1ST MNLU – N NATIONAL COMMERCIAL MEDIATION COMPETITION 2020 [March 19-21]: Register by Feb 29

1ST MNLU – N NATIONAL COMMERCIAL MEDIATION COMPETITION 2020 [March 19-21]: Register by Feb 29

GENERAL RULES OF THE COMPETITION

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY

Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur (MNLU, Nagpur) was established by the Government of Maharashtra by way of enactment known as the Maharashtra National Law University Act (Maharashtra Act No. VI of 2014). Hon’ble Shri Justice S.A. Bobde, Chief Justice of India is the Chancellor of the University. It is a residential university engaged in teaching and promoting research in law and allied disciplines. Its authorities are making the greatest possible efforts to bring up state-of-the-art facilities at the University. The University has a competent team of faculty and staff, who are qualified, experienced, committed, and full of zeal to create an institution of excellence in legal education in the country. The University has been recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Bar Council of India (BCI), New Delhi. It is also a member of Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi. The University is the nineteenth National Law University established in the country located in the Orange City of Nagpur and the eighteenth in the CLAT pool. The objectives of the University are manifold mainly, to advance and disseminate learning and knowledge of law and legal processes and their role in national development; to develop sense of responsibility within the students and research scholars; to serve society in the field of law by developing skills in regard to advocacy, legal services, legislation, law reforms and the likes; to organize lectures, seminars, symposia, conferences and capacity building programmes; to promote legal knowledge and to make law and legal processes efficient instruments of social justice and development; to promote traditional, cultural, legal and ethical values with a view to promote and foster the rule of law and the objectives enshrined in the Constitution of India; and to liaise with institutions of higher learning and research in India and abroad.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

As a matter of its contribution towards development and promotion of ADR in India, the ADR Society of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur takes pride in presenting the first edition of 1 stMNLU-N National Commercial Mediation Competition, 2020. The objective of this competition is to promote and propagate the spirit of amicable resolution of disputes with a probe into innovative and commercially viable solutions, leading to a win-win situation for the parties. This competition shall be conducted in accordance with the below mentioned rules.

1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

1.1 Only Law Colleges/Universities recognized by the Bar Council of India are eligible to participate.

1.2 Only bona fide students pursuing LL.B. Three Year/Five Year Degree programmes in aforementioned institutions (refer Rule 1.1), during the current academic year are eligible to participate.

1.3 Dates of the Competition are March 19-21, 2020.

2. COMPOSITION OF TEAMS

2.1 Each team shall consist of THREE (03) participants, namely, one mediator and one client-counsel pair. However in no situation the roles of the mediator and the client-counsel pair can be interchanged.

3. REGISTRATION

3.1 Pre-Arrival

3.1.1 Teams/Participants are required to provisionally register their institution by February 29, 2020 by filling the google form available at this link: https://forms.gle/634Sn85VbLRLLv927.

3.1.2 Teams/Participants are required to duly fill the Registration Form as well as transfer registration fees amounting to Rs. 4000 at the below mentioned account details which has to reach the organizers via email by 10th March, 2020 at adrsocietynlun@gmail.com.

Account details are:

Account Name: Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur

Account Number: 37359307907

IFS Code: SBIN0018676

Mihan Branch, Nagpur

3.2 Post-Arrival

3.2.1 All the registered teams are required to be present in person on MNLU, Nagpur campus (refer Rule 6.2) at 9:00 am on March 20th, 2020 for registration. Team Codes will be allotted at the registration desk itself.

3.2.2 All the participants shall carry their College/University Identity Cards at the time of registration as well as at all times thereafter, during the competition.

3.2.3 Participants are advised to carry photocopies of all duly filled forms that have been submitted to the organizers during registration.

4. ORIENTATION PROGRAMME

4.1 The orientation program will be held on March 19th, 2019.

4.2 Participants will be briefed about the details of the event, wherein they are welcome to seek clarifications.

4.3 Draw of lots for allocation of sides for the preliminary rounds will be carried out during this session.

5. CODE OF CONDUCT

5.1 Each member of the Participating Team shall be dressed in formals (Indian or Western) for the duration of the Competition.

5.2 Friendly and healthy interaction among the participating teams and with the students of Host College is encouraged and expected.

5.3 Use of Mobile phones is strictly prohibited during the rounds of the competition.

5.4 Participants shall not reveal the identity of his/her College/University at any point of time during the competition.

5.5 Scouting or any other unethical/unprofessional conduct is strictly prohibited and shall lead to immediate disqualification of the team.

6. AWARDS

The following awards shall be given:

6.1 Trophy for Winner of Mediation (Client-Attorney) Competition along with a cash prize of Rs. 10,000.

6.2 Trophy for Runners-up of Mediation (Client-Attorney) Competition along with a cash prize of Rs. 6,500.

6.3 Trophy for Best Individual Mediator along with a cash prize of Rs. 4,000.

6.4 Trophy for Runner-Up Individual Mediator along with a cash prize of Rs. 2,500.

Additional Benefits:

As a One-Day Conference on Recent Trends in Mediation is happening in the University Premises on March 21st, 2019, therefore, participants of the Mediation competition are allowed to participate in the conference free of cost wherein they will get a participation certificate for the same. If the participants of the Mediation Competition want to present a paper during the conference, they are requested to contact the members of the ADR Society of the University. (Refer Rule 14).

7. TRANSPORT

7.1 Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur is located at Moraj Design and Decorator (DnD) Building, Adjacent to Mihan Fly Over, Near Oil Depot, Wardha Road, Khapri, Nagpur-441108 Maharashtra, India.

7.2 The University is easily accessible both from Railway station and Airport by the modes of Auto-Rickshaw, Cab (Uber/Ola) and Metro.

8. ACCOMMODATION

8.1 The University will provide accommodation for teams from March 19th, 2020 (from 12:00 pm onwards) up to March 22nd, 2020 (till 09:00 a.m.). Teams are mandatorily required to mention the time at which they will arrive in the travel form.

8.2 Refreshments and transport from the place of accommodation for the participants during the days of the competition will be arranged by the organizers.

9. COMPETITION ROUNDS

9.1 This event shall be conducted in three rounds, namely Preliminary Round, Semi Final Round and Final Round.

9.2 Preliminary Rounds will consist of two rounds. Each round shall be conducted for 40 minutes followed by 5 minutes for Judges’ feedback.

9.3 Top 8 teams from the preliminary rounds shall qualify for the semi-final round on the basis of the cumulative team score of both the preliminary rounds. The Semi-finals shall be held simultaneously in different rooms judged by different panel of judges.

9.4 Top two teams from the semi-final rounds shall go to the finals on the basis of cumulative team scores in the semi-final rounds.

10. MEDIATION PROCEDURE

10.1 A Mediation Session will consist of two opposing client-counsel pairs who will try to resolve a dispute in the presence of two mediators. Each of the two mediators will be marked individually. The client-counsel pair shall be marked as a team.

10.2 The mediators or any member of either team may call either a caucus or a cross-caucus.

10.3 For each round, there will be one set of common facts (“Mediation Problem”) and different confidential information for each of the opposing client-counsel pairs which will be given prior to the starting of the round.

10.4 The mediators have to mandatorily conduct one caucus.

10.5 A maximum number of two (2) caucuses may be called, however the cumulative time provided for caucuses is 5 minutes for the Preliminary Rounds and the Semi-Final Rounds and 10 minutes for the Final Round.

10.6 Creation of extraneous facts is not permitted and teams shall be penalized for the same. However, teams may reasonably interpret the problem to draw reasonable conclusions.

11. USE OF PROPS

11.1 It is clarified that there shall be no weightage whatsoever in the marking criteria for the usage of props. However, bringing books or notes or any other relevant materials into the room will be allowed. No electronic device shall be allowed as a prop.

12. MEDIATION PROBLEM AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

12.1 The general set of facts for the preliminary, semi-final and the final rounds shall be released during the middle of February. During the Preliminary Rounds, the party that a team shall represent during a round will be informed to them during the draw of lots.

12.2 The confidential information for a round shall be released 30 minutes prior to the round.

12.3 The confidential information for the semi-final rounds shall be released 45 minutes prior to the round whereas the confidential information for the final rounds shall be released 60 minutes before the commencement of the round.

12.4 The teams shall not disclose their confidential information to any other participant throughout the competition. Disclosure of confidential information by any team before or after their own round shall be grounds for immediate disqualification from the competition.

13. GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL

All grievances shall be addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. His decision regarding the same shall be final and binding.

14. CONTACT DETAILS

For any queries / clarification please contact:

1) Ms. Hricha Gandhi - +91 7976819272

2) Ms. Aditi Singh - +91 8439431113

3) Mr. Ujjwal Agrawal - +91 8839254211

Or E-mail us at adrsocietynlun@gmail.com