Debate Society League - Rule booklet

Terms, Conditions and Rules

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Teams are to be composed of 3 individual speakers, which will be referred to as: Team Captain, First Speaker and Second Speaker respectively.

Each debate topic will be assigned a Government team and an Opposition team.

The Government will be debating for the motion, while the Oppositions will be against.

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The team in the Government and the team in the Opposition shall be decided through the use of a coin toss.

The order of the debate shall go as follows: Government Team Captain - 2 mins Opposition Team Captain - 2 mins Government First Speaker - 3 mins Opposition First Speaker - 3 mins Government Second Speaker - 3 mins Opposition Second Speaker - 3 mins Government Team Captain - 2 mins Opposition Team Captain - 2 mins

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In between any two speakers, both teams may call for a time out of 60 seconds. A timeout may be used only once, per team, per debate.

A timekeeper will be keeping track of the debate time. They will indicate to the current speaker when 60 seconds, 30 seconds and 10 seconds remain. They will also highlight when a speaker must end their turn.

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If the team takes on a position, it can’t be changed during the debate.

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If you assert something, you need to prove it by supporting it with enough evidence to convince a previously uninformed person that your way is better. Facts may be accurate and you can make use of visual materials which may then be used by your opponent.

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Opposing team members can ask questions to current speakers only after the first 30 seconds from the speakers time. However they may not be posed to Team Captains.

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When asking a question, a speaker is required to stand up and raise one’s hand clearly or place one’s hand over one’s head. You may not ask the question before current speaker grants you permission. The question needs to be asked clearly and briefly. It is not allowed for the question to turn into a conversation. If the question is rejected, the one asking needs to sit back down.

In the final speech made by the Team Captain, no new arguments may be introduced.

Therefore the team needs to reply to any negative arguments before the final rebuttal.

The Judges need to base their decisions solely on the material presented, regardless of any other material they may hold.

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The use of electronic devices (such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops) for research, communication, or otherwise are forbidden during the debate. External disruptions are also forbidden.

The organisers will try to provide teams with microphones for the debate. Should this not be possible, the debaters are expected to project their voice and proceed nevertheless.

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If a team fails to attend a debate, their opponent team is awarded points based on an average calculation of all sessions at the end of the league.

Any speakers or teams that arrive late are subject to penalties, elimination or anything at the organisers’ and/or judges’ discretion.

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Teams may not subsititute or change roles mid-way through a debate.

All participants need to be enrolled as students at the University of Malta. Participants who formed part of the winning team last year are not eligible to participate.

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In order to participate, all participants must fill in an online application form and pay a €10 non-refundable fee by deadline. More details can be found in the Facebook event description.

Participants have to attend all training sessions held throughout the months of March and April.

Failure to do so results in a decision taken at the discretion of the organisers of the league.

The organisers will attempt but are not obliged to accommodate participants’ availabilities.

The option to change the date of a debate will be given and accepted only once. Absences won’t be accepted unless a participant is abroad. Organisers need to be informed when a team is unavailable at the beginning of the competition.

The organisers have the final decision on any ambigious points that might arise at any point throughout the Debate Society League.

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Questions?

Contact JCI Malta’s Local President for Debating & Public Speaking, Charlene Gauci on charlene.gauci@jci.org.mt.