Our debates are based on the rules and procedures of the House of Commons. 

Composition of a team

Eligibility & team composition:

Each team is composed of at least one coach and no more than eight debaters.

Coaches are not allowed to debate. Besides coaching their team, their role consists in representing their team at FDA meetings and taking part in the organization of the tournament, including the debates involving their team.

Coaches and students are all expected to respect the FDA charter.

To qualify to participate in a debate, the team must be composed of:

  • no more than 8 people per squad, 5 debaters per team per debate;

  • at least 2 French native speakers (regardless of nationality);

  • no more than 2 English native speakers per squad, 1 per debate;

  • no more than 2 bilingual speakers per squad, 1 per debate (defined as someone who has spent five years or more in an English-speaking educational institution or someone with at least one parent who is a native speaker);

  • no more than 2 returnees per squad, 1 per debate (defined as someone who has already participated in the FDA tournament in a  given category - HE or HS, regardless of the year of their participation).

  • a student cannot participate more than twice in a given Tournament, even if they debate for a different team. The participation count is reset when going from the high-school to the higher-education tournament.

If a team has to urgently replace a debater with another one who doesn’t fit the above requirements or in the case of Iron-personing, it is up to the coaches to come to a gentleman’s agreement on the fairness of this replacement. No agreement will lead to the above team’s forfeit.

If a team cannot show up to a debate, the coaches could agree to a gentleman’s postponement, if that isn’t the case, the absent team will automatically forfeit thereby giving the win to the other team.

When a team forfeits, the winning team will be awarded the same number of points as their other Pool debate.

Finally, the FDA doesn’t tolerate physical abuse, any student that engages in such an act will see their team automatically forfeit their place in the tournament.

Debate preparation

Each team has four to seven days to prepare for the debate. Indeed, four to seven days before the match the motion of the debate is disclosed to the debaters (as well as which team will be the government and which team will be the opposition in the case of play-offs, the quarter finals, the semifinals and the final).

For friendlies and Pool debates, coaches can decide on the right time frame for preparation between four and seven days on the basis of a gentleman’s agreement. For the quarter finals and semifinals, debate preparation time is limited to 4 days while debate preparation time for the final is 7 days.

The motions are chosen by the FDA’s executive committee and the member institutions at the December general meeting. They are attributed randomly.

Motions usually take either one of two forms:

  • THW (ex: This House Would not have friends nor foes) - this is a “Policy motion”. The proposition side is burdened to offer a model on the practical “how” of this motion.

  • THB (ex: This House Believes that Capitalism is doomed) - this is an “Analysis motion”. The proposition side is burdened to offer a model on the reasonable “why” of this motion.

During the pool phase, the Government (the side which proposes the motion) is the host team and the Opposition is the visiting team.
For quarterfinals, semifinals and the final, which take place in a neutral location, those sides are attributed randomly.

For the pool phase, each team will host a debate and travel for a debate.
The coach of the host team will have to organize the debate: find a room, a chairperson and a timekeeper, provide some food and drinks.

Debate progression 

In the Paris V debating style, five speakers from the Government and five speakers from the Opposition speak consecutively for 6 minutes each. The debate starts with the first speaker of the Government, then the first speaker of the Opposition and so forth.

Speakers may be interrupted in two ways: 

  • by a Point of Information (PoI), made by standing up with one’s hand on one’s head or one’s hand outstretched and stating loudly and clearly that they have a PoI (only once unless it is clear the speaker didn’t hear/see them) – the speaker may or may not choose to accept the PoI, but is expected to accept at least one and is recommended to accept two during their speech.
    Acceptance or refusal of a PoI should be made clear, either verbally or through a gesture. PoIs are included in the timing of the speech.
    They are used by the opposite team to throw the speaker off balance and highlight the weaknesses in their argumentation. PoIs are short (up to 15 seconds), concise and questions. A team shouldn’t attempt to ask a PoI to a speaker more than once every 15 seconds. If multiple team members are attempting to ask a PoI at the same time, the speaker is free to take one (which automatically means that all the other simultaneous attempts are refused) or refuse all PoIs at once (preventing their counterparts from further attempts until 15 seconds have passed - persistently breaking this rule with quick successive attempts can lead to a PoO and/or might be considered by the jury as badgering). When accepting a PoI, the speaker should seize the opportunity to demonstrate that the point is incorrect, irrelevant or insufficient. The speaker is free to cut off the debater asking the PoI at any point (since they are free to dispose of their time as they see fit).

The 1st and the 6th minutes of the speech are protected time: no PoI may be asked. Between the beginning of the 2nd and the end of the 5th minute, the speaker may be interrupted by PoIs from the opposite side.

  • by a Point of Order (PoO), made directly to the chairperson who must accept it. It concerns the running or the procedure of the debate and is not included in the timing of the speech. A PoO may only come from the ten speakers participating in the debate.

    • A PoO may concern issues with the timer, the ability to hear a speech or any other logistical question that significantly disadvantages a given speaker. In this case, it is expected that the chairperson will facilitate finding an appropriate solution that might include changing the speaker’s setup, giving more time to a speaker or even asking a speaker to start over with their speech. This ruling should be amenable and fair to both teams. 

    • A PoO may also concern a direct personal attack regarding the speaker’s ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or creed. In this case, it is expected that the chairperson ask that the faulty party apologize, and remind the importance of sportsmanship and parliamentary behavior in a debate forum. 

PoOs do not concern poor choices of arguments and general aggressiveness of speakers (aside of the above mentioned). However, any such behavior might be taken into account by the jury in accordance with the criteria.

PoOs should not be used as a debate strategy or tactic. Any abuse can be penalized by the jury. 

The five speakers of each team may speak quietly among themselves during the debate but must not disturb the speaker. No one is allowed to communicate in any way with their team during the debate.

Use of props and/or costumes is banned as defined below:

Using items or dress as to demonstrate the speaker’s point or the team’s line. Team members all wearing similar clothes or small accessories to show cohesion shouldn’t be considered as props or costumes as they do not refer to a speaker’s points nor to the team’s line.

Chairperson

The Chairperson fulfills various functions. They introduce the debate, by reminding the audience of the Paris V debating rules, introducing the motion, the proposition and opposition speakers. They alternately give the floor to the proposition and the opposition, and check that the rules are enforced. They must accept all points of order and rule on them. When the jury retires to deliberate, the chairperson gives the floor to the audience

The chairperson is typically chosen by the hosting team during friendlies and Pool debates. It is expected that this individual be very familiar with the rules and procedures of FDA style debating

The Chairperson must remain neutral at all times during the main debate (as long as the jury is present) and must not be seen to take sides. Having said that, once the jury has retired for deliberation, the Chairperson is entirely at liberty to express their own views on the motion and often will do so in order to encourage and provoke comment from the floor. It is however of good spirit for the Chairperson to keep order, avoid polarization and help make both teams feel welcomed and respected. 

Bell-person

The bell-person is the time-keeper of the debate. They must indicate the first and fifth minute of the speech, often by ringing a bell, and also ring longer and louder when the six minutes are over. The speaker can be awarded a 15 seconds grace period after the 6 minutes are over. 

Entertaining greetings directed at the chairperson, bell-person, jury, both teams and the audience traditionally punctuate the start of each speech. They do not count in the timing. A bell-person should start the timer when a speaker ends their greetings (usually when they say “good evening”).

Judges

The jury is composed of:

  • Friendlies & Pool debates: 1 coach-judge (or former coach or FDA staff) and 2 former debaters;

  • Quarter & Semi finals: 1 coach-judge (or former coach or FDA staff) and 4 to 6 former debaters;

  • Final: 7 personalities minimum and a member or former member of the FDA Staff (SecGen or Member of the Board).

The judges are not only supposed to choose the winner of the debate and the best speaker but also provide feedback to each speaker after the debate.
The judges are expected to primarily watch the debate, listen to the speakers and take appropriate notes to judge according to the five criteria.
The jury has a duty of neutrality. 

Verdict

The jury renders its decision by attributing a final score out of 25 to each team (each criterion receiving a grade ranging from 1 to 5). The team that has the highest score wins the debate.

Ties aren’t allowed, the jury must decide on a winning team. In the event of a final score tie, we recommend that the jury preserve the scores given (insofar as they reflect their honest assessment after careful consideration) and proceed to a vote to break the tie. 

A best speaker award is given to one speaker of the losing team, as decided by the jury.

The final score is based on overall jury sentiment regarding each team’s performance. It is calculated as the average of the scores given to each team regarding each criterion (see Adjudication Criteria page for more information on the criteria). 

When announcing their decision, the jury has to follow certain steps in order to reflect the pedagogical nature of the scoring system:

  1. For each criterion, the jury will factually mention what they generally appreciated in the debate as well as what they didn’t appreciate so much. The jury may refer to specific speakers only if it has pedagogical value to all debaters and if doing so doesn’t contribute to the disclosure of the final verdict. 

  2. When the jury has expressed their qualitative assessment of the debate overall, they may announce the winner of the debate without giving the score.

  3. Finally, the jury announces the best speaker.

  4. The jury stays to provide ample feedback to both teams. The feedback can include the score for each criterion, positive and constructive feedback regarding the team and individual performances. The feedback shouldn’t include a comparison to the other team or a disparagement of the final verdict.

The jury shall remain in solidarity and sovereign. Their decision cannot be appealed. 

Tournament organization

In December of each academic year, member institutions are invited to prepare for and participate in an AGM.

Prior to the meeting, coaches are invited to send in potential motions and grade them according to debatability and quality, as well as provide their schools’ availability.

At the December AGM, member institutions discuss and refine the highest scoring motions.

Teams are then picked randomly to be part of a given Pool, against given schools and the debates are randomly attributed one of the top scoring motions.

  • The FDA higher-education tournament is typically composed of four Pools of four to six teams.

  • The FDA high-school tournament has one or two Pools of 4 to 6 teams.

Each team should meet two teams (one home, one away) in their pool during the Pool debates. The Pool debates typically take place from January to early March each year for the higher-education tournament and in April-June for the highschool tournament.

In the higher-education tournament, each Pool winner and the runner up go on to the quarterfinals.

To determine each pool winner and runner up: 

  1. We count the number of wins and losses for each team in a given Pool (winning an away game counts double);

  2. if there is a tie, we count the accumulated scores of each team in their Pool debates;

  3. if there is another tie, we use the rule according to which the points won away count as double; 

  4. If there is still a tie, a play-off match in a neutral location will be organized (no play-off will be organized if a tie persists between a winner and a runner up, instead a coin will be tossed).

Play-offs respect the FDA format with a 24 hour preparation time and will be held at a neutral place or online.

The quarterfinals and semifinals respect the FDA format and adjudication system and are typically held at neutral host schools or at prestigious partner organizations.

The final is typically held at the end of March/early April at the French National Assembly that has been a faithful partner since 1995.

The final respects the FDA format but the verdict is win/lose only.