Hello and welcome to the live blog of the 16^th D. M. Harish Memorial Government Law College International Moot Court Competition 2014 a.k.a DMH, which is from the 12^th-15^th February, 2015.

In the year 2000, Mr. Sharan Jagtiani, with the support of the D. M. Harish Foundation, conceptualized the idea of having a moot court competition which gave birth to the D. M. Harish Memorial Government Law College National Moot Court Competition, which was elevated to the International Level in the year 2005 making it the first of its kind in the country.

Apart from the serious and intense mooting rounds, the D. M. Harish Foundation hosts the DMH Banquet, an exquisite dinner at a splendid venue, which also serves as an ice-breaker and an interactive session between the participants and the hosts. After the conclusion of the moot, free spirits are in order as the MCA holds an ‘informal social gathering’ for the participants to give them a glimpse of the much talked of nightlife of the city.

The list of colleges who have participated this year are:

• Faculty of Law, National University, Singapore
• Symbiosis Law School, Noida
• Government Law College, Mumbai
• Nepal Law Campus
• NLSIU, Bangalore
• Gujurat National Law University, Gandhinagar
• Valparaiso University School of Law
• New York University, School of Law
• NLU Orissa (Odisha)
• ILS Law College, Pune
• Queen Mary, University of London
• Hidayatullah National Law University
• Singapore Management University
• Institute of Law, Nirma University
• National Law University, Jodhpur
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal
• The West Bengal National University of Juridicial Sciences
• National Law University, Delhi
• NALSAR University of Law,  Hyderabad
• Northumbria University
• Sussex Law School
• Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab
• Symbiosis Law School, Pune
• Chanakya National Law University

The Preliminary Rounds of Argument is the one in which teams will be required to argue from both sides (Applicant and Respondent). Sixteen (16) teams will qualify for the Octo-Final Rounds, wherein the teams will again argue from both sides (Applicant and Respondent).

The top eight (8) teams from the Octo- Final Rounds will qualify for the Quarter-Final Round. The Quarter-Final Round will be a Knock-out Round from which Four (4) winning teams will then proceed to the Semi-Final Round. The Semi-Final Round will be then followed by the Final Round of Argument.

From a rich pool of great experience and expertise, judges are invited from the legal fraternity to judge the various rounds, with the experience of the bench enriching as each round goes by. Associates and Advocates in the Preliminary Rounds, Senior Associates, Partners and Professors in the Octo-Finals, Senior Partners, Managing Partners and Senior Advocates in the Quarters and Senior Counsels in the Semis all culminating with a constitutional bench of 4 sitting judges of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court in the final round of arguments.

PANEL DISCUSSION.

12th February, 2015:

The panel discussion for the 16th D.M.Harish Memorial Government Law College  International Moot Court Competition is about to commence at 6pm. Please stay tuned for live updates!

The topic of the Panel Discussion for the 16th D.M.Harish Memorial Government Law College International Moot Court Competition is "The Law and Use and Misuse of Information by Governments."
The Panelists for the evening are as follows:

• Hon'ble Mr. Justice B.N. Srikrishna, Judge, Supreme Court Of India (retd.)
• Mr. Aspi Chinoy, Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court
• Mr. Sachin Kalbag, Editor-In-Chief, Mid-day
• Mr. Rahul Narvekar, Member, Legislative Council, NCP
• Mr. Rohas Nagpal, Founder President, Asian School of Cyber Law

It's about to begin anytime now!
Stay tuned.

                12th February, DMH 2015.

Earlier today:
All the teams were greeted with the welcome notes and cupcakes by the Moot Court Association of Government Law College for DMH 2015.

7:14pm-

"A Frenchman steals confidential information form HSBC and gives to newspapers. Newspapers publishes foreign account holder and amount. Government offers 10% to stealer."-Mr. Haresh Jagtiani (Panel Discussion DMH2015)

"There is no legislation which provides absolute bar to protect information. If it is in national interest it can be published."

7:34PM-
The hall is jam-packed with the dignitaries, the participants and the other students of Government Law College for the 16th D.M.Harish Memorial Government Law College International Moot Court Competition (DMH 2015).

7:47PM-
"Several publications have removed non-defamatory disclosure."- Mr. Sachin Kalbag in response to a question asked by the audience.

 8:31pm-

The panel discussion came to an end after an interesting plot of arguments and Q&A from the audience. The evening was respectfully commenced after thanking the panelists and the other dignitories everybody rose for the National Anthem. The day ends on this note and we proceed for dinner. Stay tuned tomorrow!

 



13th February, 2015:

 Preliminary round I-

8:30am-
After the brilliant turn of events yesterday, the first preliminary rounds for the 16th D.M.Harish Memorial Government Law College International Moot Court Competition has begun at the Government Law College and the judges as well as the teams are in place.

Check out some of the hot plots below!

Court Room No.1
9:47am-

The Applicant speaker had a lot of material in her arguments, however a little hesitant but confident nonetheless. The judges seemed pleased by the team's arguments.

The Respondent speaker was very fluent as well as brave in her arguments. The judges questioned the speaker on the jurisdictional aspect but the speaker was able to fairly answer their queries with the help of her team.

 

Court Room No.15
10:10am-

The Applicant speaker was extremely calm and composed in his arguments and the judges questioned the speaker on a lot of law related aspects but regardless the speaker was able to answer the questions in a profound manner.

Court Room No. 9
10:20am-

After an intense round of arguments put forth by the team, the judges seemed quite pleased to have received the accurate answers on their questions and gave valuable feedback to the teams as well.

 

Trust Visit-

Between 10:30am-12:30pm.
Here are the teams at the Trust Visit engulfed in interactions at the D.M. Harish Trust Fund with some of the trustees and now we move on to the Preliminary Round II that will start at 6pm. Let the moot games begin!




Preliminary Round II-

The second Preliminary Round II has begun in full force, check out few of the timely updates below:

Court Room 1.
6:20pm-

The Applicant speaker from Queen Mary, University of London was referring and quoting the humanitarian laws and principles to which the judge questioned about the sovereign of the state. The speaker spoke with extreme composure and the judges seemed pleased by his arguments, they seem like really tough cookies who are not going down without a tough fight!

.

Court Room No. 6
7:13pm-

The Applicant speaker from NLU Orissa was sticking to her point of arguments. The judges threw a lot of questions across asking to clarify in the terms used and the correct interpretation of those terms according to law. But regardless, the team put their submissions across, nice save!

14th February, 2015-

OCTO FINAL ROUNDS:

The 16 teams that qualified to the Octo Final Rounds are as follows:

• Queen Mary, University Of London
• NLU, Orissa (Odisha)
• The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences
• Valparaiso University School of Law
• Hidayatullah National Law University
• Singapore Management University
• Sussex Law School, London
• Faculty of Law, National University Singapore
• NALSAR, Hyderabad
• GLC, Mumbai
• NLSIU, Bangalore
• Symbiosis Law School, Noida
• Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab
• Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
• National Law University, Delhi
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal
  
  QUARTER FINAL ROUNDS:
  
  The 8 teams that bathed themselves in International Law, almost literally and qualified to the Quarter Final Rounds are:
  
  
• Singaopore Management University
• Queen Mary, University of London
• Gujurat National Law University, Gandhinagar
• Faculty of Law, National University Singapore
• GLC, Mumbai
• NLSIU Bangalore
• Symbiosis Law School, Noida
• The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

Check out the happy smiles of few of the winning teams! Happy smiles and awkward poses ofcourse.



The Village:

After 2 days of sleepless nights, endless reading and extreme usage of brains, everybody obviously deserved a breather. So, The Village happened! The Banquet Dinner was everything that the teams required- A chance for informal socialization with each other and the Senior Trustees, an opportunity to dance their hearts out but ofcourse, THE INDIAN WAY, it's The Village, so duh no brainer! And the pictures below will tell you the rest of it!




15th February, 2015-

It's here! The last day of DMH 2015, we are both happy and sad. Mostly happy though because it's the deciding day for the winner of the 16th D.M.Harish Memorial Government Law College International Moot Court Competition.

The 4 Teams that beat everybody else's international law butt and got on to the Semi Final Rounds are:

• Singapore Management University
• The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences
• GLC, Mumbai
• Faculty of Law, National University Singapore

Congratulate them if you know them! They could use some encouragement for sure. Buzz over our blog today as much as you can because if you are not attending the Finals at the Bombay Convocation Hall today (shame on you) then you get to know the winners here first! So keep buzzing.

SEMI FINAL ROUNDS:

The Pre-Semi Final prep in motion, tensed much!


Singapore Management University Vs. The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences.

Court Room 1
10:47am-

The Singapore Management University are extremely well versed with their facts. Applicant Speaker 1 is speaking about how the International Humanitarian Law affects the present case humoungously. Seriously, what is with Asian genes?

 
Singapore Managment University- Applicant Speaker 1 in force!

Court Room No. 11:
11:45am-

National University Singapore has beaten all their opposing teams in every round and guess what! They did it again. They have now entered the Final Round. Let's wait and watch which team can beat them in the Finals.

Court Room 1
12:20pm-

AND! The winning team, that will be facing National University of Singapore in the Finals is The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences!
The Final Rounds start at 5pm today at the Bombay Convocation Hall. We will be constantly updating you guys about the on-going arguments, yes we are very nice like that! Keep buzzing.

FINAL ROUNDS:

Applicant- The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

Respondent- National University of Singapore

I'm sure all of you know India has won against Pakistan. Well, the mood in the hall between the two teams is similar. The hall is almost full, the judges and teams are seated, it's all about to break down in the following 2 hours. Hold on to your seats or devices!

 The Judges in this Final Round are:

• Hon'ble Justice VM Kanade

• Hon'ble Smt. Justice VA Naik

• Justice SC Gupte

• Justice KR Sriram

• Justice AK Menon

5:20pm-
Check out our super cool, super hot, super desi hosts for the evening!

Rima Desai and Bhagyashree Madhekar,
Senior Post Holders.

5:43pm-
Applicant speaker 1- Pleads on behalf of Antagonia, Respondent issued threat of force. Their first submission is- claim of admirability for claim to be admisible requirements.


6:04pm-
Applicant Speaker 2- "Your excellencies, my third submission is that these actions cannot be justified on any grounds. The manner in which self defence should be judged is by article 15 of the UN Charter", referring to the armed attack.

Applicant Speaker 2
The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

6:10pm-
Judge: "How is use of force justified?"
Applicant Speaker 2- Clarified that a threat is prohibited in international law. And the letter was a threat. The virus can melt the nuclear plant. Hence it is a threat of force.

6:23pm-Respondent Speaker 1
National University Singapore.

6:30pm-
Respondent Speaker 1: "That army started military campaign. Ploonkistanian implanted virus."
Judge: "Don't you have identity of that?"
Answer: "No, successor state is different from continuous state. We are also not a successor state." He went on to cite- Robert E. Brown Arbitration.





6:54PM-
Respondent Speaker 2: " ITS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE MOST PRUDENT INVESTOR TO REGULATE HIS CONDUCT. ITS REALLY UNCLEAR FROM THE FACTS WHETHER THERE IS ANY PUBLIC INTEREST OR NOT BUT THE PARLIAMENT DEBATE CLEARLY STATES THE POLICIES."

7:00pm-
Applicant Speaker 2-
"They have not submitted anything that says that the one target man there has not targeted the civilians. In regards to the submission of cyber threat." (Rebuttal)

With this, the Final Round of arguments comes to an end. The judges have now moved out to discuss and score the teams.

In the meantime;

Our respected dignitories. (serious talks are so serious)

We have now stepped into the last ceremony of DMH 2015. Stay tuned to check out the pictures and ofcourse
THE WINNERS!

RESULTS:

The winners of the 16th D.M.Harish Memorial Government Law College International Moot Court Competition 2015 are:

TEAM CODE A: National University of Singapore!!!

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