The Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, Florida, USA organizes its flagship international environmental moot court competition i.e., the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition every year. Surana & Surana International Attorneys (SSIA) administers this moot through partner institutions. It was a privilege for Faculty of Law, SRM University, Delhi-NCR Sonepat (SRMUH) to organize STETSON Moot for the second year in a row. This year, an enhanced version with Regional Rounds the Surana & Surana SAARC Rounds of the 28th Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition – 2023-24 was held at SRM University Sonepat during December 1-3, 2024 (Annexure A-Schedule). The preparations for the Moot kicked off with mutual agreement between Surana & Surana Academic Initiatives and SRM University and the announcement of the registrations from 20th of November, 2023.
At the close of Registration Date, a total of twenty-four teams registered for the competition including one team from Nepal, making it an international event for the organizers. Details of the teams registered with their respective TC and SN Codes as well as overall result is provided as Annexure B. The first set of assessments for this moot began with Memorial Evaluation. To ensure transparency, two independent evaluators (Prof. Dr. Rakesh K. Chopra, Independent Consultant and Dr. Sunil Agarwal, AOR and Member Indian Society of International Law were engaged on different dates.
Day 01: December 1, 2023 - Friday
The competition officially was inaugurated on 1st December, 2023. Prof. (Dr.) Paramjit S. Jaswal, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, SRM University and Prof. (Dr.) V. Samuel Raj, Hon’ble Registrar, SRM University graced the occasion. The welcome address was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh, Dean, Faculty of Law, SRM University and the Administrator in Charge of the Moot where he cordially welcomed all the participants to the faculty of law. Mr. Preetam Surana, Partner at Surana & Surana International Attorneys and National Administrator of Stetson spoke about the Stetson Moot Court Competition, its foundation and how it has grown over the last two and a half decades. He also elaborated the vision of Surana and Surana to bring in mooting culture in remote corners of the country as well. It was followed by a special address of Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Paramjit S. Jaswal here he spoke about his experiences of moot courts and motivated the participants with is unique style of humor and ease.
The 1st day of the event concluded with the orientation of the participants where they were formally told about the rules and regulations of the moot, followed by the draw of lots where the participating teams were assigned their opposite parties and their respective sides of written memorials for both the Preliminary Rounds. The fixture sheets were also shared with the participants. The same was followed by the exchange of memorials for the preliminary rounds to be held on second day. The evening ended with a dinner.
Day 02: December 2, 2023 (Saturday)
The day began with the breakfast of the judges at the Mini-Conference Hall of the University. A judges briefing was conducted by the Judicial Process Committee. The judges for the moot were carefully chosen to include experts from both academia and industry which also included some who have themselves been participants of Stetson Moot Court.
Day 03 – December, 03, 2023 (Sunday)
Third day of the competition featured the semi-final rounds and final rounds followed by valedictory function. The two teams which reached the Finals of this moot court competition were National Law University, Jodhpur and The School of Excellence in Law. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University of Law who met for the final round conducted on the same day from -2:00 PM to 03:30 PM.
Final Rounds of the Competition
At the pinnacle of this event, The School of Excellence in Law, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University of Law was adjudged as the Winner of this coveted International Moot Court Competition.
VALEDICTORY FUNCTION
The valedictory session began with the felicitation of the Guests (Final Round Judges) and welcome address of Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Paramjit S. Jaswal. This was followed by a brief report of the Competition by Md. Saleem, Faculty Convenor Moot Court Committee. Mr. Preetam Surana and Dr. Vijay Kumar Singh announced the results one by one and each of the guests proceeded to award the certificates to the winners and participants. The valedictory session concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh, Dean, Faculty of Law, where he showed his sincere gratitude to all the participants, the university administration, the faculty members, the student volunteers and the support staff.
