SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE: UNVEILING THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN TAX

BURDEN, GOOD GOVERNANCE, AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE 12TH ALL - KENYAN MOOT

COURT COMPETITION, 2024

1. DATES: 11TH – 15TH MARCH, 2024

VENUE: KENYATTA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, PARKLANDS CAMPUS

 1. GENERAL

The 2024 All-Kenyan Moot Court Competition (AKMCC) hereinafter referred to as “the

competition” shall be hosted by Kenyatta University School of Law. This year’s theme for the

competition is Sustainable Governance: Unveiling the Intersection Between Tax Burden,

Good Governance, and Protection of Human Rights

This budding & highly promising competition is geared towards building and underscoring

the pivotal role of scholarly research, analytical and advocacy skills; an invaluable investment

for all in the legal profession. We moreover endeavor to create a mentorship relationship

between the legal profession and the law students even as we champion the development of

Kenyan jurisprudence on matters touching on International Law. The Competition is set to

become one of the largest annual events in the Kenyan legal calendar.

The administrative authority of the competition shall vest in the AKMCC Steering

Committee composed of representatives from KUSOL, The Office of the Attorney General

and Department of Justice and whoever else they may wish to co-opt.

2. ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION

Any Kenyan university offering a course leading to the conferment of a degree in law is

eligible to participate subject to Rule 4. There are no limits as to the origin of teams in

the finals and the competition shall run purely on merit.

 3. CATEGORIES OF THE COMPETITION

There shall be two categories of the Competition:

i. The Appellate Category

ii. The Research Paper Category

Each University is allowed to present two teams of three students for the Appellate

Category. The third student in the Appellate Category who shall serve as the team’s

researcher shall take part in a Research Paper Category as specified in rule 8 herein.

Any University with more than one Campus offering law shall be allowed to present

ONLY one team to each of the main categories of the Competition.

4. TEAM REGISTRATION

Each Law School shall register with Kshs 4,000 for each team submitted to the

Competition. Payment shall be made to the Competition’s Account:

Bank: Co-operative Bank

Account Name: All Kenyan Moot Court

Account Number: 01134274457500

Each team shall be required to present proof of payment upon registration on the

competition day. Payment MUST be made within the set timelines.

5. JUDGES

The preliminary rounds shall be adjudged by a set of independent law experts drawn

from the Judiciary, the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice, the Law

Society of Kenya as well as specific law firms. Faculty representatives may be used only

in exceptional circumstances to ensure the integrity and transparency of the competition.

This shall be done in 6 three-bench judge courtrooms in the preliminaries and 5-bench

courtrooms in the semis and finals. The final round is expected to be presided over by

guest judges alongside law experts.

There also will be a number of separate judges to mark the memorials.

6. HYPOTHETICAL PROBLEM TO BE ARGUED

A hypothetical case will be posed for argument and shall be made available to the

participants on the same day as the rules. This rule applies to the Research

Question as well.

7. OFFICIAL SCHEDULE

An official schedule shall be issued and strict adherence shall be ensured failure to

which consequences, which may amount to disqualification, shall arise as shall be

determined by the Steering Committee.

8. TEAM MEMBER ELIGIBILITY

Only students studying for their first law degree are eligible to participate in the

competition. For the purposes of the competition the LLB degree is considered a first

law degree.
A team member must be a full-time or part-time student at one of the participating

Institutions during the calendar year of the competition.

The following people are not allowed to take part in the Moot Court Competition:

●Qualified legal practitioners,

●Judicial officers.

●Persons already holding a first degree in law (LLB)

9. TEAM SELECTION

Each participating university is allowed to present ONLY two teams in the Competition.

A team shall be composed of two oralists, preferably one male and one female and one

researcher who shall be graded on the research done on the theme of the competition

(As per the AKMCC Research Rules 2024). It’s strongly advised that gender parity be

observed in the selection of team members. Where applicable, a transparent process

approved by the responsible authority within the school shall be used in the selection of

team members. For the purposes of the competition, notice to one team member shall

constitute notice to all team members. The same students who registered at the

beginning must participate throughout the competition. A team

Member who cannot compete due to any supervening circumstances may be substituted

with the express permission of the Steering Committee.

10. ASSISTANCE

Any assistance rendered to a team in the preparation of its case, including that from

faculty members, shall be limited to a general discussion of issues, suggestions as to

research sources and decision making.

Assistance which would interfere with the presentation being substantially the original

work of the team members is prohibited.

11. OFFICIAL PROGRAMME

An official programme shall be issued by the steering committee at the start of the

Competition, indicating the time and venue of each session.

12. MEMORIALS AND RESEARCH PAPER

Each team must prepare memorials (heads of argument or written pleadings) in support

of the case of the applicant as well as the respondent and a research paper done on the

theme.

12.1 Memorial general format

Each memorial shall be composed of the following:
 ●A standard cover page which must be identical in style and content as

Appendix A (to be sent) The cover page should not carry any mark that

identifies the team such as the name of university or names of team

members but shall carry the team code issued for the teams

●The memorial paper shall not exceed 4,000 words (including footnotes if

these are used).

●Form and Contents

The Memorials shall be written in English.

Each memorial shall contain the following sections in the following order:

a. Table of Contents;

b. List of Abbreviations

c. List of Sources (treaties, jurisprudence, literature, etc.);

d. Jurisdiction of the Court and Admissibility;

e. Statement of Relevant Facts;

f. Issues;

g. Summary Arguments;

h. Substantive Arguments;

i. Prayers;

Spacing: The memorial spacing shall be 1.5 lines

Form: The memorial must be typewritten (Palatino Linotype, Font 12)

Margins: Top: 2cm, Bottom: 2cm, Left: 2cm, Right: 2cm

N.B. The organizers are particularly strict about teams meeting the above memorial general

format. Any team failing to meet these requirements may be disqualified.

12.2 Submission of Memorials and Research Papers

One (1) copy of the memorials for each side (one for the Applicant and one for the

Respondent) and the research paper should be submitted to reach the Steering

Committee before or on 9th February, 2024. The memorials and research papers should be sent

as attachments to an email message, to the following address:

allkenyanmoot@ku.ac.ke.

Any team that fails to submit an electronic copy of the memorials and the research paper to

reach the organizers before the 9th February, 2024 deadline will be

disqualified.

Each team is required to submit six (6) hard copies of each memorial and 3(three) copies

of the research paper separately to the organizers when they register in KUSOL on 12th

March, 2024. Each Memorial and the research paper shall be bound by a cover: The

Memorials for the Applicant by a green cover, the Memorials for the Respondent by a

red cover, the Research paper by blue cover

The Steering Committee cannot provide computer and photocopying facilities to

participants during the Moot Court unless strictly necessary.

Each team shall have a compilation of the materials referred to in its memorials available

during oral pleadings.

12.3. Memorial and Research Paper Marking

Memorials will be marked by three (3) independent experts before or during the

competition. The research shall also be strictly marked taking into account plagiarism

rules and the researchers may be required to defend their research and the content of the

research paper presented.

A team risks disqualification on the basis of plagiarism of Memorials that exceeds 40%.

12.4. Best Researcher

Researchers shall be graded independently of the team and shall be announced at the

end of the competition during the award ceremony.

12.5. Best Applicant & Respondent Memorial

The team with the best memorial (either applicant or respondent) in the preliminary

rounds, based on the points indicated for memorial presentation on the memorial score

sheets, will be announced at the end of the competition during the award ceremony.

12.6. The Final Round Memorials & the Use of Opposing Teams' Memorials

As far as the preliminary rounds are concerned, no team shall be allowed to view in

advance or otherwise become privy to the memorials of any other team before these

are made available to them by the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee shall make copies of the two separate memorials (used in the

preliminary rounds) of the teams that qualify for the semi-final rounds available to all

qualifying teams upon announcement of the teams so qualifying. In this regard, teams

for the semi-finals are allowed to prepare and submit to the steering committee

Reviewed memorials both for the applicant & respondent (3 hard copies each) two hours

before the Semi-final rounds for availing to the judges.

The teams for the final round will be allowed access to the opposing team’s memorial at

least 30 minutes before the commencement of the final round.

13. ORAL PLEADINGS

13.1 General procedure

The order of pleadings shall be applicant team, respondent team, rebuttal by applicant

team. All team members must act as oralists during any round. No team shall plead for

longer than 30 minutes (including rebuttal) during the preliminary and final rounds.

One oralist may not use more than 20 minutes during preliminary rounds, and 10

minutes during the final round. Rebuttal may not exceed 5 minutes. Only the applicant

has the opportunity for rebuttal. Time for rebuttal should be reserved in advance.

At the end of each round, the team shall have two minutes to answer questions that they

shall receive from the judges.

13.2 Ex Parte Procedures

Where a team fails to arrive for a scheduled round, the Steering Committee, after

waiting for ten minutes, may announce a new team against which the other team will

argue, or allow the round to proceed ex parte. In an ex parte proceeding, the attending

team presents its oral pleading, which is scored by the judges. In such a case, the team

that fails to arrive for the scheduled round shall forfeit all of the round’s points. If good

cause is shown, the Steering Committee may arrange for an additional round for the

absent team later during the competition, if time and administrative concerns permit.

13.3 Scope of pleadings

The scope of a team's oral pleading is not limited to the scope of its memorial. The scope

of the applicant's rebuttal is limited to the scope of the respondent's oral pleadings.

13.4 Scouting

No member of a team may attend a preliminary round or view the memorials of any

other team taking part in the competition unless so permitted under these rules. Teams

violating this rule may be disqualified. All rounds will be open to the public and will

only be open to other non-qualifying teams during the semi and final rounds. Audio and

video taping of oral pleadings is prohibited unless authorized by the Steering

Committee.

13.5 Oral and Written Communication

No oral or written communication may take place between team tables and any spectator during

a round.
13.6 Absence from the Courtroom

No team member shall be allowed to leave the courtroom for the duration of the proceedings

of a specific case in which he or she is taking part.

13.7 Best Oralists

The names of the best oralists both male and female, in the preliminary rounds based on

the points indicated for oral argument on the score sheets will be announced at the end of

the competition during the prize-giving ceremony.

13.8 Final round

In the final round teams will be scored exclusively on their oral pleadings.

14. COMPETITION

The Preliminary, Quarter Finals and Semi Finals rounds shall be held from 12th March,

2023 to 15th March 2024 at KUSOL. The Finals will then be held on 15th March, 2024 at the

Supreme Court of Kenya.

At the Preliminary levels, the competition shall be based absolutely on merit and thus the

teams that gather the most points shall proceed to the next stage.

Only the Top 16 teams in terms of Memorial marks will compete in the Preliminary

Rounds.
The tallying at the preliminaries shall be based on the teams Average Score on pleading

both as the Applicant and Respondent and the Memorial Score. For the purposes of the

preliminary level, calculation of Total Points shall be done as follows:

Average Score + Memorial Score = Total Points.

For avoidance of doubt, oral pleadings shall contribute 70% of the Total Points and the

Memorial 30% of the Total Points. Therefore, only the first 8 teams shall proceed to the

Quarter Finals.

The Quarter finals and Semifinals shall subsequently, be based on knock-outs and thus

the teams that emerge the best in each courtroom shall proceed to the next stage.

In order to ensure fairness, all court rooms will have equal number of 4 judges and the

marks for judges we will calculate marks by:

Removing highest mark and Lowest Mark and adding the 2 middle Marks and

dividing it by 2.

This rule is subject to change on the basis of availability of judges.

15. TIMING FOR THE SESSIONS

At the Preliminary rounds, each team shall be allocated 30 minutes to argue out their

side. This means that each session shall be 1 hour. 5 minute breaks in between the session

is allowed to switch courts and answer to any pressing issues upon which the next session

shall commence, it is thus important that time is observed. In the Quarter Finals, each

team shall be allocated 30 minutes to argue out their side.

At the Semi-Final stage, each team shall be awarded 30 minutes to argue their side of

the case. Eventually at the finals, each team shall have 40 minutes to present their case.

All the oral presentations shall be done in English.

16. CONFIDENTIALITY OF TEAM IDENTITY

Each team shall be assigned a number at the start of the competition and shall, for the

duration of the competition, be identified only by that number, to ensure that the judges

do not know which university or country a team represents. The identity of teams taking

part during a specific round shall not be divulged to the judges of any round before that

round is completed.

17. TALLYING AND MARKED SCORE SHEETS

Tallying shall be done in a designated room by members of the steering committee.

There shall be allowed three (3) independent observers at a time selected from the

participating faculties who shall be in the tallying room throughout the competition.

Each Faculty shall be presented a copy of the tallied results at the end of the

Competition.

Marked score sheets shall be returned to the respective faculties at the end of the

Competition.

18. INTERPRETATION OF RULES

The rules outlined herein will be interpreted by the AKMCC Steering Committee both

prior to the competition as well for any dispute arising during the competition that

concerns interpretation and application of these rules or the general administration of

the competition
All decisions of the Steering Committee concerning questions of rules, interpretation and

application are final and dispositive. The Steering Committee, in interpreting the

Official Rules, may promulgate such other measures as may be deemed advisable for

The orderly conduct of the competition, provided that these measures do not violate

the spirit of these official rules.

19. CLARIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

Participants may submit written requests for clarification of points in the problem which

are manifestly unclear and which must be clarified in order for the participants to

develop their pleadings. Requests for clarification must be received by the Steering

Committee through the official email allkenyanmoot@ku.ac.ke by 15th January, 2023.

Such clarifications will be made available to all participants before 15th January 2023.

20. DISQUALIFICATION AND PENALTIES

20.1. Procedure

The Steering Committee has the power to disqualify a team on the basis of violations of

these rules or the spirit of the competition. It also has the power to impose penalties, in

the form of subtractions from the marks awarded, not exceeding 20 points for each

infraction. Judges may propose disqualification or penalties, but these

Measures will only take effect once endorsed by the Steering Committee. When the issue

of disqualification or penalties arises, the Steering Committee, on its own motion or as a

result of a team complaint, must ascertain the facts of the situation in order to determine
whether an infraction has occurred. The team initiating the complaint must give timely

notice to the Steering Committee and the accused team. If, on its own motion, the

Steering Committee investigates a possible violation, it must give timely notice to the

accused team. The accused team shall be allowed to reply to the complaints made.

Where judges intend proposing disqualification or the imposition of penalties, they must

inform the teams accordingly and give them time to respond at the end of each

Particular round. Complaints pertaining specifically to oral pleadings must be

submitted to the Steering Committee within 5 minutes of the completion of the round in

which the alleged violation occurred. Memorial and oral pleading penalty points will be

assessed against the total score given by the judges to the penalized team in the

particular round.

20.2. Grounds for Disqualification

The Steering Committee may disqualify a team or impose a penalty against a team for

behavior, which substantially prejudices the competition, including, but not limited to

the following;

1. Scouting

2. Late submission of prescribed memorials to the Steering Committee, or failure to

submit memorials;

3. Failure to meet memorial length and form requirements;

4. Communication between counsel table and any person (other than judges) during

the oral pleadings;

 5. Engaging in poor sportsmanship;

6. Submitting petty, frivolous and verbose complaints;

7. Submitting substantially ill-conceived requests for clarification of the problem;

8. Dishonesty or other serious breaches of the spirit of the competition.

21. SCORING

Scoring must be done in accordance with the documents to be sent in the course of time

before the competition.

22. THE WINNER

The winner of the Final Round shall be considered to be the Winner of the Competition.

This team shall receive the AKMCC Cup to hold in trust until the following year's

Competition. Further the two oralists of the winning team shall be awarded available

internship positions in our leading partner firms and organizations. ((Subject to

clarification))

All correspondence should be addressed to:

The Student-Coordinator

Thomas Hamisi

+254 798 678 362

All-Kenyan Moot Court Competition

Kenyatta University School of Law

P.O Bo x 43844 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya.

Email: allkenyanmoot@ku.ac.ke