Moot Problem SPARKLE 2.0 KLE College of Law National Law Fest 2020
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SPARKLE 2.0 KLE College of Law National Law Fest 2020
Moot Problem
People’s Union for Rights (PUR) Vs. Union of Westeros
Westeronia was a famed independent empire that was blessed with abundant natural resources and
population. It had vast land area that was surrounded by mountains, rivers, deserts and seas. It was
ruled by various small kingdoms divided based on geographical terrain. Due to its rich and
abundant natural resources, Westeronia was constantly attacked by invaders.
In the year 1721, the independent State of Braavos succeeded in conquering all of Westeronia. They
continued to rule the empire for over 200 years and depleted the resources of the empire. After
many years of struggle by Westerornians, Braavos decided to declare Westeronia as an independent
State in the year 1934. A High Council meeting was held in this regard in which numerous groups
raised objection to being a part of Westeronia. They sought sovereignty and separate nation status.
In order to maintain peace in the region, the High Council arrived at a truce and agreed to separate
Westeronia based on geographical positioning and religious beliefs.
In the year 1936, the empire of Westeronia was divided into three sovereign nations namely
Westeros; Valyria and Qarth. Westeros and Valyria staked claim over Winterfell, a state that held
historical and strategic political importance to both the nations. The High Council divided
Winterfell in such a manner that majority of the land area was in Westeros. Valyria was unhappy
with the division of land but had no option of redressal available.
Valyria and Qarth chose to be States that followed the Sithreligion whereas Westeros chose to be a
secular State even though the predominant religion in Westeros was Jediism. To highlight the
nation’s commitment to secularism, the term was incorporated into the Preamble of the Constitution
of Westeros.
The geographical position of Westeros is such that the northern borders are bound by rugged,
snowy mountains; the western border by vast expanse of desert, the southern peninsula by seas and
the eastern border by thick dense forest. Westeros shares its north eastern border with Qarth and
north western border with Valyria.
Over the past 80 years, the relationship between Valyria and Westeros had been deteriorating due to
the Winterfell issue. Valyria has openly attacked Westeros in all international fora and has also
vowed to take Winterfell back by all means. Westeros has been constantly faced terrorist attacks
and cross border infiltration which would be indirectly attributed to Valyria.
In the year 1997, there was a massive terror attack on the military base in Winter fell which shocked
the entire nation. The terrorists had possesses local ID proofs and had passed off as civilians. This
exposed serious security lapses on the part of the government. Hence, the ruling party at that time,
The United Front(hereinafter referred to as TUF), immediately constituted a committee headed by
Mr. Edward Stark, a retired Chief Justice of Westeros, to identify and propose solutions for border
protection and prevention of terrorist attacks.
The Stark Committee submitted its report in July 1999 and observed that the major cause of
terrorism in the State was due to cross border infiltration. The report stated that mass, unregulated
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migration allowed terrorists to move freely across borders. The committee also made a parallel
observation that the heavy influx of migrants from Qarth due to the fear of religious persecution
caused population in Westeros to swell. This had put severe strain on the economy of Westeros and
the border states.
According to the Stark Committee, the following were the reasons and possible solutions for cross
border infiltration
REASONS FOR CROSS-BORDER INFILTRATION:
Illegal migration of refugees from both north-western and north-eastern borders.
The geographical landscape consisting of snow-clad mountains and thick forests
made it easy for migrants to enter.
Religious persecution in Qarth caused people to flee and cross the border for
protection.
Poor economic conditions in the neighboring countries caused people to migrate
to Westeros in search of jobs and better living conditions.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
Better monitoring of the borders for illegal migration.
Creating a uniform identification system for all the citizens of the country.
Creating a citizen registry to identify natural born citizens and immigrants in
accordance with the Westerosi Citizenship Act, 1940.
Granting citizenship to those who were forced to flee their country due to
religious prosecution thereby permitting them to resettle in different parts of
Westeros.
The proposals made in the report were not implemented due to the massive funds that were required
to create an identification system and the excessive population of Westeros.
However, in 2011, there was another massive terrorist attack in Dothraki, which is the capital city
of Westeros. Various universities were attacked and students were kept hostage for 3 days. More
than 30 Westerosi citizens and numerous police officers were killed in this attack. The daring nature
of the attack on the capital city struck terror in the hearts of the citizens of Westeros.
The Central Government was forced to acknowledge the lapses in national security. During
investigations it was found that the terrorist had entered into Westeros from Valyria as illegal
immigrants many years ago. They had carefully plotted the attack for over a period of three years,
having taken residence in the capital city.
Following their failure to ensure the security of the State, the TUF party faced a major loss in the
elections held in 2012. The Great Jedi United Party (hereinafter referred to as GJU Party), known
for its strong Jedi faith propaganda came into power on the promise of better national security and
the implementation of centralized identification system to weed out terrorists.
As soon as the GJU party came into power, the Stark Committee’s recommendations were brought
back into consideration. The Unique Identification Card Act, 2013 was passed with the intention of
creating a centralized digital database. The citizens were required to share their fingerprint and iris
details which would be stored in a centralized database. This card was required to be linked with all
the existing facilities such as ration, bank details, SIM card etc in order to ensure that necessary
services and subsidies were not available to illegal immigrants and terrorists. Though there was
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widespread objection to the Unique Identification Card (UIC) on the basis of violation of privacy
and security, the government succeeded in its implementation over the next few years.
Despite the introduction of UIC, the government found that the illegal migrant situation was not
better in the North-Eastern border of Westeros. Hence, they sought to implement the subsequent
recommendations of the Stark Committee. It was decided that the creation of citizen registry would
begin with Dorne, a north-eastern state bordering Qarth, which had the highest influx of migrants.
Westerosi Citizenship Rules (Dorne), 2015(hereinafter referred to as Dorne Rules) was introduced,
whereby the Westerosi Register of Citizens (Dorne) [hereinafter referred to as WRC-D] was to be
created. According to the Dorne Rules, any person who was residing in Dorne prior to 01.01.1970
and was able to produce an official document to prove the same would be classified as a citizen. In
case of non-inclusion of a person’s name in the WRC-D, the person could present their case before
the ‘Migrant’s Tribunal’ set up under the rules. An option of appeal was available before the
Migrant’s Appellate Tribunal. In case a person failed to convince the tribunal and the appellate
tribunal regarding their ancestry they were to be detained as migrants in camps set up for this
purpose.
The first list of WRC-D was released in December 2018. This caused huge furorein Dorneas the
names of over 6 lakh people were not present in the list. A survey conducted by Amity
International, a global NGO, revealed that numerous people who were natural born citizens of
Westeros were detained as migrants in the detention camps due to lack of proper documentation.
The survey also pinpointed that the poor economic background and lack of education of the
Dornese was the main reason that they did not have the requisite documentation.
Following the release of the first list of WRC-D there was wide spread agitation all over Dorne
demanding the scrapping of the creation of a citizen’s register. People’s Union for
Rights(hereinafter referred to as PUR),an NGO that spearheaded the WRC-D protests against the
Central Government, claimed that majority of the names that were left out of the first list of WRC-
D belonged to Siths. They claimed that this was a ploy by the GJU party to convert Westeros into a
Jedi nation and sideline Sith citizens by branding them as migrants. They also alleged that the
conditions in the detention camps were inhuman and violated basic human rights.
Despite the protests in Dorne, the Central Government decided to create a Westerosi Register of
Citizens (hereinafter referred to as WRC) all over Westeros by amending the Westerosi Citizenship
(Registration of Citizens) Rules in 2019. Further, the Westerosi Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019
(hereinafter referred to as WCA)came into effect in November 2019 which allowed illegal
immigrants who entered into Westeros before December 31, 2014 belonging to Jedi, Subud,
Urrartu, Rastafari and Norse religions from Valyria, Qarth and other neighbouring countries to
acquire Westerosi citizenship if they left their parent countries to escape religious persecution.
The blatant exclusion of Sith refugees from the Actalong with the situation in Dornecaused
nationwide protest to breakout. There was unfounded fear among the public that the Westerosi
Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 would be used as the basis of refusing citizenship to Siths if
nationwide WRC was implemented. The government found it difficult to contain the protests and
hence, in an effort to curb agitations, cut off communication and internet in various parts of
Westeros. The Central Government justified this communication blackout claiming that it was
necessary to prevent unnecessary rumours and fake news from spreading.
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The members of PUR released a statement and a call for peaceful protest to be held at Central
University of Dothrak (hereinafter referred to as CUD) on 10th December 2019 to protest the
implementation of nationwide WRC and the amendment of WCA. Their statement highlighted that
- The nationwide WRC to be created by the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens) Rules, 2019
could strip true citizens of the country of their citizenship.
- There was severe religious discrimination in the Westerosi Citizenship (Amendment) Act
2019 which gave protection only to the Jedi’s persecuted in the neighbouring countries and
not to Siths.
- The WCA will provide citizenship to illegal non-Sith migrants from other countries before a
certain date but the same was not extended to Sith migrants prosecuted in other countries.
- The exclusion of Siths from the WCA accords them second hand citizen like status which
went against the concept of Secular state.
- The term doubtful citizenship mentioned in the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens) Rules,
2019 could be used to
- Siths all over Westeros would face the same discriminatory treatment as Siths in Dorne.
- The WRC was a mere replication of the UIC which had already collected the citizen’s data
and hence repeating the exercise was merely a burden on the economy of the country.
- The Central Government had curtailed communication all over the country without
considering the Freedom of Speech and Expression and the Right to Dissent guaranteed by
the Constitution of Westeros.
The protest was not granted permission by the local police authorities and Section 144 was imposed
in and around CUD. Despite this, large number of citizens joined the members of PUR and the
students of CUD in protesting against WRC. The protest continued for three days even though the
police attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas, water gun and rubber pellets. Some of the
protestors started retaliating by pelting stones, vandalizing property and attacking the police
officers. Due to the chaotic nature of the crowd, the District Collector issued orders to fire at the
protestors to bring the situation under control.
On 14th December 2019 the police forces started shooting and arresting protestors. In the entire
incident 3 citizens were grievously injured by gunshot, one of whom was a minor. More than 50
students and citizens suffered from injuries due to lathi charging and police brutality. As the entire
protest was spearheaded by PUR, the police arrested the president and secretary of the NGO and
detained them as terrorists as provided under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Amendment
2019 which permitted the government to categorise individuals as terrorist and detain them.
PUR approached the Supreme Court of Westeros and filed a PIL challenging the constitutional
validity of the Westerosi Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, the Westerosi Citizenship
(Registration of Citizens) Rules, 2019 and Section 35 and 36 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act Amendment 2019 among other issues. The matter is posted for hearing on 28th March 2020.
Note:
The laws of Westeros are in parimateria with the laws of India except as provided under the
annexures.
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ANNEXURE A
WESTROSI CITIZENSHIP (REGISTRATION OF CITIZENS) RULES, 2019
In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 7 of Westerosi Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019
(Act 50 of 2019) the Central Government hereby makes the following rules –
The following are some excerpts from the Rules:
Rule 3: Westerosi Register of Citizens
The Registrar General of Citizen Registration shall establish and maintain the Westerosi Register of
Citizens for all of Westeros.
Rule 5: Central Government authorisation
The Central Government authorises the collection of information relating to all persons living
within the jurisdiction of the local registrar.
Rule 10: Proof of citizenship
i. The applicant is required to present any of the following documents for the verification
process:
a) Document proving date of birth,
b) Document proving place of birth,
c) refugee registration certificate,
d) birth certificate,
e) LIC policy,
f) land and tenancy records,
g) citizenship certificate,
h) passport,
i) government issued licence or certificate,
j) bank/post office accounts,
k) permanent residential certificate,
l) government employment certificate,
m) educational certificate and
n) court records.
ii. In case the applicant is unable to furnish any of the above documents then, he/she may bring
two witnesses to attest for them.
iii. The decision of the local register with regard to the need of further enquiry shall be final.
Rule 17: Doubtful Citizenship
During the verification process, particulars of such individuals, whose citizenship is doubtful, shall
be entered by the local registrar with appropriate remarks in the population register for further
enquiry and in case of doubtful citizenship, the individual or the family shall be informed in a
specified pro-forma immediately after the verification process is over.
SPARKLE 2.0 2nd National Law Fest 2020, KLE College of Law Kalamboli Navi Mumbai – 410 218
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SPARKLE 2.0 2nd National Law Fest 2020, KLE College of Law Kalamboli Navi Mumbai – 410 218
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