Law Fest

Law Fest

S.K. Acharya Institute of Law is going to organize "Law Fest" as on 24th and 25th December 2011, containing the following Events

I. International Seminar in joint collaboration with 'Integrated Research and Development Foundation, Kalyani, W.B.' on Global Environmental Issues: Challenges to Industry, Ecology and Society.

SUB-THEMES:

• Global Environmental Problems: Issues & Challenges.
• Environmental Challenges and society's response.
• Ecological imbalance and Environmental challenges.
• Contemporary Corporate policies and reporting aspects of environmental issues.
• Climate change : inter play of natural and social scientific knowledge.
• Contemporary Eco-critical Discourses.
• Socio-legal & environmental Discourse.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Conceptual and empirical contributions in the form of papers are invited for presentation from academicians, research scholars, students, practitioners and industry representatives from various disciplines on any of the sub-themes mentioned above. The abstract (Maximum 300 words) and full papers (Maximum 3000 words) on the above mentioned topics should be submitted as e-mail attachment in MS WORD file (Font: Times New Roman, Size: 12pt., Spacing: 1.5, Margin: 1-inch on all side, Reference: in alphabetical order). In addition a hard copy of the above is to be sent by post. All papers will be reviewed by the Review Committee. Both the abstract and the full paper should contain the title of the paper along with the name of the author(s), the address of the institution(s), and the e-mail ID(s). In each technical session one paper will be selected for the "BEST PAPER AWARD' and the award will be given in the valedictory session. The last date for submission of abstract is 9th December, 2011 and submission full paper 17th December, 2011.

Information about the acceptance or otherwise will be sent by E-mail only.

II. Moot Court Competition

MOOT COURT FACTS AND ISSUES INVOLVED IN THE SUBJECTS

Manohar Industries Private Ltd. has various units engaged in the manufacture of caustic soda, hydrosulphide, chlorine, stable bleaching powder and alum. All these units are set up in a single complex surrounded by the highly populated town of Fulahar. The population of the town of Fulhara is approximately, 5,00,000.

On 11th January 2010 at about 1-30 am, a major leakage of hydrosulphide and chlorine gas took place from the units of manohar Industries. Initially, the workers felt sharp smell of rotten eggs and irritation in their eyes which gradually led to dizziness and vomiting. Later on many of them lost their senses and had to be hospitalized immediately. Being situated amidst a thickly populous region, the public especially children, were also affected by the leakage of the gases. Skin irritation and rashes emerged largely and the long time effect of the leakage led to loss of eye- sight of many people and children. There was no loss of life, though the Fulhara Municipality immediately issued an order, on 12th January, 2010, to cease carrying on the occupation of the manufacturing and processing of the hydrogen sulphide and chlorine gas only .The other units could be carried on as usual. The authorities further ask them within not to keep or store them, in the same place or to appear before the authorities on, 18th January, 2010, to show cause why the order should not be enforced. A committee was constituted consisting of five members headed by Dr. M.A. Sethia(renowned scientist)to examine the manufacturing unit.

The report of the Sethia committee provided that the leakage of the gas was caused by the gross negligence of the Manohara Industries Pvt. Ltd. The leakage was caused due to loosening of the joint of the pipes carrying the gaseous substance. The report pointed out that the safety policies, practices and awareness on the part of the management needed to be addressed immediately and added inter alia that the effectiveness and availability of the design and emergency arrangements was, to say the least, questionable and in the real emergency involving a major spill, the measures would probably prove ineffective in limiting serious consequences inside and outside the plant. The report pointed out various drawbacks and deficiencies in the maintenance and operation of the hydrogen sulphide and chlorine plant and made several recommendations which needed to be strictly and scrupulously carried out if the risk to the workers and the population in the vicinity was to be minimized.

However, because there was no death caused, the report did not recommend the shutting down of the manufacturing unit. The committee suggested that careful handling of the substance could prevent such type of accident and there was no requirement of closure of the industrial unit.

On the other hand, several NGOs under the common banner 'GO GREEN' protested against the Report of the Sethia committee, demanding complete closure of all the units of Manohara Industries. In order to compel the authorities to shut down the units and compensate the injured persons, the R.D.Welfare Society filed a Public Interest Litigation.

RULES OF THE COMPETITION

• 1. The Moot Court Competition organized by the S.K. Acharya Institute of Law, Kalyani, shall be held on 24th & 25th December, 2011 at the College Campus.
• 2. Each team shall consist only of two speakers and one researcher. Each team and team members will be assigned a team code by the Organizers. In the event that a fourth member is brought by the teams, s/he shall not be permitted to sit with the teams during the rounds or assist during the rounds and would be provided accommodation at the cost of the participating team.
• 3. Two team prizes, one prize for the best memorial and an individual prize for the Best speaker and 2nd Best Speaker will be awarded. The two speakers and the researcher will be awarded certificates of participation. The fourth team member shall not receive a certificate.
• 4. During the Preliminary Rounds, each team shall have to argue once for the Petitioner and once for the Respondent.
• 5. The Rules shall be strictly adhered to. The organizers reserve the right to disqualify teams for deviating from the Rules.
• 6. The Organizers will resolve any contingencies that may arise and will be the final arbiters regarding any doubts/grievances. The decision taken by the Organizers shall be final.
• 7. These Rules are not exhaustive.
• 8. Memorials:
  • Teams may raise grounds other than those indicated in the Statement of Facts.
  • Each team must submit 3 copies of the Written Memorial for the Petitioner and 3 copies of Written Memorial for the Respondent, to Moot Court Convenor, S.K.Acharya Institute of Law, Kalyani University Campus.
  • Soft copies of the Memorials must be submitted within 20 December, 2011 in the undermentioned e mail ID s sudiptasarkar235@rediffmail.com, skaillic@gmail.com, infoskail@yahoo.com.
  • Hard copies of the memorials must be submitted within 23 December, 2011.
  • The names of the participants or Colleges or Universities or Law Schools shall not be mentioned anywhere on the memorial.
  • It is the responsibility of the teams to ensure that the correct number of copies of the memorials are submitted to the Organizers and acknowledgement obtained.
  • All memorials submitted must conform to the following requirements and a team will attract negative marking for failure to keep within the limitation as described below :
    • i) Memorials must be printed on A-4 paper with black ink and must be neatly bound.
    • ii) The font of the body of the Memorial must be Times New Roman, size 12, with 1.5 line spacing and the font-size of footnotes/endnotes, if any, must not be less than size 10.
    • iii) Each page must have a margin of at least an inch on all sides.
    • iv) The Memorial should not exceed 25 typed pages and shall consist of the following parts :
      • Cover Page – [coloured blue for Petitioner, and white for Respondent]
      • Table of Contents
      • Index of Authorities
      • Statement of Jurisdiction
      • Statement of Facts
      • Statement of Issues
      • Summary of Arguments
      • Written Pleadings
      • Prayer
    • v) 1.5 marks shall be deducted for each page exceeded and for each page which contains text/margins which do not adhere to the rules set out hereinabove.
• 9. Relevant articles/materials/case law is to be provided in a supplementary volume to the Memorial, which must also be submitted with the Memorial. The supplementary volume, if any, must also be neatly bound and colour coded, like the main Memorial, and must not contain any reference to the names of the participants or Colleges or Universities or Law Schools. Copies of articles/materials/case-laws which are not appended to the memorials may not be relied upon at the time of oral argument, and such reliance shall lead to disqualification. No team would be allowed to pass any material to the judges while presenting their oral arguments. Teams will NOT be marked on the supplementary volume, if any, while judging their Memorials.
• 10. Oral Arguments :
  • The language of the Court shall be English.
  • Each team would be given 30 minutes to present their oral arguments, subject to a maximum of 20 minutes per Speaker in the Preliminary Rounds. This shall include the pleadings and any rebuttal time, if applicable. For the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final Rounds, each team would get 40 minutes each, subject to a maximum of 25 minutes per Speaker.
  • Judges may, at their discretion, extend oral argument time upto a maximum of 15 minutes.
  • Rebuttal would be allowed only to the Petitioner. The Petitioner will have to specify the length of time they want to set aside for rebuttal, before beginning their oral arguments.
• 11.The draw of lots and the exchange of memorials will take place on 24 December,2011.
• 12. Scoring Criteria :
  • Memorial – 20 marks
  • Application of Facts – 10 marks
  • Understanding of Law and Procedure – 10 marks
  • Reasoning in the Application of Principles – 10 marks
  • Use of Authorities and Precedents – 10 marks
  • Response to questions and articulation – 20 marks
  • Advocacy skills, Court Craft and Demeanour – 20 marks
• 12. Teams with two or more wins in the Preliminary Rounds will go to the Quarter Final Rounds. If there are more than eight teams having two wins each, the teams with two wins each will be ranked according to their Memorial scores and the top eight teams so ranked will go to the Quarter Final Rounds. If after ranking of the memorial scores, teams are still tied, the teams so tied will be ranked according to their total scores (excluding memorial scores). If there are less than eight teams having two wins each, the teams having two wins each will go through to the Quarter Final Rounds. For the remaining places, the teams having less than two wins each will be ranked according to the sum of their highest scores in both the Preliminary Rounds(excluding their Memorial scores), and the top eight teams thus ranked will be sent to the Quarter Final Rounds.
• 13. The Memorial scores of all the teams will be released on the evening before the Preliminary Rounds.
• 14. If a team scheduled to take part in a round does not appear for 10 minutes after the scheduled start of the round, a walkover shall be declared in favour of the team present.
• 15. Participants shall use only their official numbers for identification purposes.
• 16. Scouting by any person and on behalf of any team should be brought to the notice of the organizers immediately, without disturbing the round in progress. Any team found scouting will be disqualified.
• 17. Any reference to identity of a team’s institution or individual team members, either during oral arguments or in the Memorial can lead to disqualification of the team.

For any queries or clarifications, Contact person :

Amit Dey - 09007566866

Abhisek Saha - 09564274560

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III. Essay Competition on :

• (a) Euthanasia the constitutional values in the Indian Society,
• (b) Cyber Crimes: A threat in the modern cyber world,
• (c) WTO & the Indian Economy,
• (d) Role of RBI to regulate inflation.

Page limit : maximum 10 pages(including cover page).

Submission date : before 17th December 2011.

Prize : Best essay from each above mention essay topic shall be awarded special prize of Rs/- 1500.

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IV. Legal Quiz- Four students in each team.