Monday, 14 October 2013
Friday, 4 October 2013
INTERPART MOOT PROBLEM 2013
IN THE MOOT COURT OF UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MARA
AT SHAH ALAM
(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)
Between
BEAST FRANKLYN …APPELLANT
And
THE MALAYSIAN ASSOCIATION
FOR AUTHORS AND JOURNALISTS. …RESPONDENT
Beast Fraklyn, 32, was a St Roque School of Journalism graduate, whose academic achievements was never short of excellent. It landed him a job as a journalist at Eggleston Co., a company renowned for its high profile publications.
Despite his impressive bulk, Beast had always been thought by many as an effeminate man, rendering him shunned and treated much like an outcast by some of his peers.However, initially Beast did not think much of it as he always had a healthy spirit of confidence and unswerving determination. More so, his superior regarded him as one of the best journalist Eggleston Co. has ever seen.
What Beast’s superior and peers did not know was, he was born with Gender Identification Disorder (GID), a condition in which one’s physical sex does not match the perceived sex of the individual. He had consciously struggled with this disorder since his childhood years but he tried not to take too much notice of it.
As years passed by, and being an accomplished journalist at Eggleston for almost five years, he could no longer conceal his inner struggle to be seen as a man although deep down he felt so ‘womanly’. Beast’s difficult battle had left him feeling depressed and distraught. His performance at Eggleston was nowhere near his previous accomplishments, leaving not only him but his superior worried and bewildered by his sudden lack of focus. Beast’s state of depression was a cause for concern, and seeing this his superior gave him one month leave of absence.
Besides that, in two months time, Beast was to be present at the most prestigious journalism award ceremony in Malaysia hosted by The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists (MAAJ). He was to receive the coveted “Malaysia’s Hot Journalist of 2013” for his highly acclaimed reporting skills.
His superior was very intent in preparing Beast (mentally and emotionally) for the award ceremony, as members of the public already knew that Beast was to receive the award.
His superior was very intent in preparing Beast (mentally and emotionally) for the award ceremony, as members of the public already knew that Beast was to receive the award.
It was during his leave of absence that Beast did the unthinkable ; he flew to Thailand to undergo a sex change operation. However, everyone was kept in the dark as to his intention to do so as he was sure that it would not in any way alter his stellar performance at Eggleston.
After the successful sex change operation, Beast resumed work at Eggleston. “Call me Beatrice. I am no longer a beast”, was the response that Beast gave when his people glared and stared at him.
A week later, Beast was summoned to his superior's office. He was not prepared for the exchange that followed. He was informed that The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists had reached a unanimous decision in revoking the “Malaysia’s Hot Journalist of 2013” award, as Beast’s behaviour was deemed to be immoral and would disrupt the office's morale.
A few weeks later, Beast instituted a suit against The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists,claiming that the revocation of award by The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists, unlawful and unconstitutional as per Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution.
On a preliminary ruling, Ross J held that:
Article 8 did not include protection for transsexuals and stated further that "if the term 'sex' is to mean more than biological male or biological female, the new definition must come from the Parliament."
The trial court concluded further that The MalaysianAssociation for Authors and Journalists had not discriminated against Beast because he was a male or afemale, but because he was a transsexual -- "a biological male who takes female hormones, cross-dresses, and has surgically altered parts of her body to make it appear to be female."
Therefore, because Article 8 did not prohibit discrimination against transsexuals, the trial court entered judgment in favour of The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists.
Beast is left dissatisfied with the judgment delivered by Ross J in the trial court and now seeks to appeal to theUniversiti Teknologi Mara Moot Court.
Beast advances the position that he ought to have been kept on as the “Malaysia’s Hot Journalist of 2013” awardrecipient regardless of gender as he had and continues to have the necessary occupational experience, skills and knowledge to perform the duties required of a stellarEggleston journalist.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
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Wednesday, 21 August 2013
The ALSA Moots 2012 / Operasi Bersih 1.0
Who knew that the
Bersih Operation actually took place on the 27th of April 2012 instead of
on the 28th.Below is how the story unfolds.
The line-ups for the
Asian Law Students Association (ALSA) Moots 2012 are :
Addibah Adnan
(Dibsy) acting as the 1st Appellant
Atif Abdullah (Tiffy) the 2nd
Appellant,
Azalea Azarae (Wombat)
as the 1st Respondent and finally,
Azim Razak
(Terminator) as the 2nd Respondent.
26th
April 2012
It was the last
day of training for the ALSA mooters. Only then did reality dawned upon the ALSA
mooters that heck, the competition is tomorrow! Pressure struck, but it was
immediately mellowed down when Alia and Danial came with IKEA curry puffs, so
heavenly that even Fikie Moe brushed his
regimented diet aside to enjoy a few mouthfuls. Truth be told, I was confused
whether this was a training session, or a party. There was Keropok Lekor,
Pisang Goreng and Cekodok on the table instead of scripts and cases! But, it is
moot, and for UiTM mooters, food runs parallel with moots. The day ended around 9 pm
where it was agreed that the mooters will meet up at the faculty around 6.30 am
the next morning.
27th
April 2012
I (Wombat) was the first to
reach the faculty at 6.30 am alongside Adila and ‘The Damanhoori’. Soon after
Zufar arrived with Atif and Azim. I gave Fikie Moe a call only to find out that
he just woke up! The congregation left exactly at 7.30 am for Universiti Malaya
(UM). We reached UM and straight away headed to the foyer to have breakfast
where we were joined by a large group of supporters, namely, Wombat’s whole
family! There we were informed that HELP University have forfeited therefore
the rounds have to be restructured. The first round was at 10.30 am between Universiti
Teknologi MARA’s (UiTM) Respondent team and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin’s
(UniSZA) Appellant team. It was an active session whereby her Ladyship was very
much ‘pleased’ and complimented our ability to address her concerns quickly and
creatively. We were quick on our feet in addressing her questions and mooted with
such confidence resulting in her Ladyship to be belief that they we were not
first year students! As for the Appellants, their first round started at 2.30
pm.
The afternoon
match was between the UiTM Appellant Team and the UniSZA Respondent Team, and
the UM Appellant Team and the UiTM Respondent Team. Addibah and Atif submitted with
poise in front of the presiding judge all the time maintaining eye contact and
putting up a strong fight to the equally good mooters at the opposite end of
the court. Addibah’s ability to conjure up answers in the blink of an eye has
to be noted as it really impressed the bench. The Respondent’s second round
against the UM team begun around the same time at Dewan Kuliah C. It was a
successful round for us as his Lordship dismissed the Appellants claim and in
his comment praised yet again the Respondent’s ability to address his questions
efficiently. Thus, that concludes our preliminary rounds. As for the Appellants,
their second round was immediately after their first round. Again the
combination of Addibah and Atif proved to be a lethal one as they mooted before
the bench with such composure thus convinced the bench to believe and side with
their cause. After 4 hours of back to back mooting, they finally got a break
and the team returned to the foyer to catch a breath before the result of the
breaking teams were released. In less than half an hour, all of the participating
teams were gathered in the Tun Suffian Auditorium for the announcement of the
teams that made it to finals. The long-time dream of the Moot Team finally materialised
when the results were announced, it was to be an all UiTM finals! This marks the
first step of the Bersih Operation by the UiTM team. Before the final round
began, dinner was served. It was chicken chop with chips and mashed potatoes,
really good dinner, and it was made even better with the company of newfound
friends from UniSZA and UM. Sharp 8.00 pm the Final Round began. The Appellants
were Addibah and Atif whilst the Respondents were Azalea and Azim. Eventhough
it was an all UiTM finals, neither team took the round lightly, and on the
contrary, both team mooted excellently, giving their very best, putting a show
before His Lordship and Her Ladyship and those present that day. The same
appraisal was delivered by the bench, that both teams were able to respond to
the bench’s question blow by blow. It was not long before the result of the
first ALSA competition was released. The bench dismissed the appeal, and the
win went to the Respondents, though in truth, both teams were winners, as such
success is impossible to achieve without the help and support of each and every
one. Now, the reason why the 27th of April is the Bersih Operation
Day for the ALSA team is because, the team won every single prize offered.
Best Oralist.
Check. – Azim Razak.
Best Memorial.
Check. – UiTM Respondent Team.
Best Team. Check –
UiTM Respondent Team.
The UiTM ALSA team
swept clean all of the prizes offered, hence, Operasi Bersih 1.0. It is
impossible for the team to achieve success of this magnitude without the help
of many people. The Moot Problem was a jumble of Land law, Constitutional Law, and
Administrative Law. It is safe to say that except for Constitutional Law, Atif,
Azim and myself had a whirlwind lecture on all of the other areas of law. Our
utmost gratitude to Madam Normawati for teaching us and guiding us on how to
tackle such issues. The numerous Skype sessions we had shows how high your
level of dedication is to your students and your faculty, and to that, we will
be eternally grateful. Dr. Irwin. A man so selfless that he’ll succumb to
performing his husbandly, yes, husbandly duties in advance just so that he’ll
have time to spend time with us for training, thank you. To the Mrs too this
time, for allowing us to ship Sir away during the holidays. Miss Ummi Hani, who
sacrificed her movie time, to hear us submit, over and over again, and over and
over. It’s mind-boggling really, and for that, Miss Ummi, thank you, for
perfecting our submission. Student-trainers, Fikie Moe and Zharif! The two
amazing-est, funniest, smartest and yes, hottest coaches, THANK YOU! You,
dearest trainer, give yourself too little credit when you actually are one of
the key to our success. Zharif, you’ve guided us much along the way, and spent
time to further better ourselves in moot and for that, thank you. Farhan,
Ellena, Marly, and Hannah, thank you for supporting us throughout the
competition.
Last but not
least, this is just the beginning, the first step of many. My sincerest hope is
that we will be able to repeat this success.
Echoing the words
of Douglas McArthur –
“Build me a
son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave
enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending
in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.”
And with that, I sign off as Captain for the 2012 ALSA Team.
-Wombat
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Jessup 2013 - Malaysian National Rounds - Part 1
As is the tradition, a member of the team shall submit a write up for the past tournament, and proclaim whether justice has been upheld or the end of days have come early.
It is my honour to complete this rite for the 2013 national rounds.
____________________
The rounds began early on a misty Saturday morning, with two cars leaving the green hills of Shah Alam (A white WTD and a blue ABU) for the valleys where Universiti Malaya is located.
Registration had already begun when we arrived, trembling with trepidation, at around 8.30 am. After the brief introductory speeches from the hosts, along with the usual reminders on the rules set by ILSA for this competition, all of the teams left for their holding rooms eager to begin battle.
Unfortunately, (or fortunate, your take!) our rounds were in the afternoon. Hence we spent the time lounging around in the air conditioned tutorial room at the end of the hallways.
____________________
After an early lunch (for me at least), our afternoon sessions began.
Our first round was against the hosts themselves, the defending champions. With a humble confidence, agents Farhan Zafry and Hannah Nasir along with bench counsel Afif Daud began their superb attempt at defending a submerged state in front of three esteemed judges, in the large Tun Suffian auditorium.
The first round ended with a clear win for the UiTM Applicants, 8-1.
____________________
The second round featured agents Azim Razak and Marlysa Razak along with the trusted help of Afif Daud, against a worthy foe from the Universiti Utara Malaysia.
After answering question after question, UiTM again came up on top winning 9-0.
That was the end of the Saturday sessions, and we headed back to our homes for a much needed rest.
____________________
The second day began similar to the first day, with the exception of ABU being traded with a green Myvi.
The third round continued our title challenge, with the Applicants coming up against highly experienced agents from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
However, no matter what adverse strength were upon them, agents Farhan and Hannah managed to turn the tables around and dazzle with another win, this time for 6-3 (3 being memorial scores).
____________________
Later on, causing one of the agents to miss his lunch (hey, UM moot food is good!), the fourth round was to take place at 12.30. This time it was against a dreaded Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia side, as per the reputation this particular team had garnered this year when it earlier beat several acclaimed universities.
One of the difficult questions posed by the President in this round, is as to whether the agents for Respondent were indeed siblings. The agents hope the answer was satisfactory!
Climbing everest, or turning back and finding other ways to fight the huge challenge that the law posed, the Respondents from UiTM succeeded in defeating the USIM mooters. (I am unsure if it's 9-0 or 8-1, though.)
____________________
AND WE ARE THROUGH TO THE FINALS. WOO!
The sides for the finals were decided at the toss of a coin, and the lucky hand of Miss Ummi Hani (one of our beloved coaches) got us a place as the Applicants. Agents Zafry and Hannah were going to submit before the International Court of Justice, in front of a huge crowd at the Tun Suffian auditorium.
After deliberation (due to a tie), the International Islamic University of Malaysia went through to the finals instead of the hosts, Universiti Malaya.
Hence, this would now be the third big Malaysian team that the UiTM applicants would have to face.
The round featured three highly esteemed judges, YA Dato' Mah Weng Kwai on the left, Datuk Gopal Sri Ram as the president of the ICJ in the center, and Mr. Stewart Manley from MMU on the right. (Positions were as per the competitors; and spectators' views)
The oralists barely got to get started before the President fired shot after shot, every salvo heavily damaging both sides' counsels as they rarely got to stick with the speeches earlier prepared. This coupled up with difficult questions posed by the other two judges, proved to make the final round a very nerve wrecking one indeed.
In the end, it was a very close fight and nobody had an inkling as to who would actually come out on top.
Results were to be announced at a later time, presumably after the judges deliberations, therefore everyone shuffled out with bated breath and white faces after the massacre we all observed.
_____________________
It is my honour to complete this rite for the 2013 national rounds.
____________________
The rounds began early on a misty Saturday morning, with two cars leaving the green hills of Shah Alam (A white WTD and a blue ABU) for the valleys where Universiti Malaya is located.
Registration had already begun when we arrived, trembling with trepidation, at around 8.30 am. After the brief introductory speeches from the hosts, along with the usual reminders on the rules set by ILSA for this competition, all of the teams left for their holding rooms eager to begin battle.
Unfortunately, (or fortunate, your take!) our rounds were in the afternoon. Hence we spent the time lounging around in the air conditioned tutorial room at the end of the hallways.
____________________
After an early lunch (for me at least), our afternoon sessions began.
(Picture: the team with Dr. Irwin, one of our dear coaches.)
Our first round was against the hosts themselves, the defending champions. With a humble confidence, agents Farhan Zafry and Hannah Nasir along with bench counsel Afif Daud began their superb attempt at defending a submerged state in front of three esteemed judges, in the large Tun Suffian auditorium.
The first round ended with a clear win for the UiTM Applicants, 8-1.
____________________
The second round featured agents Azim Razak and Marlysa Razak along with the trusted help of Afif Daud, against a worthy foe from the Universiti Utara Malaysia.
After answering question after question, UiTM again came up on top winning 9-0.
That was the end of the Saturday sessions, and we headed back to our homes for a much needed rest.
____________________
The second day began similar to the first day, with the exception of ABU being traded with a green Myvi.
The third round continued our title challenge, with the Applicants coming up against highly experienced agents from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
However, no matter what adverse strength were upon them, agents Farhan and Hannah managed to turn the tables around and dazzle with another win, this time for 6-3 (3 being memorial scores).
____________________
Later on, causing one of the agents to miss his lunch (hey, UM moot food is good!), the fourth round was to take place at 12.30. This time it was against a dreaded Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia side, as per the reputation this particular team had garnered this year when it earlier beat several acclaimed universities.
One of the difficult questions posed by the President in this round, is as to whether the agents for Respondent were indeed siblings. The agents hope the answer was satisfactory!
Climbing everest, or turning back and finding other ways to fight the huge challenge that the law posed, the Respondents from UiTM succeeded in defeating the USIM mooters. (I am unsure if it's 9-0 or 8-1, though.)
____________________
AND WE ARE THROUGH TO THE FINALS. WOO!
(The Respondents with Miss Ummi Hani, awaiting the final round.)
The sides for the finals were decided at the toss of a coin, and the lucky hand of Miss Ummi Hani (one of our beloved coaches) got us a place as the Applicants. Agents Zafry and Hannah were going to submit before the International Court of Justice, in front of a huge crowd at the Tun Suffian auditorium.
After deliberation (due to a tie), the International Islamic University of Malaysia went through to the finals instead of the hosts, Universiti Malaya.
Hence, this would now be the third big Malaysian team that the UiTM applicants would have to face.
(The team before the finals)
The round featured three highly esteemed judges, YA Dato' Mah Weng Kwai on the left, Datuk Gopal Sri Ram as the president of the ICJ in the center, and Mr. Stewart Manley from MMU on the right. (Positions were as per the competitors; and spectators' views)
The oralists barely got to get started before the President fired shot after shot, every salvo heavily damaging both sides' counsels as they rarely got to stick with the speeches earlier prepared. This coupled up with difficult questions posed by the other two judges, proved to make the final round a very nerve wrecking one indeed.
In the end, it was a very close fight and nobody had an inkling as to who would actually come out on top.
Results were to be announced at a later time, presumably after the judges deliberations, therefore everyone shuffled out with bated breath and white faces after the massacre we all observed.
_____________________
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