A “team” is a group of students contesting an Ethics Cup tournament. By contrast, any given match is contested by two “squads”. A squad is a group of 3-5 students drawn from a team. Squad composition must be determined before the first case is announced, after which point it cannot be changed.
The Team Manager is permitted to be in the room with their students during the match but may not communicate with his/her team. Any team member may bring a bottle with them to the table; nothing else is allowed. Paper and pens/pencils will already be on the table. All materials will be collected at the end of each match by the timekeeper or room staffer.
The timekeeper will keep official time of each period of the match. Teams may use their own timers, as long as the timer isn’t a device that stores data or connects to the internet. Also, teams may not time the portions of the match when the other team speaks or confers. The timekeeper can allow a team to finish a sentence/thought once time has expired.
Prior to the match starting, moderators will consult with teams to determine whether they prefer verbal or physical (a hand gesture, visual representation, etc.) time notifications. Time notifications will be given as follows:
Standard format matches:
- Conferral before Presentation period: at one minute remaining
- Presentation period: at three minutes remaining and one minute remaining
- Conferral before Commentary period: at one minute remaining
- Commentary period: at one minute remaining
- Conferral before Restatement period: at one minute remaining
- Restatement period: at one minute remaining
- Dialogue period: at two minutes remaining
Rapid format matches:
- Conferral before Presentation period: at one minute remaining
- Presentation period: at one minute remaining.
- Conferral before Question period: at 30 seconds remaining
- Conferral before Response period: at one minute remaining
- Response period: at one minute remaining
The timekeeper controls the room during matches and should address any unacceptable behaviour including, but not limited to:
- Judges showing hostility or asking inappropriate questions to team members. Inappropriate questions include, but are not limited to, any that highlight a participant’s race, religion, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, appearance, etc. Judges should direct their constructive questions to teams, not to individuals.
- Foul, insulting, or excessively graphic language or confrontational behaviour being used by participants or judges.
- Coaches, parents, or audience members communicating—verbally or non-verbally—or demonstrably reacting to team members. Also, anyone in the room making distracting noises while one of the teams, judges, or moderator has the floor. Please note, the timekeeper can control only the noise within the match room. If there are outside distractions, such as construction or students talking, it is up to the timekeeper, not a coach or parent, to decide if the match should be paused.
When one team confers or speaks, the other team and audience members must remain silent, although writing and passing notes is permitted. (For example, when Team A is given the case and question and is subsequently allowed to confer for two minutes and present for six minutes, Team B is permitted to write notes, but not permitted to speak, during that eight minutes.)