one.  What will be the destination of the international trip that is offered as a prize for the first place in the Competition?

The Competencies of the Inter-American Academy of Human Rights (IDH Academy) are competencies designed with the purpose of promoting knowledge of human rights. For this reason, in each edition we choose prizes that are consistent with this objective.

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This year the destination of two members of the winning team will be Italy, where they will take the "High Training Course in Constitutional Justice and Jurisdictional Protection of Fundamental Rights" offered by the University of Pisa. The course lasts three weeks and culminates with the delivery of a thesis that, when passed, will give access to the issuance of a Specialization Diploma by the University of Pisa, Italy.  

As stated, up to two members of the team may attend and the IDH Academy will cover the costs of registration, plane, local transportation, lodging and food in the terms that are specified by the IDH Academy in awarding the prize.  

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The course will take place from January 13 to 31, 2020.

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2. How can I get to the competition venues, that is Saltillo and/or Arteaga?

Saltillo is the capital of the State of Coahuila, which is located in the north of the Mexican Republic. Arteaga is a municipality in Coahuila that is practically conurbated with Saltillo, to the point that traveling by car between one city and another can normally take between 15 and 20 minutes.  

Arteaga has the name of "Magic Town", a name with which the tourist attraction of certain localities in the country is recognized. It is in this municipality where the University City of the Autonomous University of Coahuila is located, within which the headquarters of the IDH Academy is located, specifically in the building that houses the "Infoteca". It is in this place where the oral rounds will take place.  

Saltillo can be reached by land and air. In the case of the first, it must be considered that there are a large number of companies that offer the transport service, although the rates are not so different from one to the other (some examples of these companies are ETN, Senda Transportes del Norte, Futura, Frontera and Bus from Mexico). Generally, the connection is with Mexico City or with important cities in the north and center of the country.  

In the case of air transport, it should be noted that there is an airport in Saltillo, however it has little connectivity (it has a daily flight to Mexico City with Aeroméxico). However, Saltillo is close to Monterrey (approximately 90 km or 1.5 hours by car), which is the capital of the State of Nuevo León, is the second largest city in Mexico and therefore has a very important international airport.  

In these circumstances, it is best to fly to Monterrey, as there is an important offer of flights and connections, in addition to the fact that prices are significantly lower with flights to Saltillo airport.  

Academia IDH tries to offer courtesy transportation between the Monterrey airport and the city of Saltillo. Similarly, the Academy tries to offer courtesy transportation between the host hotel, which is usually located in Saltillo, and the municipality of Arteaga. If required, contact the General Coordination of the Competition to manage this support.  

3. Can ex-finalists and ex-champions of the AiDH Competitions participate?

Since this is the First Edition of the "Inter-American Debate Competition on Human Rights", there is no restriction for members of finalist teams or winners of the AiDH Competitions that have been held in previous years to participate.

Four.  What is the format of the Competition?

The AiDH Competitions use an adaptation of the debate format called Karl Popper. For the purposes of our competitions, the mechanics are as follows: two teams face each other to debate one of the two dilemmas established in the Call. One team will defend the position in favor and the other the position against, for which they will have up to fifteen minutes (each team) and four interventions (introduction, reply, rejoinder and conclusion) for this purpose.

As you can see, the format of the competition is not a mock trial before a court or Moot Court.

The debate format that will be used in the Competition takes the so-called Karl Popper as a theoretical basis in that it seeks for each team to exchange ideas, contradict and refute the arguments of the opposing team.

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Regarding the specific modalities on the interventions of each speaker, the duration of each intervention and the total debate, as well as the actions that are prohibited and allowed during the development of the debate, the teams must adhere to what established in the regulation.  

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For more information, you can refer to the debates developed during any of the national editions of the Competition, which can be found at the following link:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIddsTlizvusysZX0ubRLA/videos

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5. Can students who have graduated from the bachelor's degree participate?

In principle, no, because the competition is aimed at students with current enrollment in the academic periods of their university program. However, the Executive Coordination of the Competition has determined that, for its purposes, those who have graduated from the bachelor's degree during the year in which the competition is held, in this case, the year 2019, will retain the status of students.

So if you graduated from the bachelor's degree in any month of this 2019, you can enroll without any problem because you will be considered a student for purposes of the Competition. Of course, remember that the educational institution must support you.

6. Can the teams be made up of students from any semester of the degree?

Yes. Students from any semester can participate. However, we recommend that students who have already studied, at least, subjects such as Constitutional Law, Public International Law, Human Rights, Legal Argumentation, Theory of Law, International Law of Human Rights, be selected to integrate the teams. The foregoing, for estimating that overcoming this type of subjects will allow them to develop dilemmas with sufficient knowledge.  

7. Can only Law degree students participate in the Competition?

No. As we know, the culture of human rights and its discussion is not exclusive to the legal world, since it has repercussions in various spheres of society and science.  

That is why students from other disciplines of related social sciences can also participate, such as political science, anthropology, communication, sociology, journalism, philosophy, international relations, to name a few.

However, it should be noted that the competition is designed as a contest of argumentation and legal debate, and with this approach the jury team rates the entries. Hence, careers other than law must have some affinity or connection with the legal phenomenon and, on the other hand, must comply with the regulatory provision that requires that in the integration of groups at least one member be  Law degree student.

8. Can the teams be made up of students from two or more different universities?

No, in no case. Teams must represent a single institution or a single campus of the institution, and therefore all individuals on the team must be enrolled in the same educational institution or campus.

Teams can only be formed with people belonging to different campuses, faculties or degrees of the same institution, when the purpose is to integrate people from careers other than Law.  

In this sense, it must be considered that the same university extraction gives meaning to the requirement foreseen in the registration stage, through which a letter of support issued by the directors of the University must be available.

Each of the educational institutions may register a maximum of two teams.

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9. Can the team advisor be a professor who is not part of the teaching staff of the school or college where the team members study?

Yes, although it must be endorsed by the team's educational institution or campus.  

However, it is estimated that the advisor should preferably be a professor at the school or faculty that the team represents, due to the delicate functions of linkage and responsibility that he will have with respect to the team vis-à-vis the university of origin. This is because the Regulation provides that the  team adviser "is the person responsible for the team members", responsible for covering and managing with the university of origin "the expenses that may arise from any incident or unforeseen situation".

10. Is it mandatory to include the bibliography offered in the Debate Notebooks in the notes and in the formulation of oral arguments?

No. The bibliography offered by the IDH Academy in the Debate Notebooks is reference material that it is recommended to review in order to have a greater breadth in the investigation and therefore in the argumentation within the notes and in the oral stage.