Rules for the

Twenty-First Annual
Stetson International Environmental
Moot Court Competition
2016–2017

International Finals
(and North American Regional)

The International Finals will be held on

March 30–April 1, 2017
at
Stetson University College of Law
1401 61st Street South
Gulfport, Florida 33707

IN COOPERATION WITH THE

The Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section

Stetson Center for Excellence in Advocacy

Stetson Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy

 Important Dates

Problem distributed**.................................................................................... July 11, 2016

Deadline for requests for clarification of the Record ............................ September 9, 2016

Memorial due (must be received by this date) ................................ November 18, 2016

Deadline for protests concerning memorials

...................................................................... ten days after memorials have been posted
(memorials will be posted on the Stetson web page after all the regional or national rounds have concluded)

Foreman Biodiversity Lecture and Welcome Lunch ................................. March 30, 2017

Check-in, Q&A, Orientation, and Dinner................................................... March 30, 2017

Preliminary Round 1 ................................................................................. March 30, 2017

Preliminary Rounds 2–4 ........................................................................... March 31, 2017

Quarterfinals .................................................................................................. April 1, 2017

Semifinals...................................................................................................... April 1, 2017

Championship Round .................................................................................... April 1, 2017

Awards Ceremony and Closing Reception .................................................... April 1, 2017

Check-in and the orientation for coaches and competitors will begin at 5:00 p.m. on
Thursday, March 30, in the Mann Lounge. At least one representative of each team
must attend; all members are invited to attend. Dinner will be served.

The Championship Round will start at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 1.
The Awards Ceremony and Closing Reception will start shortly after the conclusion of
the Championship Round (approximately 3:30 p.m.) and will conclude around 5:00 p.m.
Tampa International Airport is about 30–40 minutes from campus.

**The problem (or Record) is available on Stetson’s International Environmental Moot

Court Competition website, http://www.stetson.edu/law/international/iemcc/index.php.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

A. COMPETITION COMMITTEE AND FORUM...................................................... 1

1. Competition Committee Defined .......................................................... 1

2. Powers of the Competition Committee ................................................ 1
3. Participation of Competition Committee Members ............................. 1
4. Questions and Inquiries ........................................................................ 2
5. Contact with the Competition Committee ............................................ 2
6. Forum...................................................................................................... 2

B. REGIONAL AND OTHER QUALIFYING ROUNDS ............................................. 2

1. Teams Must Compete in Regional or Other Qualifying Round ............ 2

2. A Team Participating in a Regional or National Round from the
Host School .............................................................................................. 3
3. International Memorial-Based Qualifying Round for Teams
from Regions Without a Regional Round .............................................. 4

C. TEAM COMPOSITION ....................................................................................... 4

1. Team Defined ......................................................................................... 4

2. Qualifications of Team Members .......................................................... 5
3. Replacing Team Members..................................................................... 5
4. Coaches and Advisors .......................................................................... 5

D. SCORING AND AWARDS ................................................................................. 6

1. Breakdown ............................................................................................. 6
2. Awards .................................................................................................... 6

E. MEMORIALS (BRIEFS) ...................................................................................... 7

1. Sides ....................................................................................................... 7
2. Problem .................................................................................................... 8
3. Format...................................................................................................... 8
4. Service of the Memorial......................................................................... 9
5. Service on Other Teams ...................................................................... 10
6. No Changes After Submission ............................................................ 10
7. Grading ................................................................................................. 10
8. English ................................................................................................... 11

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued

Page

F. ORAL ARGUMENT PROCEDURES ................................................................ 11

1. Time and Place ..................................................................................... 11

2. Time per Team and Rebuttal Time ....................................................... 11
3. Anonymity ............................................................................................ 12
4. Contact with Judges ............................................................................. 13
5. Judges and Judging Criteria ............................................................... 13
6. Critiques ............................................................................................... 14
7. Announcements ................................................................................... 14
8. Stetson’s Participation ........................................................................ 14
9. English .................................................................................................... 14
10. Visual Aids ............................................................................................. 14

G. SEQUENCE OF ORAL ROUNDS AND ADVANCEMENT

AT THE INTERNATIONAL FINALS ................................................................. 14

1. Preliminary Rounds .............................................................................. 14

2. Quarterfinal Rounds .............................................................................. 16
3 Semifinal Rounds ................................................................................. 17
4. Final Round ........................................................................................... 17

H. OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE ................................................................................... 18

1. Assistance on Memorials ..................................................................... 18

2. Affidavit ................................................................................................. 18
3. Assistance on Oral Argument ............................................................. 18
4. No Collaboration with Other Teams .................................................... 19

I. CHALLENGES AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION ................................................ 19

1. Memorials and Pre-Oral Argument Challenges .................................. 19

2. Oral Arguments and Other Competition Challenges ......................... 19
3. Conflicts of Interest .............................................................................. 20
4. Penalties ................................................................................................ 20
5. Waiver .................................................................................................... 20

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued

Page

J. MISCELLANEOUS ........................................................................................... 20

1. Use of Problem ..................................................................................... 20

2. Scores .................................................................................................... 21
3. Professionalism .................................................................................... 21
4. Costs ..................................................................................................... 21

ADDENDUM A: AFFIDAVIT ........................................................................................ 22

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 RULES FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL
STETSON INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL
MOOT COURT COMPETITION
2016–20171

A. COMPETITION COMMITTEE AND FORUM

1. Competition Committee Defined

The Competition Committee is comprised of Professor Roy Gardner,

Professor Brooke Bowman, Erin Okuno, and other members who may be
appointed to serve. Members of the Competition Committee will not be
actively affiliated with any team registered to participate in the
Competition.

2. Powers of the Competition Committee

a. The Competition Committee has the sole discretion to enforce all

Competition rules.

b. The Competition Committee has the sole discretion to interpret the

Competition rules. No interpretation of the Competition rules is
valid unless obtained in writing from the Competition Committee.

c. The Competition Committee has the sole discretion to answer

questions about the Record and all other papers that constitute the
Problem.

d. The Competition Committee has the sole power to resolve any

dispute that may arise during the Competition.

e. The Competition Committee has the power to change or

supplement the Competition rules, should any changes or
supplements become necessary. Changes and supplements will
be communicated to participating teams as quickly as possible.

3. Participation of Competition Committee Members

Members of the Competition Committee will not judge memorials or oral

arguments, unless the Competition Committee members have been
screened off from knowing the teams’ random number assignments.

1For the most part, these rules also apply to the North America Regional Round. Any differences
between the rules for the International Finals and the rules for the North America Regional Round will be
noted.

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 4. Questions and Inquiries

Any questions or inquiries about the Competition should be directed to the

Competition Committee in writing. To the extent a question or inquiry
affects other teams, a copy of each written question and answer will be
circulated to all participating teams. The deadline for requests for
clarification of the Record is September 9, 2016.

5. Contact with the Competition Committee

The Competition Committee may be reached at

By mail: International Environmental Moot Court Competition

Attn: Professor Roy Gardner
Stetson University College of Law
1401 61st Street South
Gulfport, Florida 33707

By email: [email protected]

6. Forum

The problem will be set in the mock International Court of Justice (ICJ).
To the extent that the Competition rules are silent, ICJ rules will apply. If
an ICJ rule conflicts with a Competition rule, the Competition rule will
prevail.

B. REGIONAL AND OTHER QUALIFYING ROUNDS

1. Teams Must Compete in Regional or Other Qualifying Round

Except as provided below, a team must compete in a regional, national, or

other qualifying round before advancing to the International Finals.
Regional or national rounds are expected to be held in Africa, East Asia,
Southeast Asia, Ireland, Latin America, India, Ukraine, and North America,
before the International Finals. Memorials submitted from regional or
national rounds will be re-graded for the International Finals. Any disputes
arising out of regional or national rounds shall be resolved by the Regional
or National Coordinators.

a. The regional or other qualifying round will consist of a memorial and

oral arguments.

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 b. In determining how many teams advance to the International
Finals, each region will be represented by one team for every six
teams that participate in the regional or qualifying round. For
example, if there are six teams participating in a regional round,
only the top team will advance to the International Finals. If there
are ten teams participating in the regional round, the top two teams
will advance to the International Finals.

c. No individual country may have more than five teams in the

International Finals. No individual school may have more than two
teams in the International Finals.

d. With the approval of the Competition Committee and the relevant

Regional or National Coordinator, a school that hosts a regional or
national round and competes in that regional or national round will
automatically advance one team to the International Finals, even if
the team from the host school did not otherwise qualify. (Only one
team from a host school may advance to the International Finals.)

e. In the interest of having the greatest number of countries

participating in the Competition, the Competition Committee may
establish additional regional or national rounds.

2. A Team Participating in a Regional or National Round from the Host

School

It is permissible for the host school to have a team in the regional or

national rounds, so long as the following constraints are met:

a. The team’s coach cannot be involved with any aspect of hosting the
regional or national round, which includes but is not limited to, not
having access to the bench brief during the team’s preparation for
the oral arguments (or after, if the team advances).

b. Practice round judges cannot judge the team during the regional or
national rounds.

c. During the regional or national rounds, the coordinators will ensure

that all judges do not know the affiliation of the host school’s team.
All conflicts of interest must be resolved before the round begins.

d. Individual team members should be counseled to not reach out to

the legal community for assistance with their oral arguments,
unless first cleared by the team’s coach and the regional
coordinator.

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 3. International Memorial-Based Qualifying Round for Teams from
Regions Without a Regional Round

a. If a team is from a region without a regional or other qualifying

round, the team may qualify for the International Finals through the
memorial-only qualifying round.

b. Teams must register for the memorial-only qualifying round by

October 21, 2016, and must submit to the Competition Committee
their memorials in accordance with these rules by November 18,
2016.

c. In light of the Competition’s history and its interest in encouraging

greater participation, the Competition Committee will extend
invitations to teams through the memorial-only qualifying round if
their memorials are of sufficient quality to warrant an invitation.

d. Questions about a team’s eligibility to participate in the memorial-

only qualifying round should be directed to the Competition
Committee (see section A(5) above).

C. TEAM COMPOSITION

1. Team Defined

a. A team consists of two or three persons, each of whom satisfies the

criteria listed in section C(2) below. [Note: Some regional or
national rounds may permit up to five team members. While this is
permissible in part to encourage broader participation, if a team
advances to the International Finals, the team will be restricted to
no more than three team members.]

b. In light of the Competition’s interest in encouraging greater

participation and subject to the approval of the relevant Regional or
National Coordinator and the Competition Committee, a single
team may consist of students from different schools.

c. No person may be a member of more than one team, nor may any
member of a team discuss the problem or related substantive
matters with any member of a different team. Team members may
only discuss the problem or related substantive matters with
members of their own team.

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 d. Only two team members may present arguments or otherwise
participate in any particular round (all three may argue during the
competition, but only two may argue in any particular round).

e. All team members may participate in any other aspect of the

Competition, including practice rounds, and researching and
drafting the memorial.

f. Only two team members may sit at counsel table during a round. If
there is a third team member, he or she should sit behind his or her
teammates, and he or she may not communicate with his or her
teammates during the round, even if the teammates are not arguing
at that particular moment.

2. Qualifications of Team Members

a. No team member may hold a law degree from a United States law
school.

b. Each team member must be enrolled in a full-time or part-time Juris

Doctor or equivalent program in the law school they represent.

c. Except as noted above, members may not hold or be enrolled in

any graduate legal program, such as an LL.M. or S.J.D. program,
or the equivalent.

d. The Competition Committee will determine on an individual basis

whether potential team members from countries other than the
United States meet these criteria.

3. Replacing Team Members

No team member may be replaced after the team’s memorial has been
written or substantially written, except with the express written consent of
the Competition Committee, which will require a showing of good cause.

4. Coaches and Advisors

a. Each team may have one or more coaches.

b. If a school enters more than one team in the Competition, each

team must have a different coach. In other words, two teams
cannot be coached by the same coach.

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 c. Once the record has been released, coaches/advisors may not help
the team members with drafting or editing of the memorial. A
coach or advisor’s assistance must be in accordance with Rule
H(1) below.

d. Nothing in this rule prevents non-coach, practice-round judges from

seeing different teams; however, no person may share substantive
information from one team with another team. For example, if an
individual serves as a practice judge for one team, he or she may
later serve as a practice judge for another team, but may not tell
one team what the other team argued during its presentation.

D. SCORING AND AWARDS

1. Breakdown

a. Except for the Final Round, scores for each round will be determined
by counting the team’s memorial score as one-third of the total score
and oral score as two-thirds of the total score.

b. The oral score will be determined by a panel of judges. The judges

will not know the teams’ memorial scores.

c. In the Final Round, the winner will be determined solely on the

decision of the judges. The teams’ memorial scores do not factor
into the final-round score.

2. Awards

a. The International Finals will conclude with the announcement of the

following awards:

(1) the Competition Champion;

(2) runner-up;

(3) semifinalists;

(4) best overall memorial;

(5) runner-up memorial;

(6) third place memorial;

(7) at least the top five oralists in the Preliminary Rounds; and

6
 (8) best individual oralist in the Final Round.

b. To be eligible for the best individual oralist in the Preliminary

Rounds, a competitor must argue at least three times. For those
who argue four times, the low round score will be dropped.

c. The same individual may not win both best oralist awards—the best
individual oralist in the Preliminary Rounds and the best individual
oralist in the Final Round.

d. The awards for the North America Regional Rounds may vary. At
the minimum, the following awards will be presented:

(1) the Regional Champion;

(2) runner-up;

(3) best memorial;

(4) top three oralists in the Preliminary Rounds;2 and

(5) best individual oralist in the Final Round.

E. MEMORIALS (BRIEFS)

1. Sides

a. Each team must submit either an Applicant or Respondent

memorial to the Competition Committee by November 18, 2016 (for
purposes of these rules, the Applicant is the Federal States of
Aeolia and the Respondent is the Republic of Rinnuco).

b. Teams will prepare an Applicant or Respondent memorial based on

rules for each regional or national round. For example, in the North
American Regional, a team may choose to write for either the
Applicant or Respondent. In other qualifying rounds, the regional or
national coordinator may leave the choice to a team’s discretion,
assign a side, or require teams to prepare memorials for both sides.

c. If a school enters more than one team in the Competition, one team
must represent the Applicant and the other team must represent

2 To be eligible for oralist awards in the preliminary round, the oralist must have argued for both parties.

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 the Respondent. The two teams cannot collaborate during the
memorial-writing process.

2. Problem

a. The hypothetical facts on which the Competition is based will be

drafted by a person or group of persons knowledgeable in the field
of international environmental law.

b. The person(s) who drafts the problem will also prepare—or

supervise the preparation of—a bench memorial that will be
provided to persons who judge oral rounds.

3. Format

a. The memorial may not exceed 6,500 words on 8-1/2 x 11-inch

pages (or the standard paper used in the courts of the team’s
country), with one-inch margins at top, bottom, left, and right.
Footnotes do count toward the word limit. Note: Most word
processing programs can provide you with a word count.
Deductions may be taken if the memorial is over the word count.

b. The memorial must be typed and double-spaced. A team does not

violate the double-spacing requirement by properly including written
material that is single spaced, such as a block quote.

c. Each memorial must include the following sections, which do count

toward the word limit: statement of facts, summary of argument,
argument with point headings, and conclusion.

d. Each memorial must also include the following sections, which do

not count toward the word limit: front and back cover pages, table
of contents, questions presented, statement of jurisdiction, index of
authorities, signature block, affidavit (see Addendum A, included at
the end of these rules), and appropriate appendices.

(1) Limit on Use of Authorities: In memorials, teams may not

use any case issued, order decided, or actions that affect the
status of any treaty (for example, signature, accession,
ratification, entry into force) after October 21, 2016.

(2) Citations: All citations must conform to the most current

version of either The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation
or the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation (fifth edition, Aspen

8
 Publishers). Teams from outside the United States should
make a good effort to comply with proper citation format.

(3) Identification: To facilitate anonymous grading, names of

the team members and the school they represent may not
appear on the memorial. Names of the team members and
the school they represent may only appear on the affidavit
that must be submitted with the original memorial (see
Addendum A).

Each team will be assigned an identification number that is

to appear in the uppermost right-hand corner of its front
memorial cover.

4. Service of the Memorial

a. Every team must submit an electronic copy of its memorial to the

Competition Committee. This rule applies to all regional and
national rounds, including those rounds in which the memorials are
being judged by judges affiliated with that particular regional or
national round. All memorials must be submitted to the Committee.

b. The memorial should be sent as an email attachment in Word

format. Do not send the memorial as a PDF-file.

c. Please name the memorial using your team’s random number and
“A” for Applicant or “R” for Respondent. For example, if you are
assigned team number 1712 and wrote for the Applicant, the file
name should be 1712A.doc or 1712A.docx.

e. The electronic version of the memorial must be received by the

Competition Committee no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard
Time) on November 18, 2016. The Committee will then post each
memorial on the Stetson website after all regional or national
rounds have concluded (see section E(5) below).

f. Memorials that arrive after the deadline may receive a deduction for
being submitted late.

g. In addition to the memorial, each team should submit a signed

affidavit. The affidavit should be separate from the memorial, but
attached to the same email. The affidavit can be submitted as a
PDF-file.

9
 h. The memorials should be sent to Professor Brooke Bowman, at
[email protected]. Please include the following in the
subject line of the email: “2017 IEMCC Memorial XXXX” (and XXXX
is the team’s random number).

5. Service on Other Teams

Teams should not send copies of their memorial to any other team. As
noted in paragraph 4(e) above, the Competition Committee will post the
memorials of teams advancing to the International Finals on the Stetson
website, as soon as all regional or qualifying rounds are complete.

Teams competing in the North America Regional Rounds will have access
to the memorials of the teams participating in the North America Regional
Round prior to the regional round.

6. No Changes After Submission

Once the memorials have been submitted to the Competition Committee,

or to any regional or national competition, no revisions, supplements, or
additions will be allowed. In addition, no written material outside the
memorial will be accepted.

7. Grading

a. Each memorial will be scored by a panel of judges knowledgeable

in the areas of international and/or environmental law.

b. The scores will be averaged and that average will be the memorial
score used throughout the International Finals. However, the
memorial score will not be used to determine the Final Round
winner.

c. Memorials will be graded for both content and style. The factors
memorial judges will consider include, but are not limited to, the
following: legal substance; use of authority and extent of research;
issue analysis; logic and reasoning; clarity and organization;
persuasiveness; thoroughness; style; grammar; spelling; citation
frequency and form; and compliance with Competition rules.

d. Memorial scores will not be released until after the Competition is

completed. At that point, the Competition Committee will release a
list that reflects the teams’ ranking.

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 e. The minimum score on any memorial will be 60.

8. English

Each memorial must be submitted in English.

F. ORAL ARGUMENT PROCEDURES

1. Time and Place

a. All oral arguments will be held at Stetson University College of Law,

on March 30–April 1, 2017.

b. Courtroom assignments will be provided upon arrival.

c. Stetson University College of Law’s Gulfport campus has five mock

courtrooms. The first Preliminary Round will be held on Thursday,
March 30, and the remaining three Preliminary Rounds will be held
on Friday, March 31.

d. During the Preliminary Rounds, each team will argue four

times and will argue for both the Applicant and Respondent.

e. Please have one team representative check-in and attend the

mandatory orientation meeting on Thursday, March 30, at 5:00 p.m.
in the Mann Lounge. (Dinner will also be served prior to the first
Preliminary Round.)

f. The North America Regional Rounds will be held in late

January/early February. Additional information about this regional
round will be posted on the website.

2. Time per Team and Rebuttal Time

a. Each oral round will be limited to sixty minutes; each team will have
thirty minutes to argue.

b. Teams representing the Applicant in a round may reserve up to five

minutes of their time for rebuttal by (1) informing the bailiff before
the round how much rebuttal time will be reserved and the time
breakdown for each team member, and (2) requesting rebuttal time
from the presiding judge in the beginning of the Applicant’s
argument.

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 c. Only one team member may argue on rebuttal; either participating
member may give rebuttal. The team member arguing the rebuttal
does not need to be designated in advance of the argument.

d. Previously reserved rebuttal time may be waived by the Applicant

following the close of Respondent’s argument. However, the
Applicant may not otherwise reallocate rebuttal time once the round
begins.

e. Sur-rebuttal by the Respondent will not be allowed.

f. Each participating team member must intend to speak for at least

ten minutes (in addition to rebuttal time).

g. Nothing in this rule requires a 50/50 split of time between co-

counsel. However, any reserved time not used by one oralist will
not be reallocated to another oralist.

h. During the oral arguments, a bailiff will keep time for each team and
provide the following time cards: 10, 7, 5, 3, 1, and stop. Oralists
are welcome to take a timer to the podium; however, the bailiff’s
timer is the “official” time. (And if a timer is taken to the podium, the
timer cannot have email or Internet capabilities, and the timer
should not make any sounds.)

i. During the oral arguments, laptops or other electronic similar

devices are not permitted at counsel table.

3. Anonymity

a. Although counsel may introduce themselves to the tribunal in the

usual manner, the team’s law-school affiliation may not be
mentioned at any time before, during, or after the oral argument
(because some judges may preside in more than one round).

b. Further, all team members, coaches, advisors, and observers must

refrain from identifying a team’s school at any time and in any
manner, including, but not limited to, wearing any identifying items,
such as school clothing, patches, or pins, or carrying identifying
material (such as a notebook with a school logo).

c. Each team will be provided with a table card with the school’s team
number. The card should be placed on counsel table facing the

12
 judges at the beginning of the round and should remain on the table
throughout the round.

4. Contact with Judges

a. All team members and individuals affiliated with a team are

prohibited from speaking with the judges before a round.

b. Also, since individuals may judge more than one round, until a team
is eliminated from the Competition, team members and individuals
affiliated with the team should not speak with judges about any
substantive matters or teams’ identification.

5. Judges and Judging Criteria

a. Barring unforeseen circumstances, each round will be judged by at

least three persons.

b. Judges will be provided with a copy of the bench memorial and the
problem.

c. Oral argument judges will not be provided with copies of the

participants’ memorials.

d. Each judge will score each participating team member; the judges’
scores for that round will be added to determine the team’s oral-
argument score for a round.

e. The scores of all judges will be averaged to determine the oral-

argument portion of a team’s score.

f. Each judge will receive a grading form outlining the factors to be

considered during the judging process; the grading form will also
identify what excellent, average, and below average scores should
be in each category.

g. The factors to be considered include, but are not limited to:

organization and clarity; analysis and thoroughness; knowledge of
facts and law; courtroom manner and style; ability to answer
questions and control argument; persuasiveness; and
professionalism.

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 6. Critiques

Each judge will be requested to provide a short oral critique at the end of
each round. Judges’ scores for the oral arguments will be emailed after
the Competition (see section J(2) below). The minimum score on any
individual oralist’s argument will be 60.

7. Announcements

a. After all of the Preliminary Rounds have been completed, the eight
teams advancing to the Quarterfinal Rounds will be announced.

b. After the Quarterfinal Rounds have been completed, the four teams
advancing to the Semifinal Rounds will be announced.

c. Similarly, after the conclusion of the Semifinal Rounds, the two

teams advancing to the Final Round will be announced.

d. The winner of the Final Round will be announced during the

Awards Reception.

8. Stetson’s Participation

Stetson may not enter a team in the International Finals.

9. English

All oral arguments will be conducted in English. Judges may take into
consideration that English is a team’s second language in scoring the
competition.

10. Visual Aids

Visual aids and other similar devices may not be used during oral
argument. No documents (cases, reports, etc.) should be handed to the
judges.

G. SEQUENCE OF ORAL ROUNDS AND ADVANCEMENT AT THE

INTERNATIONAL FINALS

1. Preliminary Rounds

a. Four Preliminary Rounds will be held.

14
 b. Each team will argue in each Preliminary Round.

c. Each team will argue on- and off-memorial at least once in the
Preliminary Rounds.
.
d. During the first three Preliminary Rounds, teams will be power-
protected based on memorial score (higher memorial scores
compete against lower memorial scores).

e. During the last Preliminary Round, teams will be power-matched

based on their record in the first three Preliminary Rounds (highest-
ranked team competes against second highest-ranked team, etc.).
The Competition Committee may alter the power-matched rankings
so that teams will not compete against any team more than once
during the Preliminary Round.

f. The schedules for the first three Preliminary Rounds will be

available at the orientation meeting on Thursday, March 30. Since
the fourth preliminary round is power-matched (see section G(1)(e)
above), the schedule for the fourth round will be announced after
the completion of the third preliminary round.

g. Each team will be scored on a combination of its average memorial

score and average oral score (one-third memorial and two-thirds
oral).

h. Each team’s score will be compared to its opponent’s score in that

round, and the differential determined.

i. The teams with the best won-lost records will advance to the
Quarterfinal Rounds.

j. In the event of a tie in won-lost records, the team winning the

highest percentage of judges’ ballots during the four Preliminary
Rounds will advance.

k. If a tie occurs on the percentage of ballots won, the team with the
highest positive point differential over its opponents during the four
Preliminary Rounds will advance.

l. The Competition Committee will not change pairings simply

because teams from the same school are scheduled to argue
against one another.

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 m. The ranking of the teams, or bracket, stays the same after the
conclusion of the Preliminary Rounds.

n. A note regarding the North America Regional Rounds:

Depending upon the number of schools participating in the North
America Regional Rounds, there may be only three Preliminary
Rounds at these regionals.

If that is the case, the first two Preliminary Rounds will be power-
matched based off of the memorial scores. The third Preliminary
Round will be power-matched based on the teams’ records in the
first two Preliminary Rounds.

2. Quarterfinal Rounds

a. The eight highest-ranking teams from the Preliminary Rounds will

advance to the Quarterfinal Rounds.

b. The highest-ranking team will argue against the lowest-ranking

team. The higher-ranked team will choose which side they wish to
represent.

c. Each team will be scored on a combination of its average memorial

score and average oral score (one-third memorial and two-thirds
oral).

d. Each team’s school will be compared to its opponent’s score in that

round, and the winning team from that courtroom will advance.
(Scores from teams in one room will not be compared to scores of
teams in another room.)

e. In the event of a tie, the team winning the highest percentage of

judges’ ballots will advance.

f. If a tie occurs on ballots, the team with the higher memorial score
will advance.

g. The top four winning teams will advance to the Semifinal Rounds,
based on memorial scores and oral scores earned during the
Quarterfinal Rounds. Advancement will be determined in the
manner described above in subsections G(2)(c)–(f).

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 h. Depending upon the number of schools participating in the North
America Regional Rounds, there might not be Quarterfinal
Rounds.

3. Semifinal Rounds

a. The four highest-ranking teams will advance to the Semifinal

Rounds.

b. The highest-ranking team will argue against the lowest-ranking

team. The higher-ranked team will choose which side to represent.

c. Each team will be scored on a combination of its average memorial

score and average oral score (one-third memorial and two-thirds
oral).

d. Each team’s school will be compared to its opponent’s score in that

round, and the winning team in that courtroom will advance.
(Scores from teams in one courtroom will not be compared to
scores of teams in another courtroom.)

e. In the event of a tie, the team winning the highest percentage of

judges’ ballots will advance.

f. If a tie occurs on ballots, the team with the higher memorial score
will advance.

g. The two highest-ranking teams will advance to the Final Round,

based on memorial scores and oral scores earned during the
Semifinal Round. Advancement will be determined in the manner
described in subsections G(3)(c)–(f) above.

4. Final Round

a. The top two highest-ranking teams will meet in the Final Round.
The higher ranked team will choose which side to represent.

b. The winner of the Final Round will be determined solely on the

basis of oral presentation in the Final Round. The judges will
caucus to determine the winning team and the best oralist in the
Final Round. The judges are not obligated to use score sheets.

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 c. The winner of the Final Round will be designated the Competition
Champion.

H. OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE

1. Assistance on Memorials

a. A team may receive only the following assistance on the memorial:

(1) Team members may discuss with their coach and with
others affiliated with their school (as long as other rules
contained herein are not violated) general principles of
international environmental law.

(2) The coach may provide general guidance on the overall

organization of the brief, but may not assist with the actual
writing and may not edit the paper or correct citation format.

(3) Teams for which English is a second language may seek

assistance within their schools regarding English grammar
and spelling.

b. A team may hold oral practice rounds before its memorial is

submitted to the Competition Committee or to a regional or national
competition.

2. Affidavit

a. Each team member must sign a copy of the enclosed affidavit,

which must be submitted with the original memorial to the
Competition Committee.

b. By signing the affidavit and submitting a memorial to the

Competition, each team member certifies that the memorial has
been prepared in accordance with the Competition rules, and that it
represents the work product solely of such team’s members.

c. A blank affidavit is attached as Addendum A.

3. Assistance on Oral Argument

A team may be assisted in the preparation of its oral argument, except as

limited by section H(4) below.

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 4. No Collaboration with Other Teams

a. No member or coach of any team still eligible to participate or

actually participating in the Competition may attend any practice or
argument of another team or receive information from any person
who has attended such practice or argument.

b. In addition, while a team is still active in the Competition, no team

member, coach, or other affiliated person may “scout” other active
teams.

c. If a school sends two teams, and one team is eliminated but the
other is still active, both teams will then be treated as one team, for
purposes of this rule only.

I. CHALLENGES AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

1. Memorials and Pre-Oral Argument Challenges

a. Any complaint or challenge of a memorial or any other pre-oral

argument matter must be submitted in writing to the Competition
Committee no later than ten days after the memorials have been
posted on the Stetson website.

b. Should the allegedly offensive conduct occur after that time, the
complaint should be submitted within twenty-four hours of its
discovery.

c. The complaint or challenge should be directed to the Competition

Committee and should specify in as much detail as possible the
nature of the complaint or challenge. No other person should be
copied on the complaint or challenge.

d. After reviewing the complaint or challenge, the Competition

Committee will, if necessary, contact other affected teams and
issue a ruling.

e. The ruling of the Competition Committee will be final and may not
be appealed.

2. Oral Arguments and Other Competition Challenges

a. Complaints or challenges concerning any oral argument or conduct

during the Competition must be reported to the Competition

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 Committee within ten minutes of the conclusion of the round in
which the allegedly offensive conduct occurs.

b. Conclusion of the round, for purposes of this rule, will be the end of
the Applicant’s rebuttal period.

c. Complaints or challenges that occur during the Competition that do

not relate to a particular oral argument should be reported to the
Competition Committee as soon as possible, but in no event later
than fifteen minutes before the next-scheduled oral argument
round.

3. Conflicts of Interest

A judge’s alleged conflict of interest should be reported to the Competition

Committee before that particular round commences. Otherwise, the
conflict is deemed waived.

4. Penalties

Penalties may range from warnings, to point deductions, to

disqualification, depending on the nature and severity of the offense.
Multiple offenses by a single team will warrant more severe penalties.

5. Waiver

Failure to comply with the procedures in this section will waive the
complaint or challenge.

J. MISCELLANEOUS

1. Use of Problem

The problem for this Competition may be used by participating schools for
intra-school competitions only with the approval of the relevant Regional or
National Coordinator and upon notice to the Competition Committee. The
Competition Committee has granted permission for the problem to be used
in the regional or national rounds in Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia,
Ireland, Latin America, India, Ukraine, and North America to select teams
to participate in the International Finals.

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2. Scores

Scores will not be made available, either orally or in writing, until the
Competition is completed. The Competition Committee will provide the
oral argument scores, the memorial rankings, and a list of memorial
judges’ comments (if any are provided) to each school’s designated
representative via email after the Competition is completed.

3. Professionalism

All teams should conduct themselves ethically and with professionalism.

4. Costs

All costs associated with the Competition should be borne by the schools
of individual team members or by individual team members. Stetson will
not reimburse participants for costs associated with the Competition.

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ADDENDUM A:
AFFIDAVIT

We have read the Rules of the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court
Competition. Our memorial submitted was prepared in accordance with the
Competition Rules; we have not received any unauthorized assistance.

Please print each team member’s name under the signature, as you would like
the name to appear on participation certificates.

School: ________________________________________

Team Members: (1) _____________________________________

(Print clearly) (2) _____________________________________

(3) _____________________________________

Coaches: ________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

(Please print your names as you wish them to appear on a certificate)

Signatures (1) _____________________________________

of team
members: (2) _____________________________________

(3) _____________________________________

Date: ________________________________________

Memorial Word
Count: ________________________________________

(A reminder: Footnotes do count towards the word count, see Rule E(3)(a).)

Memorial Number: _______________________________________

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