Metropolitan Education is a premier Educational Institute affiliated to the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. The college offers B.A.LLB (H), B.BA.LLB (H), B.A. (JMC) and BBA courses.Since its inception, the college has attained
numerous laurels to its credit and has successfully attained a distinguished stature. For two consecutive years it has bagged ‘A - Grade’ Certificate from the G.G.S.I.P.U. The college has numerous societies which are involved in diverse fields & activities ranging from the cultural arts, photography, academics to scholarly events.


TIMELINE OF THE COMPETITION

  

 

S. No.

Particulars

Deadlines

 

 

 

 

1

Last Date of Registration

15th March 2022

 

 

 

 

2

Last date to mail Clarifications

20th March 2022

 

 

 

 

3

Release of Clarifications

22nd March 2022

 

 

 

 

4

Memorial Submission Deadline

25th March 2022

5

Last date to submit memorial with Penalty

26th March 2022

 

 

 

 

6

Researcher’s Test

1st April 2022

 

 

 

 

7

Preliminary Round

2nd April

 

 

 

 

8

Quarter Finals Round

2nd April

9

Semi Finals Round

3rd April

 

 

 

 

10

Finals Round

3rd April




MOOT PROPOSITION

1. Ms. Seo-Jun was born to Indo-Koreal Parents in Seouk City of Koreal. Despite being born and brought up in Koreal, she had a strong fondness for Indican culture and festivities, and her family actively participated  in traditional Indican festivities in the city. Going ahead, Seo-Jun envisioned working in Indica following her graduation in Bachelor of Law from Koreal.

2. While Ms. Seo-Jun was pursuing her professional degree in law from a University in her hometown, she went through a traumatizing experience of harassment. She accused one of her middle-aged professors of sexual harassment, who insisted she attend extra classes and compelled her to allow physical advances made by him on the pretext of saving her from failing her exams if she refrained. Ms. Seo-Jun was taken aback when none of her professors or university friends tried to understand her situation or support her when she complained about the incident to them. When she shared the same with her parents, instantaneously, they filed a complaint before the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the law school. However, upon an internal investigation, it turned out that the complaint was a false alarm made by Ms. Seo-Jun. She was unable to prove the alleged misconduct by the professor before the ICC. While she was disappointed with the lack of justice, she decided to be relentless and not give in to such incidents and rather stand up against it.

3. In September 2018, Ms. Seo-Jun was due graduation, prior to which as a standard process she had started applying for Jobs in Indica. She soon received a job confirmation from R.I.A.L., an International Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Corporation) based in Mumbica, Indica.

4. The Corporation was established in April 2000 as an online multi-purpose project that sells books, music, movies, house wares, electronics, toys, and many other goods, either directly or as the middleman between other retailers and R.I.A.L.’s millions of customers. It has been recognized and honored by various governments and private businesses all over the globe. It has maintained its clientage through trustworthy quality and speedy delivery of goods and services. Furthermore, the Corporation is renowned for a cordial and healthy workplace environment, despite a major controversy around sexual harassment that arose between two workers of the Corporation in 2008. The issue was subsequently settled between the parties with the help of an Internal Complaints Committee (hereafter mentioned as ICC) of the Corporation. After this incident, the Sexual Harassment Policies of the Corporation were updated. One of the major addition that was brought into play via the internal policy was that in case any employee experiences sexual harassment at the Corporation, it was mandatory for the employee to bring the matter before the ICC before resorting to any other legal or non-legal recourse available.

5. The ICC of the Corporation consisted of 5 board members. Out of 5 members, 1 external-dispute resolution woman expert was on the board who had worked amongst non-government organizations committed to the cause of women, and the rest of the 4 members were internal dispute resolution experts including experienced advocates and doctors. All the members were highly experienced in their respective domains and were also certified dispute resolution consultants.

6. In January 2019, Ms. Seo-Jun arrived in Mumbica, Indica to join the Corporation. As part of her onboarding, she signed certain company documents including a Letter of Appointment, HRBGC (Human Resource Background Check), and a Non-Disclosure Agreement (Relevant clauses mentioned in Annexure-I). Over the months, Ms. Seo-Jun got settled into her new role, whereby she was diligent with her work commitments and
also got along with her co-employees. Notably, within a short span of joining the Corporation, her efforts were well-received by the seniors, which was reflected by her promotion to a senior role. Besides work, Ms. Seo-Jun made sure she participated in activities of the local community, where she made a few local friends as well. Although language was a concern for her, she did not take much time to adapt to the new surroundings.

7. Ms. Seo-Jun was a strong believer in gender equality and was against the prejudices set against women around the world. Since she had a sound knowledge of International as well as Indican Laws, in her personal capacity, she was vocal about her opinion on various social media platforms, where she brought to light legal resources available against brutality and unjust treatment against women. Ms. Seo Jun used to spread awareness in association with an Indican NGO ‘Care for Indica’. Being an active participant against harassment and gender discrimination, she had managed to make a powerful reputation for herself as a feminist/rights activist.

8. However, over time, she began to notice sour and discourteous conduct among male superiors and coworkers, around the beginning of 2020. Ms. Seo Jun noticed that her co-employees were talking behind her back and the behavior of many senior members was rude and unwelcoming towards her. She anticipated their attitude as a result of her feminist stance in society. Regardless, she continued to strive for the cause without fail

9. On 20 November 2021, Ms. Seo-Jun accused Mr. Sameer Waliya, Managing Director of the Corporation of sexual harassment. She further accused him of passing ill comments on her in Hindi which she was not able to understand properly and overall having extended discomforting advances towards her. Ms. Seo-Jun mentioned frequent incidents that used to happen in and around the supplies area room, where the printing machine was also placed. Time and again she had noticed Mr. Waliya used to come into the space around the same time as her, despite being well aware of the confined cubicle. She felt Mr. Waliya used to take undue advantage and try to create close proximity with her especially around the supplies area. Moreover, she had also experienced inappropriate behavior via social media i.e. suggestive/ inappropriate WhatsApp messages/ forwards shared by Mr. Waliya under the veil of light entertainment. Ms. Seo-Jun also contended that she noticed him following
her when she used to drive her way back home from the office. The incident that led to her speaking up was when one of the days Mr. Waliya asked her to work past usual work hours to complete an assignment and that evening, knowing that they were alone, he made physical advances towards her when no one was around in the office.

10. She refused to approach the ICC of the Corporation as she believed that the board members of the committee would be in favor of Mr. Waliya due to his vital position in the office and consequently, would rule in favor of the accused. Further, she had the apprehension that the only external-dispute resolution woman expert on the ICC board had cordial relations with Mr. Waliya, being his distant relative.

11. Ms. Seo-Jun knocked on the doors of the Hon’ble High Court of Bombica by filing a Writ Petition seeking justice for the violation of the Right to Life and Liberty and Gender Equality that she faced at the workplace. She contended that it was against the Right to Privacy and the Non-Disclosure Agreement for the Corporation to outwardly discuss the details of the sexual harassment incident and her mental condition. Moreover, she was asked to leave the Corporation. Ms. Seo-Jun was repelled by the non-satisfactory response of the Human Resource Management about the abrupt termination of her job without prior notice and only on the reason stated that her quality of work had deteriorated with time, for which she was not even given the opportunity to rectify. Around the same time, she also got to know about the rumors circulating within the Corporation, which made her incident public.

12. Subsequently, upon obtaining information on the Writ Petition filed by Ms. Seo-Jun pertaining to sexual harassment at the workplace, the Corporation via the ICC initiated an internal investigation. During the investigation period, the senior members of the Corporation and her co-workers were interviewed to get a better understanding of the alleged situation. As per the findings of the internal investigation, Ms. Seo-Jun was treated
with respect at the workplace and was often appreciated for her work ethic. However, when sharing feedback on her behavioral pattern, they asserted her to be hyper-sensitive and unpredictable in nature when it came to interacting with co-employees. Moreover, when her co-employees were asked about Ms. Seo-Jun’s behavior, one of them Ms. Ritika, who worked in the same team as her, mentioned Ms. Seo-Jun divulged that she was suffering
from bipolar disorder and was undergoing occasional treatment for it as well. With this, the Corporation was taken aback because she never disclosed her mental condition neither at the time of recruitment nor during her tenure, if at all it was true. All these instances were made public through rumors by an employee working in the Corporation itself, which subsequently found a place in stories and posts on social media platforms.


Ensuing are the issues raised before the Hon’ble High Court of Bombica:

I. Whether the relevant clauses pertaining to disclosure and confidentiality under the Non-Disclosure Agreement made to be signed by the Corporation are justifiable in the eyes of law?

II. Whether the instances put forth by Ms. Seo-Jun of Sexual Harassment against Mr. Sameer Waliya admissible in the court of law?

III. Whether Ms. Seo-Jun’s decision not to approach the Internal Complaints Committee of the Corporation was the right legal recourse taken by her?

IV. Whether the questions raised by Ms. Seo Jun against the existing regime of Sexual Harassment Laws in Indica lead to any amendments or changes required?


NOTE:

1. The issue of maintainability of the Writ Petition is mandatory to be argued by the parties.

2. Participating teams are allowed to frame additional issues and sub-issues accordingly.

3. Names of People and Organizations are fictional.

4. Laws are pari materia to the Indian Constitution





(Annexure-I)

 

Non-Disclosure Agreement

 

This non-disclosure agreement (“Agreement”) is dated 1st January 2019 (“Effective & Execution Date”) and is entered into by and between:

R.I.A.L. (“Party 1”)

 

and

 

Ms. Seo-Jun (“Party 2”)

 

Purpose

 

Parties have to disclose certain confidential, technical, and business information to each other in furtherance of business. To protect the said confidential information both the parties desire to sign this Non- Disclosure agreement.

 

Ownership of Materials

 

Each Party retains all rights, title, and interest to its Confidential Information. No license under any trademark, patent, or copyright, or application for same which are now or hereafter may be obtained by the other Party is either granted or implied by the disclosure of Confidential Information. Confidential Information is provided “as is” with all faults. In no event shall parties be liable for the accuracy or completeness of the Confidential Information.

 

Terms

 

In connection with the above, the parties hereby agree as follows:

 

1.  “Confidential and or proprietary Information” shall mean and include any information disclosed by one Party to the other either directly or indirectly, in writing, orally, by inspection of tangible objects (including, without limitation, documents, prototypes, samples, media, documentation, discs, and code).

 

2.  The Parties shall protect the confidentiality of each other’s Confidential Information in the same manner as they protect the confidentiality of their own proprietary and confidential information of similar nature. Each Party, while acknowledging the confidential and proprietary nature of the Confidential Information agrees to take all reasonable measures at its own expense to restrain its Representatives from prohibited or unauthorized disclosure or use of the Confidential Information.

 

3.   In case of an internal investigation, the Parties shall refrain from disclosing, reproducing, summarizing, and/or distributing Confidential Information and confidential materials of each other is discussed in the investigation.

 

4.  The Agreement and/or any rights arising from it cannot be assigned or otherwise transferred either wholly or in part, without the written consent of the other Party.

 

Both the Parties agree that this Agreement will be effective from the date of execution of this Agreement by both Parties and shall continue to be effective till the Proposed Transaction is terminated by either Party by giving a thirty (30) days’ notice, in case either Party foresees that the Proposed Transaction would not be achieved.


RULES & REGULATIONS

  

I.   INTRODUCTION

 

1. Short Title:

 

These Rules shall be called the 1st DME INTERNATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022 (VIRTUAL EDITION) Rules’.

 

2. Definitions:

 

Unless otherwise stated following shall be construed herein under as–

 

 “Appellant” shall include Appellant, Plaintiff, Petitioner, Complainant, Prosecution, victim/Social activist or the officer representing the state.

 

  “Bench” refers to the members duly invited to adjudge the oral rounds, collectively.

 

 “Clarifications” means explanation published by the Host College on the moot problem, at any point of time of the competition to a query posed by any participating team within the given deadline.

 

 “Compendium” means a compilation or collection of legal or other authorities that any participating team seeks to rely upon during the round of oral pleadings.

 

 “The letter to the court” means the letter that will be drafted by the social activists (non–law students) under the legal counseling provided by the counsels (law students) and the hardcopy of which will be submitted in an envelope with the memorials during the desk registrations.

 

 “Competition” means 1st DME INTERNATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022 (VIRTUAL EDITION).

 

 “Moot Proposition” means the Proposition released by the Organizers on the date specified in Rule II (2) and shall include any subsequent clarification(s) as and when issued by the Organizers.

 

 “Oral Score” means the scores given by the judge to a particular orator of the participating team pleading before it during the round of oral assessment.

 

  “Orator” means one of the two designated speakers in a participating team.

 

  “Organizers” means Moot Court Society and Delhi Metropolitan Education.

 

 “Participating Team” means the team which is eligible to participate in the competition after completion of registration procedure.

 

  “Participating Institution” shall be presumed to be the parent institution of the participating teams.

 

  “Respondent” shall include Defendant, Respondent, Defense, etc.

 

 “Rules” means the 1st DME INTERNATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2022 (VIRTUAL EDITION) Rules.

 

 “Team Code” means a unique code assigned by the Host College to the provisionally registered participating team.

 

 “Written Submissions” means the memorandum of written submissions (memorials) submitted by law students of any participating team according to the rules of the Competition.



II. COMPETITION RULES

  

1. Date and Venue of the Competition:

 

The 1st DME International Moot Court Competition, 2022 will be held from 1st - 3rd April, 2022.

 

2. Team Eligibility and Composition:

 

Team Eligibility for Registration:

 

Participation is strictly restricted to bona fide law students pursuing three-year or five-year LL.B. and LLM degree courses in any college all over the Globe.

 

A maximum of three and minimum of two members are allowed per participating team. In a team consisting of three members, two shall be designated as ‘Speakers’ and the third member shall be designated as ‘Researcher’. Only one team is permitted to participate from each participating institution.

 

Note:-

 

College's Decision is final in case of any dispute.

 


REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

Registration: All the participating institutions have to confirm participation by sending a duly filled Registration Form (Annexure- II) by email at mootcourt@dme.ac.in. Teams also have to fill the registration form- https://forms.gle/9VkdvUKih86cXNATA

Allotment of Team Code: Every team that has successfully completed the Registration requisites under the Rules shall be allotted a unique code after the closure of the Registration for the Competition. Once the Code is allotted, every team must use only the team code for any further communication with the Organizers during the Competition.

Change in Team Composition: Any request for the change in team composition must be intimated to the Organizer at the earliest. Any change must be accompanied with a freshly filled registration form and an authority letter duly signed by the head of the institution.

III. Registration Fees:

 

The domestic (India) participating teams are required to pay INR 1,500/-The overseas (Foreign) participating teams are required to pay $30

 

Note:

 

1)  The Registration will only be confirmed after the payment of Registration Fees;

 

2)  The Registration amount is Non-Refundable.


DRESS CODE

1.Participants shall be appropriately attired for the rounds of the competition. Robes and collar bands are not permitted.

 

2.The Dress Code for the Inauguration, Researcher’s Test, Oral Rounds and Valedictory & Prize Distribution shall strictly be:

a. For Gentlemen - Western Formals (White formal shirt with black formal pants and a black blazer), and western formals.

b. For Ladies - Western Formals (White formal shirt with black formal pants/black formal skirt and a black blazer) or Indian Formals.

 


CLARIFICATIONS 

Clarifications to the Moot Proposition or any other clarifications shall be sought by sending mail on or before.

 

Mail at: mootcourt@dme.ac.in



WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

 

1. Strict Adherence to Rules Regarding Written Submissions:

 

All requirements must be strictly followed. Non-adherence to the same will attract penalties as provided under the Rules.

 

2. Written Submissions to be prepared from Both Sides:

 

Each team must prepare Written Submissions for both sides to the dispute.

 

3. Submission of Soft Copy of Written Submissions:

 

The soft copies of the written submission from each side should reach the Organizers at mootcourt@dme.ac.in in “.pdf” and “.doc” format latest by before 11:59 PM.

Written Submissions from both sides shall be sent in a single mail.

 

A penalty of 1 mark shall be levied in case the written submission is submitted in any other format or as a multiple file by the team.

The team submitting the soft copy of written submissions 2 days after the last date will be disqualified from the competition.

4. Penalty for Late Submission:

 

A penalty of 2 marks per day per side shall be levied in case of delay in submission of soft copy of written submission.

General Conditions for Written Submissions:

 

i. The Written Submissions 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 written submission, then it shall result in instant disqualification of the participating team.

ii. Appellant’s Written Submission is required to have blue cover and Respondent’s Written Submission is required to have red cover.

iii. A penalty of 1 mark per side shall be levied in case the teams use wrong cover for written submissions.

 

5. Guidelines for Formatting:

 

Written Submissions Structure: The Written Submissions must contain following contents:

 

Cover Page: The cover page shall contain the case title, side of the written submission, year of competition, name

 

of the forum and team code on top right corner;

 

Table of Contents

 

List of Abbreviations

 

Index of Authorities: The Index of Authorities must list all the authorities cited in the Written submission. The

 

Index must indicate the page number(s) and/or the paragraph number(s) of the Written submission in which the

 

authority is cited;

 

Statement of Jurisdiction

 

Statement of Facts: The Statement of Facts must contain a concise statement of the relevant facts of the dispute. As far as may be, the Statement of Facts should be limited to the stipulated facts and legitimate inferences which can be drawn from those facts. Argumentative facts are prohibited. Statement of Facts shall not exceed 2 pages. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark for each exceeded page; Issues Raised

Summary of Arguments: The Summary of Arguments must contain a summary of the substance of the arguments and should not merely be a reproduction of the various headings and sub-headings of arguments. The Summary of Arguments shall not exceed 2 pages. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark for each exceeded page;


Pleadings / Arguments Advanced:

 

All legal arguments must be limited to the Pleadings/Arguments Advanced section of the written submission. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 2 marks.

The Pleadings/Arguments Advanced and Prayer must not exceed 20 pages. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark per exceeded page;

Prayer.

 

Team Code: The team code must be ascribed on the top right corner of the cover page. The code must be succeeded by the side for which the written submission is prepared. The teams must use “A” for Appellant, P for “Appellant” and R for “Respondent.”

For example: in case the Team Code is TC-100 the team must write “TC-100A” in case of written submission for Appellant and “TC-100R” in case of written submission for Respondent.

Margin: The Written submission must maintain an equal margin of 1 inch on all sides. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark per each side of Written Submissions.

Font, size and line spacing: The text font should be Times New Roman or Garamond, size 12 and must be in 1.5 line spacing. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 0.5 mark per incorrect format of font, size and line spacing with a maximum of 2 marks per page of the Written Submissions.

Footnotes: The footnotes must be in Times New Roman or Garamond font, size 10 and singly spaced. There should be double line spacing between two footnotes. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th Edition) should be followed in the written submission throughout. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark per page. Substantive/Speaking footnotes are strictly prohibited. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark per substantive citation.

Header and Footer: The font used for the header/footer, if any, shall be Times New Roman or Garamond, size 10, 1 spacing. Non-compliance will result in a penalty of 1 mark per page of the Written Submissions.

Page Limit: There is no maximum page limit on the Written Submissions and the pleadings/Arguments Advanced shall be of a maximum of 20 pages. No annexures, photographs, exhibits, etc. should be added to the written submission. The written submissions shall be marked on a score of 100 marks and the parameters which are laid down as under

 

 

S. NO.

MARKING CRITERIA

MARKS ALLOTTED

1.

Evidence of Original Thought

20

2.

Knowledge of Law and Facts

20

3.

Proper and Articulate Analysis

20

4.

Structure, Language and Grammar

15

5.

Extent and Use of Research

15

6.

Correct Format and Citation

10

 

Total

100

 

 

 




For Brochure Click on the Link Below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zOmcno8uYFHTPEJSkp8H5M17-NGaOHaO/view