Law students corner
How to write a good 'Memorial' for a Moot?
IN Moot Court your written submission is called memorial or counter memorial. This is also known as brief. You need to write your team's memorial fairly some days ago before the mooting day. In competitions, the memorials are to be submitted in advance for evaluation. In some moot competitions you need to argue for both the sides, hence you need to make memorials for Appellants as well as respondents. Usually, memorials are exchanged between the parties before some times the moot is kicked off. So, you may need to make many copies (generally 4 or 5) of your submission. Every competition gives its own guidelines for writing the memorial. If not, a standard method should be followed. Generally, the Memorial shall consist of the following parts: cover page, table of contents, index of authorities (including corresponding page numbers and maintaining orders), statement of facts, identification of issues, statement of jurisdiction, arguments in favour of the issues/pleadings, summary of pleadings and prayer for relief. If the given problem gives you indication that question of jurisdiction is settled, you may omit statement of jurisdiction from your memorial. The length of a written memorial also varies according to competition rules. Normally, it ranges from 20 pages to 40 pages including the footnotes. The references in support of your arguments are to be placed in the foot note by following a standard referencing style. You can support your legal argument by relying on: a. authority, b. reason and logic c. policy arguments.
Among these the first one (relying on authority) is the most important. Indeed, reason and logic as well as policy arguments should be used subtly so that your memorial does not become very flat. Any legal argument should be firmly founded on authority. The mooters should concentrate solely on use of authority. Authorities can be: 1. Decisions of the Appellate Division/High Court Division 2. Supreme Court/Appellate Court judgments from other common law jurisdictions 3. National or International Statutes, Conventions, Treaties 4. Quotations from authoritative articles and textbooks 5. Parliamentary debates / debates of standing committees (only in certain circumstances) 6. Decisions of ICJ or other international tribunals (in case of international law and human rights problems).
Care should be taken in selecting the choice of authority. The index of authority would vary depending on the subject matter of the mooting. Mooters should always refer to case law carefully. Foreign cases also can be relevant. It may be prudent to introduce the case by saying 'although not binding on this Court it may be of assistance to examine the judgment in...' A note must be made on the use of textbooks and articles. You should use textbooks rarely. A textbook may only be used if it is a leading authority on the subject, as recognized by legal luminaries. For example, William Anson's Contract Law is a good authority on contract law. You can give reference books like such. Your course textbooks will almost certainly not be considered as good authority.
You can find a sample memorial by searching internet. Memorial is vital in mooting because majority of marking are allocated in memorials. Best memorials and researchers are awarded.
--Law desk.
