Debate Competition

DEBATE COMPETITION

       I.            DEBATE COMPETITION SYSTEM

A.    Participant

1.      Competition can only be followed by students from high school.

2.      The registration fee is Rp 300.000,- per team

3.      Each high school may register at maximum of two teams as representatives.

4.      Each team consists of two people based on British Parliamentary system

5.      Participants who followed the Preliminary Round maximum amount to 20 teams. While in the Final Round consists of 4 teams with 8 people.

6.      The winners consist of Champion, Runner Up, and First Runner Up.

B.     Competition System

1.      The competition will be held over three days (two days Preliminary Round, one day of Playoff, Semifinals and Finals Round).

2.      The preliminary rounds consist of 4 rounds

3.      Team ranking will be determined based on their victory points and team score respectively and cumulatively over the 4 rounds.

4.      The drawing of Preliminary Round is determined by Break and Slide system

5.      There will be 6 Teams breaking directly from preliminary round to Semifinal (Rank 1-6)

6.      4 teams (rank 7-10) will compete again in Play-off Round called “Dead or Alive” round. They are fighting for 2 golden tickets to break to semifinal.

7.      Total breaking teams to Semifinal are 8 teams

8.       These 8 teams then compete in Semifinal and 4 teams proceed to the Final Round

9.      Debate stuff will be described below.

    II.            DEBATE RULES

A.    The format of the debate

1.      The debate will consist of four teams of two persons (persons will be known as "members"), a chairperson (known as the "Speaker of the House" or "Mister/Madame Speaker" and an adjudicator or panel of adjudicators.

2.      Teams will consist of the following members:

1.      Prime Minister;

2.      Leader of Opposition;

3.      Deputy Prime Minister;

4.      Deputy Leader  of Opposition;

5.      Member of the Government;

6.      Member of the Opposition;

7.      Government Whip;

8.      Opposition Whip.

Opening Government:

"Prime Minister" or "First Government member" and "Deputy Prime Minister" or "Second Government member";

Opening Opposition:

"Leader of the Opposition" or "First Opposition member" and "Deputy Leader of the Opposition" or "Second Opposition member";

Closing Government:

"Member for the Government" or "Third Government member" and "Government Whip" or "Fourth Opposition member";

Closing Opposition:

"Member for the Opposition" or "Third Opposition member" and "Opposition Whip" or "Fourth Opposition member".

3.      Members will deliver a substantive speech of seven minutes duration and should offer points of information while members of the opposing teams are speaking.

B.     The motion

1.      The motion should be unambiguously worded.

2.      The members should debate the motion in the spirit of the motion and the tournament.

C.    Preparation

1.      The debate should commence 15 minutes after the motion is announced.

2.      Teams should arrive at their debate room within five minutes of the scheduled starting time for that debate.

3.      Members are permitted to use printed or written material during preparation and during the debate. Printed material includes books, journals, newspapers and other similar materials. The use of electronic equipment is prohibited during preparation and in the debate.

D.    Points of Information

1.      Points of Information (questions directed to the member speaking) may be asked between first minute mark and the six-minute mark of the members’ speeches (speeches are of seven minutes duration).

2.      To ask a Point of Information, a member should stand, place one hand on his or her head and extend the other towards the member speaking. The member may announce that they would like to ask a "Point of Information" or use other words to this effect.

3.      The member who is speaking may accept or decline to answer the Point of Information.

4.      Points of Information should not exceed 15 seconds in length.

5.      The member who is speaking may ask the person offering the Point of Information to sit down where the offer has had a reasonable opportunity to be heard and understood.

6.      Members should attempt to answer at least two Points of Information during their speech. Members should also offer Points of Information.

7.      Points of Information should be assessed in accordance with clause 3.3.4 of these rules.

8.      Points of Order and Points of Personal Privilege are not permitted.

E.     Timing of the speeches

1.      Speeches should be seven minutes in duration (this should be signalled by two strikes of the gavel). Speeches over seven minutes and 15 seconds may be penalized.

2.      Points of Information may only be offered between the first minute mark and the six minute mark of the speech (this period should be signalled by one strike of the gavel at the first minute and one strike at the sixth minute).

3.      It is the duty of the Speaker of the House to time speeches.

4.       In the absence of the Speaker of the House, it is the duty of the Chair of the Adjudication panel to ensure that speeches are timed.

F.     The adjudication

1.      The debate should be adjudicated by a panel of at least one adjudicator, where this is possible.

2.      At the conclusion of the debate, the adjudicators should confer and rank the teams, from first placed to last place.

3.      There will be verbal adjudication of the debate after the first four preliminary rounds of the tournament.

G.    The definition

1.      The definition should state the issue (or issues) for debate arising out of the motion and state the meaning of any terms in the motion which require interpretation.

2.      The Prime Minister should provide the definition at the beginning of his or her speech.

3.      The definition must:

o   Have a clear and logical link to the motion - this means that an average reasonable person would accept the link made by the member between the motion and the definition (where there is no such link the definition is sometimes referred to as a "squirrel");

o   Not be self-proving - a definition is self-proving when the case is that something should or should not be done and there is no reasonable rebuttal. A definition is may also be self-proving when the case is that a certain state of affairs exists or does not exist and there is no reasonable rebuttal (these definitions are sometimes referred to as "truisms").

o   Not be time set - this means that the debate must take place in the present and that the definition cannot set the debate in the past or the future; and

o   Not be place set unfairly - this means that the definition cannot restrict the debate so narrowly to a particular geographical or political location that a participant of the tournament could not reasonably be expected to have knowledge of the place.

H.    Challenging the definition

1.      The Leader of the Opposition may challenge the definition if it violates clause 2.1.3 of these rules. The Leader of the Opposition should clearly state that he or she is challenging the definition.

2.      The Leader of the Opposition should substitute an alternative definition after challenging the definition of the Prime Minister.

I.       Assessing the definitional challenge

1.      The adjudicator should determine the definition to be ‘unreasonable’ where it violates clause of these rules.

2.      The onus to establish that the definition is unreasonable is on the members asserting that the definition is unreasonable.

3.       Where the definition is unreasonable, the opposition should substitute an alternative definition that should be accepted by the adjudicator provided it is not unreasonable.

4.      Where the definition of the Opening Government is unreasonable and an alternative definition is substituted by the Opening Opposition, the Closing Government may introduce matter which is inconsistent with the matter presented by the Opening Government and consistent with the definition of the Opening Opposition.

5.      If the Opening Opposition has substituted a definition that is also unreasonable, the Closing Government may challenge the definition of the Opening Opposition and substitute an alternative definition.

6.      If the Closing Government has substituted a definition that is also unreasonable (in addition to the unreasonable definitions of the Opening Government and Opening Opposition, the Closing Opposition may challenge the definition of the Closing Government and substitute an alternative definition.

 III.           

A.    Ranking teams

1.      Teams should be ranked from first place to last place. First placed teams should be awarded three points, second placed teams should be awarded two points, third placed teams should be awarded one point and fourth placed teams should be awarded zero points.

2.      Teams may receive zero points where they fail to arrive at the debate more than five minutes after the scheduled time for debate.

3.      Teams may receive zero points where the adjudicators unanimously agree that the Member has (or Members have) harassed another debater on the basis of religion, sex, race, colour, nationality, sexual preference or disability.

4.      Adjudicators should confer upon team rankings. Where a unanimous decision cannot be reached after conferral, the decision of the majority will determine the rankings. Where a majority decision cannot be reached, the Chair of the panel of adjudicators will determine the rankings.

B.     Grading and marking the teams

1.      The panel of adjudicators should agree upon the grade that each team is to be awarded. Each adjudicator may then mark the teams at their discretion but within the agreed grade. Where there is a member of the panel who has dissented in the ranking of the teams, that adjudicator will not need to agree upon the team grades and may complete their score sheet at their own discretion.

2.      Team grades and marks should be given the following interpretation:

Grade	Marks	Meaning
A	180-200	Excellent to flawless. The standard you would expect to see from a team at the Semi Final / Grand Final level of the tournament. The team has much strength and few, if any, weaknesses.
B	160-179	Above average to very good. The standard you would expect to see from a team at the finals level or in contention to make to the finals. The team has clear strengths and some minor weaknesses.
C	140-159	Average. The team has strengths and weaknesses in roughly equal proportions.
D	120-139	Poor to below average. The team has clear problems and some minor strength.
E	100-119	Very poor. The team has fundamental weaknesses and few, if any, strengths.

3.      Marking the members

-          After the adjudicators have agreed upon the grade that each team is to be awarded, each adjudicator may mark the individual members at their discretion but must ensure that the aggregate points of the team members is within the agreed grade for that team.

-          Individual members’ marks should be given the following interpretation:

Grade	Marks	Meaning
A	90-100	Excellent to flawless. The standard of speech you would expect to see from a speaker at the Semi Final / Grand Final level of the tournament. This speaker has much strength and few, if any, weaknesses.
B	80-89	Above average to very good. The standard you would expect to see from a speaker at the finals level or in contention to make to the finals. This speaker has clear strengths and some minor weaknesses.
C	70-79	Average. The speaker has strengths and weaknesses and roughly equal proportions.
D	60-69	Poor to below average. The team has clear problems and some minor strength.
E	50-59	Very poor. This speaker has fundamental weaknesses and few, if any, strengths.

C.    Verbal adjudications

1.      At the conclusion of the conferral, the adjudication panel should provide a verbal adjudication of the debate.

2.      The verbal adjudication should be delivered by the Chair of the adjudication panel, or where the Chair dissents, by a member of the adjudication panel nominated by the Chair of the panel.

3.      The verbal adjudication should:

-          The verbal adjudication should not exceed 10 minutes.

-          The members must not harass the adjudicators following the verbal adjudication.

-          The members may approach an adjudicator for further clarification following the verbal adjudication; these inquiries must at all times be polite and non-confrontational.
(a) identify the order in which the teams were ranked
(b) explain the reasons for the rankings of team, ensuring that each team is referred to in this explanation; and
(c) provide constructive comments to individual members where the adjudication panel believes this is necessary.