Sample Moot Court Memorial Format
One of the main tasks of the moot court competition is formatting the memorial. People often use the wrong formatting style, leading to a low memorial score and, eventually, law team marks. This is why there is a specific award for Best Memorial.
Before going into depth about the formatting style, we must understand the structure of the memorial, i.e., the content.
The memorial must begin with a Cover page, followed by a Table of contents, List of abbreviations, Index of authorities, Statement of jurisdiction, Statement of facts, Questions Presented, Summary of arguments, Arguments advanced and Prayer.
COVER PAGE:
- The cover page contains the name of the competition, i.e.,
The 2024 XYZ National Moot Court Competition
2. Secondly, it must mention the name of the court before which the parties are appearing with the jurisdiction of the parties, i.e.
Before
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of XYZ
under Article 32 of the Constitution of XYZ, 1950.
3. The name of the parties must be mentioned there (mention number of the appeal/petition, if available), i.e.
Writ Petition No. 00/2024
In the matter of
Mrs. ABC …PETITIONERS
V.
Mr. CDE …RESPONDENT
4. For whom are you submitting that memorial, i.e.
Memorial for the Petitioner
-Petitioner-
5. Mention your Code and other details if necessary.
TABLE OF CONTENT:
Table of Contents lists the contents of the Memorial, i.e.
Table of abbreviations
It will list all the abbreviations (short forms) that you have used in your memorial, including the footnotes, i.e.
| Abbreviation | Full Form |
| Art. | Article |
| § | Section |
| ¶ | Paragraph |
| v. | Versus |
Index of Authorities
Index of Authorities is the bibliography of the memorial. It lists all the statutes, cases, treatises (books), journal articles, reports, and other materials that have been used as authorities in the memorial, i.e.
Cases:
A S Krishnan v. State of Kerala, 2005 SCC (Cr) 612……………………………………………. 1
Statutes:
Constitution of India, 1950, art 22(1)……………………………………………………………….. 12
Treatises:
D. D. Basu, Commentary on the Constitution of India, D. D. Basu (Calcutta, S. C. Sarkar & Sons, 13th Edition, Vol. I, 1955)…………………………………………………….. 12
STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION
It is a declaration of the court’s jurisdiction in which the petitioners have brought their case. It helps to ensure that it is accurate and crucial for the case’s sustainability, i.e.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Write the facts of the moot proposition in your language by including the essential facts. The facts of the proposition change depending on the parties.
QUESTION PRESENTED
The questions/issues are already mentioned in the moot proposition; copy-paste the questions.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS
Briefly write a summary of your arguments.
ARGUMENTS ADVANCED
Arguments Advance are the detailed descriptions of each issue. It must explain and support the issue by referring to cases, studies, reports, etc.
The structure is fundamental when writing pleadings. It is divided into two parts: the external and internal structures.
External Structure
- Division of Headings: Main argument followed by ingredients of the argument.
- Content of Headings: Plain Assertions in your favour (Primary Argument+ Alternate/In Any Case)
- Roadmap, i.e.
- MAIN HEADING
1.1 Content of the primary heading
1.1.1 Subheading of (1.1)
Internal Structure
C- Conclusion: Heading
L- Law: ONLY relevant law [statute, cases]; don’t ignore the procedural laws.
F- Fact: ONLY relevant facts. Make the division with law apparent. Mention any reasonable inference from facts.
A- Analysis: Application of law to facts
C(R)- Conclusion (Reasoned): Assertion+ Legal Reason
PRAYER
Prayer is the most crucial part of the memorial. It tells the parties’ interest in what they want to seek from the court and what they want the decision to be. i.e,
In light of the preceding submissions, RESPONDENT respectfully requests the Hon’ble Court to find that:
- Write your pleadings –
Respectfully signed and submitted by counsel on 11th September 2024,
On behalf of the Counsel for Respondent.
GENERAL RULES
- Always adhere to the prescribed fort, size and line spacing.
- Don’t exceed the word limit.
- Citation as per the guidelines and uniformity in the citation.
- Neat and clean memorial.
For more details on upcoming moot court competitions, visit our Moots page.
