Information for Judges

For Heart of Europe Debating Tournament 2012, Organising Committee appointed John L. Wickham (UK) the Chief Judge.

We strongly encourage independent adjudicators to apply.

A world from Chief Judge

I am very happy, and honoured, to be invited to be Chief Judge for the Heart of Europe Tournament this Summer in Olomouc. The tournament has over the years established itself as one of the friendliest and most successful Debating tournaments. It will as usual be in accordance with World Format and following the success of last year we are now able to use the new University accommodation so avoiding the morning tram journeys and providing the opportunity for slightly more sleep (or preparation time for the enthusiastic!) I have been enthusiastic about debates since I was 15 at High School and have attended several Worlds and European tournament as a qualified Judge. Although I now live in England I still frequently visit Olomouc where I taught History and Politics as well as English for ten very happy years. Please feel free to contact me with any queries, my email address is j.wickham3@gmail.com, and my postal address is 19, Longborough Road, Knowsley Village, Merseyside, L34 0ED. My telephone is 0044-1512892806 and my mobile 00447845-502362. I am also on Facebook and read it every day. I look forward to meeting many of you in Olomouc at the tournament.

John Wickham

Adjudicators

If possible, we would like to have 3 judges for each preliminary debate, made up of judges from the following categories:

• CATEGORY 0 - Those with little or short debating experience but familiar with the WSDC format, its rules and possessing knowledge of at least the very basic principles of argumentation, logical, analytical and critical thinking.
• CATEGORY 1 – Former debaters having had at least 2 years debating experience and
  have now been working or doing further studies for at least 1 year but otherwise having had little to none judging experience.
• CATEGORY 2 – Those with some experience of judging.
• CATEGORY 3 – Judges with at least 2 years of experience in judging.
• CATEGORY 4 – Very experienced judges, especially having judged at the WSDC.

Please do note that nominating judges of categories 0 a 1 - especially 0 - should be only the last resort when in serious troubles concerning the fulfillment of the n+1 rule (number of judges required in order to register = number of teams you are bringing +1).

Upon arrival

On the first day in Olomouc in July, I will be running a judges briefing and training lecture. Attendance to this session is compulsory for all judges. Prior to that day, you will be expected to have read the rules and guidelines for debate. I will not be taking you exhaustively through those rules. You will have to have read them. There will be a short test at the start of the judges briefing to tell me - and you - what particular parts of the rules and guidelines we might need to work on.

Related tournament documents

Other tournament documents

Materials to Study