WMILAR Handbook

Subject & Resources

Moot Court Competition ("Competition")

1. Focus: The competition will be based on Public International Law, with a focus on animal rights and their interplay with other areas of global concern, including, among others, the protection of human rights and the environment. As such, each issue of the moot problem will focus on the Interactions of Animal Rights Law with International Human Rights Law, International Environmental Law, etc.
2. Theme: The theme is animal rights advocacy.
3. Context: The moot problem will be based on a fictitious version of our world in which one or more International Animal Rights Law instruments exist, in addition to the laws that already exist in our real world on International Human Rights Law, International Environmental Law, etc.
4. Resources: Participants will be expected to engage with multinational instruments, customary international law, general principles of law, domestic and multinational jurisprudence, and writings of jurists, legal philosophers, and legal theorists—actual and fictitious.

Training Courses of Mooting and Coaching Moots ("Courses")

Mooters

5. Focus: The focus will be on how to prepare for moot court competitions on any topic in general, and Animal Rights Law in particular.
6. Theme: The theme is mooting as a legal skill.
7. Resources: Participants may be provided with handouts for some or all the sessions, and sessions may be delivered using presentations.

Coaches

8. Focus: The focus will be on how to conduct moot court coaching on any topic in general, and Animal Rights Law in particular.
9. Theme: The theme is moot court coaching as an educational tool.
10. Resources: Participants might be provided handouts for some or all the sessions, and sessions might be delivered with the help of presentations.

Structure and Format

11. The WMILAR operates throughout the world, conducting operations out of regional bases. The regional rounds of the competition and the courses ("regional chapters") are held at and by these regional bases. Each year, in each region, one regional base will serve as the regional host for that year's regional chapter.
12. Universities may choose to register participants for the competition and/or the training courses; registration for both components is not mandatory.
13. In the event that a particular region does not have a host university for a particular year, registrants will be allocated a different region for that year.

Note: In 2024, there are no regional hosts in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, and Oceania. As such, participants from these regions will be allocated to Southern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, respectively.

14. The WMILAR will take the form of a competition comprising written and oral submissions, and courses aimed at mooters and at coaches.

Moot Court Competition ("Competition")

15. The competition will take place over the course of 2 days (in parallel sessions, if necessary). The results will be announced at the close of the relevant competition round.
16. The preliminary rounds of the regional rounds of the competition are planned to take place in-person as well as online. The semi-finals and finals of the regional rounds of the competition are planned to take place in a hybrid format.
17. Prospective registrants will be given the option to indicate their preferred format (in-person or online) at the time of making their registration application. Please note that there are a limited number of in-person and online spots available. Spots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. After all in-person spots have been allocated, prospective registrants will, subject to availability, be allocated to the online format, regardless of their indicated preference. After all online spots have been allocated, any remaining registration applications will be rejected.
18. The international round of the competition will take place in person.
19. In case of insufficient registration of in-person participants, shortage of in-person judges, or any other compelling reason that hinders the WMILAR's ability to conduct the competition round(s) in-person, the competition round(s) will take place in an exclusively online format.
20. If the finals are held in-person, in exceptional circumstances, online participation may be allowed for requesting teams, at the sole discretion of the WMILAR and upon the timely submission of a reasoned request with evidence of the exceptional circumstances that form the basis of the request.
21. The WMILAR plans to offer viewing options for in-person and remote audiences. Regional rounds are planned to be recorded and subsequently streamed, whereas the international round is planned to also be broadcast live.
22. The competition agenda, containing relevant information such as dates, times, locations, and deadlines, will be released as soon as practicable before the relevant competition round takes place.
23. Each team is responsible for bringing any hard copies they may need. No on-site printing facilities are guaranteed, so teams are advised to ensure they have their printouts before they arrive.

Training Courses of Mooting and Coaching Moots ("Courses")

24. The courses will take place over the course of 2 or 3 days.
25. The courses are planned to be offered in a hybrid format. Trainers and participants may participate in person or remotely.
26. Prospective registrants will be given the option to indicate their preferred format (in-person or online) at the time of making their registration application. Please note that there are a limited number of in-person and online spots available. Spots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. After all in-person spots have been allocated, prospective registrants will, subject to availability, be allocated to the online format, regardless of their indicated preference. After all online spots have been allocated, any remaining registration applications will be rejected.
27. In case of insufficient registration of in-person participants, shortage of in-person trainers, or any other compelling reason that hinders the WMILAR's ability to deliver the course(s) in-person, the course(s) will take place in an exclusively online format.
28. The course agenda, containing relevant information such as dates, times, locations, and deadlines, will be released as soon as practicable before the relevant course round takes place.

Eligibility, Registration, Participation, & Progression

Moot Court Competition ("Competition")

29. Law schools may apply to register for the competition. All such applications must be made by filling out the registration application form available on the website.
30. If the registration application is approved, an invoice will be sent out by the organising host with payment instructions for the registration fees. Only upon receipt of the registration fees by the relevant deadline will registration be confirmed. Otherwise, the registration application will be rejected.
31. Registration fees must be paid in the currency specified in the invoice. Prospective registrants are responsible for ensuring that the full amount of the registration fee is credited to the payee, i.e., conversion, transaction, and other fees are to be borne by the payer.
32. Additional registration fees may be charged to the regional competition winners for the organisation of the international final competition round.
33. The competition is open to law students, including LLB, GDL, LLM, JD, BPTC, and LPC students, and those pursuing comparable degrees. It is not open to PhD, SJD, MPhil, DPhil students, and those pursuing comparable degrees. Eligibility will be determined by the participant's enrolment status at the time of registration.
34. Each participating law school may send up to 1 team of 2–4 participants for the competition. A "team" consists of 2–4 students from the same university.
35. The competition will be organised in 2 phases: written and oral. The written phase will culminate in the submission of a written memorial of arguments, which will be assessed by evaluators. The oral phase will culminate in the oral presentation of arguments before a panel of moot court judges, who will assess the presentation.
36. 2 participants will serve as oralists, with any remaining participants acting as researchers. The oralists bear the responsibility for presenting the oral arguments and will be the only team members who appear before the Court to make submissions during the oral rounds. The researchers bear the primary responsibility for making the written submissions.
37. The teams will compete at their allocated regional chapter.
38. During the regional oral rounds, the top 4 teams will progress to the regional semi-finals, the top 2 teams from the semi-finals will progress to the regional finals, and the winning team from the regional finals will advance to the international round.
39. Progression to the regional semi-finals will be made on the basis of overall score aggregated from the written (25%) and both oral rounds (75%) of each team's submissions. The Z scoring system will be used to standardise scores.
40. Progression to and winning of the regional finals, the international quarter-finals, the international semi-finals, and the international finals will be on a knock-out basis. A seeding system will be employed to allocate opponent teams, based on overall scores in the regional semi-finals.

Training Courses of Mooting and Coaching Moots ("Courses")

41. The course on mooting is open to law students, including currently-enrolled LLB, GDL, LLM, JD, BPTC, and LPC students, and those pursuing comparable degrees. It is not open to PhD, SJD, MPhil, DPhil students, and those pursuing comparable degrees.
42. The course of coaching is open to law teachers, including but not limited to those holding the academic rank of coach, lecturer, or higher.
43. Each participant law school may send up to 1 group of up to 4 participants for each of the two types of courses offered.
44. Participants will attend the course offered at their allocated regional chapter.
45. Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate of completion issued by the WMILAR.

Rules

46. The language of the WMILAR is English.
47. Failure to provide complete and correct information at any stage, or to make complete payment of any registration fees by the relevant deadline, might result in rejection or annulment of registration, or disqualification from the competition and/or courses.
48. Participants are prohibited from disclosing any WMILAR material released to them confidentially to any external parties.
49. Participants are prohibited from photographing, recording, streaming, or publishing any part of oral rounds or training courses.
50. Participants are strictly prohibited from using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including but not limited to AI writing assistants, AI legal research tools, and any form of AI that can generate or assist in generating written submissions, oral argument preparations, coursework, or any other WMILAR-related materials. This prohibition extends to all stages of the competition and courses, from initial research to the final presentation of work. The integrity of the WMILAR relies on the individual and collective intellectual effort, critical thinking, and legal reasoning of the participants. The decision of the AI detection software used by the WMILAR will be final. Violations of this rule will result in immediate disqualification and a ban on future participation.

Moot Court Competition ("Competition")

51. The moot problem will be released individually and privately upon registration. No one other than the team and their coaches may be granted access to the moot problem. Disclosure to external parties will result in immediate disqualification and a ban on future participation. This also applies to parties who request or deliberately benefit from such disclosure.
52. For the competition, all written submissions and oral arguments must be made in English. Competitors must ensure clear and coherent communication in English to effectively present their cases.
53. Each participating team will be assigned a unique team number to ensure anonymity. This number will be the primary means of identification for the team throughout the competition. Once team numbers have been allocated, teams must use their assigned team number in all communications, written submissions, and during oral arguments. It is imperative that teams do not disclose the name of their university in communications, written submissions, or oral arguments, thereby maintaining anonymity in all stages of the competition.
54. Written submissions must be the original work of the team members. Any violation of academic integrity, including but not limited to intellectual property violations, will result in immediate disqualification and a ban on future participation.
55. Each submission must have annexed to it an academic integrity declaration, including but not limited to certification that no intellectual property rights have been violated, and a word count declaration, including a certification of compliance with the word count. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.
56. Written submissions must comply with the following formatting, layout, and style requirements: a. Page size: A4; b. Font style: Times New Roman (TNR); c. Font size for body: 12; d. Font size for footnotes: 10; e. Line spacing for body: 1.5; f. Line spacing for footnotes: 1; g. Paragraph spacing for body: 6 pt before and 6 pt after; h. Paragraph spacing for footnotes: 0 pt before and 0 pt after; i. Text style: Justified; j. Margins: 1-inch on all sides; k. Page numbering: on the bottom right; l. Citation style: OSCOLA.
57. Written submissions must contain the following elements: a. Cover Page b. Table of Contents c. Index of Abbreviations d. Index of Authorities e. Summary of Facts f. Summary of Arguments g. Preliminary Issues h. Arguments on Merits i. Prayers j. Remedies
58. Written submissions and oral arguments must address the following substantive matters: a. Jurisdiction b. Admissibility c. Standing d. Alleged violations e. Attribution f. Possible defences g. Prayers h. Remedies
59. The cover page should include the case name (including the parties' roles), court name, document nature (e.g., 'memorial'), the party on whose behalf it is being submitted (i.e., 'Applicant' or 'Respondent'), and team number.
60. In addition to the authorities listed in the moot problem (both fictitious and real-world, included under “Key Authorities and Recommended Sources”), each team may refer to no more than 5 extra authorities in the written submissions and oral arguments, per side. The use of extra authorities is unrestricted for (sur-)rebuttals and judicial intervention.
61. The main content of the written submissions, i.e., (g) Preliminary Issues and (h) Arguments on Merits, must not exceed 3,000 words, excluding footnotes. Violations may, depending on the seriousness, result in the deduction of points from the score for written submissions. Additionally, material, written or oral, over the word/authority limit, will be ignored for scoring purposes and may not be relied upon during main oral submissions.
62. Written submissions must be made by 11:59 pm Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) on the date specified in the moot problem, by the means specified in the moot problem. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.
63. During the regional oral rounds, each team will first moot twice, once as Applicant and once as Respondent. Then, the semi-finals and finals will be held.
64. During the regional preliminary oral rounds, each team has 20 minutes to present their oral arguments, including their introduction (names of counsel, roles, and time allocations), opening statements, main arguments (on preliminary issues, main issues, and prayer), and closing statements, and the (sur-)rebuttal. Judicial interventions will not result in time extension, and must therefore be dealt with within the allocated 20 minutes. Minor extensions may be granted at the judges' discretion.
65. During the regional semi-final rounds, each team has 30 minutes to present their oral arguments, including their introduction (names of counsel, roles, and time allocations), opening statements, main arguments (on preliminary issues, main issues, and prayer), and closing statements, and the (sur-)rebuttal. Judicial interventions will not result in time extension, and must therefore be dealt with within the allocated 30 minutes. Minor extensions may be granted at the judges' discretion.
66. During the regional final round and all international rounds, each team has 45 minutes to present their oral arguments, including their introduction (names of counsel, roles, and time allocations), opening statements, main arguments (on preliminary issues, main issues, and prayer), and closing statements, and the (sur-)rebuttal. Judicial interventions will not result in time extension, and must therefore be dealt with within the allocated 45 minutes. Minor extensions may be granted at the judges' discretion.
67. The order of submissions in the oral rounds will be as follows: a. Introduction and Opening Statement (Applicant) b. Main Arguments (Applicant) c. Closing Statement (Applicant) d. Introduction and Opening Statement (Respondent) e. Main Arguments (Respondent) f. Closing Statement (Applicant) g. Rebuttal (Applicant) h. Sur-rebuttal (Respondent)
68. Time and issue allocation are at the team's discretion, with 2 restrictions: a. No oralist may address the court for more than 2/3 of the allocated time in total; and b. Each oralist must cover 1 preliminary issue and 1 main issue.
69. Main oral arguments are confined to the scope of their written submissions. However, this limitation does not apply to(sur-)rebuttals or responses to judicial intervention.
70. Participants must wear formal attire during the oral rounds, adhering to the professional standards expected in a courtroom setting. These professional standards of courtroom settings may reflect those of any jurisdiction.
71. Smart devices, if they are connected to the internet, are prohibited during in-person oral rounds. During online oral rounds, internet connection on smart devices may only be used to participate in the rounds via the designated video calling platform, and participants must share screens at all times when their team is making oral submissions, unless specifically instructed otherwise.

Training Courses of Mooting and Coaching Moots ("Courses")

72. The relevant syllabus will be released on the WMILAR website in advance of the courses. Any updated versions will be uploaded on the website, and older versions will be taken down. Participants may additionally be notified of this upload by email.
73. The syllabus might be modified at the discretion of the organisers or trainers.

Penalties and Disqualifications

74. In the event of a breach of WMILAR rules, the organisers, trainers, evaluators, and judges possess the authority to impose, at their discretion, sanctions based on the severity of the breach. a. Minor infractions of the rules will result in points being deducted from the individual's or team's overall score. Such deductions will be proportionate to the nature and impact of the breach. b. Severe breaches might result in an award of 0 points for the part of the competition/course affected by the breach, the disqualification of the offending team from the competition/course, and/or a ban on the offending team from participating in future competitions/course.
75. The decision of the organisers, trainers, evaluators, and judges in these matters is final and is made with the intention of preserving the educational and competitive integrity of the moot court competition.
76. If a registration is annulled or a participant is disqualified from participation, the registration fee might not be refunded, depending on the circumstances and at the sole discretion of the organisers.
77. All participants, including mooters, coaches, trainers, and judges, are required to disclose any conflicts of interest as soon as they become aware of such conflicts. A conflict of interest is defined as any relationship, association, or circumstance that could reasonably be expected to affect impartiality or could give the appearance of affecting impartiality. This includes, but is not limited to, familial relationships, institutional affiliations, or personal friendships. The disclosure should be made in writing to the competition organisers, who will take appropriate measures to ensure a fair and unbiased competition. Failure to disclose known conflicts of interest may lead to sanctions, including the disqualification of the involved team from the competition.

Competition Marking Criteria

78. The progression marking criteria are as follow:

Written submissions (25 points) a. Structure (5 points) b. Content (15 points) c. Presentation (5 points)

Oral submissions (75 points) d. Structure (10 points) e. Content (20 points) f. Presentation (20 points) g. Responses to judicial intervention (15 points) h. (Sur-)rebuttal (10 points)

79. Scores will be published on the website and may be communicated to teams via other means, such as email.

Clarifications

80. Requests for clarifications regarding the WMILAR handbook or any other document available on the WMILAR website, can be made at any time by sending a clear and concise email request to enquiries@wmilar.com. Requests that do not comply with the specified requirements might not be answered.
81. Requests for clarifications regarding the moot problem can only be made within 21 days of the relevant start date for the release of the moot problem for the region (with the date of the release counting as Day 1), by sending a clear and concise email to registrations@wmilar.com. The team number must be included in the email. Requests that do not comply with the specified requirements might not be answered.

Appeals

82. The decisions of the organisers with respect to all the aspects related to the WMILAR will be taken at the sole discretion of the WMILAR.
83. These decisions will be final and will not be subject to appeal.

Moot Court Competition ("Competition")

84. The decisions of the organisers, evaluators, and judges with respect to the competition, including but not limited to scoring and progression, will be taken at their sole discretion, accounting for the factors stipulated in the handbook.
85. These decisions will be final and will not be subject to appeal.

Training Courses of Mooting and Coaching Moots ("Courses")

86. The decisions of trainers and organisers with respect to the courses, including but not limited to participation and certification, will be taken at their sole discretion, accounting for the factors stipulated in the handbook and the relevant course syllabus.
87. These decisions will be final and will not be subject to appeal.

Miscellaneous

88. It is the participants' responsibility to read this handbook carefully, and email any queries related to its content to the organisers.

89. Any updated versions of this Handbook will be published on the WMILAR website, and older versions will be taken down. Participants may additionally be notified of this upload by email.

90. It is the participants' responsibility to read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy carefully before applying to register, as they contain, among other things, further details on their rights and obligations.