During a Moot Court competition, participating teams must submit two Memorials per team; a Petitioner or Applicant Memorial and a Respondent Memorial along with the cover page.
[box type="note"]Note: The tips outlined in this post with respect to writing a memorial for your moot problem may not conform to the current Rules governing memorials, and thus caution should be used in following the exact format of these memorial tips when using them as precedents for the current or future competitions. [/box]
Before sitting to write a memorial, understand deeply of the given moot problem, dive into the facts of the case, what is your first intuitive response both in favorable and unfavorable point of view. Go through the statement of issues over and over and do not leave any room for doubts. Once you thoroughly understand the problem at hand, issues and facts of the case, start with the research for your Memorials. For details on how to do effective research, read our post on
What is a Moot Court in plain English?
Memorial acts as a legal written document, which forms as your framework, for oral pleadings. Take careful considerition on how you are going to structure your document, and on what points of law, you will base your arguments.
Remember, your memorials should be persuasive with leading cases as a foundation. Allocate sufficient time and dedication to do research, gather legal precedents of highest court, followed by higher court, as well as citations of relevant legal sources.
Each Memorial will contain the following required sections:
Front Page
Do not get overly creative with decorations. At no point, mention your name or the name of the institution. Do refer to the rules and regulations of the specific Moot Court competition. However, you can mention the following things:
- Team number
- Year of the competition
- Name of the case
- Title of the document (e.g., "Memorial for Respondent)
- Total number of words
Table of Contents
A good table of contents helps the reader to better understand the structure of your legal presentation, the flow of logic and the organization of the arguments.
List of Abbreviations
In the process of preparing your written memorial, either for Respondent or Applicant / Petitioner, you will come across several abbreviations. Do remember to keep track of those abbreviations and provide them in the Abbreviations page. This helps the reader to better understand the context of the abbreviations. To learn more about list of abbreviations commonly used in a memorial, check
List of Abbreviations post.
List of Authorities
Each source of authority should be properly mentioned in the List of Authorities page . Include bibliographical information as well for better tracking of the case mentioned. Do take proper care that the sources mentioned in the memorial are relevant to the case at hand. Avoid listing sources which are not directly related to the case, or which is not persuasive in pleading your argument.
Statement of Jurisdiction
At no point of time, the scope of the work and citations should not exceed outside the jurisdiction that is given to you with respect to the Moot Court competition committee.
Statement of Relevant Facts
As to the sources and jurisdiction, resist the temptation of including facts that are not in favor of your argument. Organize your facts in a series of steps that better present justification of your arguments.
Statement of Issues
In this section, write the statement of issues given to you. If statement of issues not given, then prepare the series of questions based on the available problem and present it in a readable format. Limit each issue to be within a sentence.
Summary of Arguments
Provide a quick view of the structure of your Arguments Advanced page. It helps the reader to easily navigate to a specific argument in detail.
Arguments Advanced
This is the most important section of all, as you have the opportunity present your legal research and analysis in a persuasive manner. Arrange your arguments in a logical and justifiable structure. You can include legal authorities such as standard text books, academic commentary, statues and cases, for developing the strength of your argument. Again resist the temptation to include only the facts related to the case at hand.
Prayers / Reliefs / Submissions
Last, but not least section of the memorial. Based on the arguments, facts, and previous judicial precedents, pray for the relief of your case.
Sources:
http://pricemootcourt.socleg.ox.ac.uk