JUS CULTURA

Literary, Debating & Quizzing Society

NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL

UNIVERSITY DEBATE POOL SELECTION

CONTENTS

OVERVIEW...............................................................................................................................2
FORMAT....................................................................................................................................2
SPEAKER ROLES....................................................................................................................3
INTERROGATION PROCEDURE...........................................................................................4
POINTS OF INFORMATION...................................................................................................5
ADJUDICATION AND FEEDBACK.......................................................................................6

JUS CULTURA
Literary, Debating & Quizzing Society
NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
OVERVIEW
The pool selections shall have two rounds: a 1 on 1 elimination round (Elimination
Round), followed by a 2 on 2 modified Asians format (Second Round).In the event that
the number of participants is less than a pre-decided estimate, the Elimination Round will not
take place, and all participants shall directly participate in the Second Round.
Participants who are shortlisted after the Elimination Round will be required to form teams of
two for the Second Round.
The Second Round consists of three match-ups in total. The match ups in the each round will
be on the basis of a draw of lots.
The ranking criteria are as under:
1. Total Speaker score
2. Matter score
3. Manner score
4. Method score
5. Win/loss
That is, the person with the highest total speaker score gets the highest rank. In case of a tie,
the speaker score breakup of matter, manner, method will be considered (in that order) to
resolve it. Should there still remain a tie, the win/loss ration of the member will be serve as
the tie-breaker.
FORMAT
Each match-up in the Second Round will consist of two teams competing against one another,
namely: Government or Affirmative or Proposition and Opposition or Negative
Each team will consist of two members, namely:
Government:Prime Minister (PM)and Deputy Prime Minister (DPM)
Opposition:Leader of Opposition (LO) and Deputy Leader of Opposition (DLO)
The order of speaking and the timings will be as follows:
1. PM (6+1 minutes)
2. LO (6+1 minutes)
3. DPM (6+1 minutes)
4. DLO (6+1 minutes)
5. Member of Opposition questions Member of Proposition (last question at 2:30)
6. Member of Proposition questions Member of Opposition (last question at 2:30)
7. Member of Opposition questions Member of Proposition (last question at 2:30)

UNIVERSITY DEBATE POOL SELECTIONS (2015 2016)

JUS CULTURA
Literary, Debating & Quizzing Society
NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
8. Member of Proposition questions Member of Opposition (last question at 2:30)
9. Opposition reply speech (3+1 minutes)
10. Proposition reply speech (3+1 minutes)
There will be no common minute to prepare for the LO speech or Reply. A common minute
will be given after the substantive speeches for the interrogation session.
MOTIONS: SELECTION AND PREPARATION
1. Teams will have 20 minutes from when preparation time commences to decide upon
motions, proceed to the allocated rooms and prepare for the round.
2. Every round will have 3 motions, of which one will be debated. These may or may
not be linked to a particular theme.
3. The positions of Propositions and Opposition will be decided through a coin toss.
4.

Teams must then rank the motions in their order of preference, with 1 being the most
preferred and 3 being the least preferred. The motion ranked 3 by each team gets
vetoed and the remaining motion shall be debated in the round. However if both
teams rank the same motion as their least preferred and there is no identity as to their
most preferred motion, a coin toss will decide which teams preference prevails.

5. Printed and prepared materials may NOT be used during the preparation period. NO
access to electronic media or electronic storage or retrieval devices is permitted after
the motions have been released. This includes but is not limited to, all kinds of
computers, cellular phones, etc. Any use of such devices or seeking of help from
persons other than the team member will lead to automatic disqualification.
6.

Once the motions have been released, there must be no contact between teams and
their reserves, coaches, trainers, friends, observers or any other individual for the
purposes of assistance in the context of the debate. Such assistance will lead to
immediate expulsion from the tournament.

7. Walkover Policy: In case a team does not reach the assigned room within 10 minutes
of the stated time, the other team will be automatically declared winner of the matchup.
SPEAKER ROLES
PRIME MINISTER
1. The PM begins the debate by proposing a definition. The definition here implies the
interpretation of the motion as seen by the Government. The PM should make it
apparent (expressly or impliedly) to the house.
2.

A Logical Link between the motion and the definition as seen by the proposition in
case of a specific interpretation should be provided in case of a weak logical link the
definition may be vulnerable to a challenge. However, a logical link is not mandatory
if the motions are fairly close-ended.
UNIVERSITY DEBATE POOL SELECTIONS (2015 2016)

JUS CULTURA
Literary, Debating & Quizzing Society
NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
3. The Burden of the Proposition which should essentially reflect what they are out to
prove and the essential issues around which their debate rests.
4. The Team Split whereby the PM informs the house of the structure of their debate.
5. Constructive Arguments in support of his/her motion.
6.

If the proposition wishes to, then the PM must also put forth a Detailed Model. NO
floating model is allowed the DPM may only extend the aspects of the model,
already put forth by the PM.

7.

If the proposition wishes to run a principle based debate then it is not essential to put
forth a model.

LEADER OF OPPOSITION
The LO either accepts or challenges the definition (the details on grounds of a challenge and
the proceedings are given in the next segment). The onus upon the LO is:
1. To identify the Point(s) of Clash which essentially is the point the opposition
realizes is debatable. There may be multiple Points of Clash also.
2. To state the Burden of the Opposition.
3. To rebut arguments made by the Prime Minister and to put forth his/her constructive
arguments.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
1. Reiterate the Case Statement and Burden of Proposition in case of a Challenge the
DPM has to prove why the Challenge does not stand and then proceed with his/her
case.
2. If the definition is not challenged, then the DPM rebuts the Oppositions case.
3. The DPM then goes on to present his/her Constructive arguments and/or explain the
model, in adherence with the PMs team split.
DEPUTY LEADER OF OPPOSITION
1. The DPM presents his/her Constructive arguments and/or explain the model, in
adherence with the PMs team split.
2. Move forward the Constructive Case and/or explain the model put forth by the LO.
3. In case of a Challenge, the DLO reiterates the grounds of challenge, and then goes on
to oppose his/her case as presented by the LO.
INTERROGATION PROCEDURE
1. Any one member of the Opposition chooses one member of the Proposition and
questions him or her.
2. After this, any one member of the Proposition may choose either member of the
Opposition and question him or her.
UNIVERSITY DEBATE POOL SELECTIONS (2015 2016)

JUS CULTURA
Literary, Debating & Quizzing Society
NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
3. The remaining member of the Opposition will now question the member of the
Proposition who has not been questioned by the first interrogator of the Opposition.
4. The interrogation round ends when the remaining member of the Proposition
questions the member of the Opposition who has not been questioned before.
THINGS TO NOTE
An interrogation is meant as substitute for a whip speech. Interrogation sessions are expected
to bring out the various clashes and themes of the debate, contradictions in the other sides
case and extend substantives. Using intelligently posed questions, a team must attempt to
force out concessions or weaken the other sides stance. Some ways of doing so:
1. To point out two contradictory examples used in course of a speech or two substantive
speeches.
2. Trying to weaken the principal stand by placing the principle in a different, yet
relevant, context.
3. Leading the other team to give a concession, by posing a seemingly irrelevant
question, the answer to which may lead to a weakening of the principle.
4. No new lines of constructive argument are permitted during the interrogation round,
and speakers may only build on arguments that have previously been placed before
the house. New rebuttals, however, are permitted in the interrogation round. It is
important to remember that the questioning team holds the floor and may prevent the
other team from speaking further, if they are satisfied with the answer provided. The
chair, however, may intervene, if he/she feels that a particular question needs to be
answered more adequately. For optimum usage of the interrogation session, it is
essential that the reply speaker adequately explains the relevance of the questions
posed and the answers received.
REPLY SPEECHES
1. The second last speech is delivered by either member of the Opposition as a Reply
speech which is essentially a summary of the Arguments, proving in turn how the
Oppositions case stands. Its primary aim is to provide a biased adjudication.
2. The reply must be effectively used to tie together the various lines of questioning in
the interrogation round and explaining its relevance to the teams case.
3. No new matter can be introduced in the reply speech.
POINTS OF INFORMATION
1. At any time between the first and the sixth minutes of the four constructive speeches,
a member of the opposing team may indicate his/her willingness to make a point of
information and may do so upon receiving the permission of the speaker holding the
floor.

UNIVERSITY DEBATE POOL SELECTIONS (2015 2016)

JUS CULTURA
Literary, Debating & Quizzing Society
NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL
2. The member making the point of information has fifteen seconds for the same. The
speaker holding the floor cannot interrupt him/her before fifteen seconds once the
former has agreed to take the POI.
3. Teams must maintain a minimum gap of 20 seconds between offering POIs.
4. Tagging of POIs is not allowed.
5. There will be no compulsory POIs at this tournament.
Note: No passing of chits will be allowed during any speech.
ADJUDICATION AND FEEDBACK
1. The Chair in each room has the onus of overseeing the toss and maintaining order
during the debate. In the event that the Chair is not present, a runner will oversee the
toss.
2. The Chair must ensure that during interrogation, speakers are not heckled by
interrogators and are allowed to answer the questions posed.
3. Stonewalling of questions during interrogation must be penalized by a reduction in
speaker scores for Interrogation.
4. Adjudicators will get a maximum of 15 minutes to prepare decision, complete
feedback forms and prepare feedback.
5. Adjudicators must prepare their decision and feedback individually. Any case of
conferral brought to the notice of the organizers, may lead to the disqualification of
the concerned adjudicators from the tournament.
6. Adjudicators shall not reveal exact Margins of Victory and speaker scores to the

teams. They can use close,close to clear etc and average, above average,etc
respectively.

UNIVERSITY DEBATE POOL SELECTIONS (2015 2016)