Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow has successfully conducted the fourth edition of its National Mediation Competition from 18th-21st January 2018. While Varsha Manoj from NLU Jodhpur and Lakshana from NALSAR emerged as the Best Mediator and Runners-up Mediator, respectively, Sanjana Kakodkar from VM Salgaokar College of Law and Karan Vijay from NLU Delhi bagged the Best Client and Runners-up Client award, respectively. Also, the team comprising Aryan Agarwal and Arjun Varma from WBNUJS, Kolkata was adjudged as the best team.
The competition, this year, was complemented with a conference and several workshops on different issues relating to Alternate Dispute Resolution. On 18th January, Dr. Claudia Winkler, an Austrian Lawyer who runs an online negotiation training course called The Negotiation Academy, conducted a workshop on mediation for the participants of the competition and RML students. On 19th January, an orientation session for participating Mediators was conducted by Jonathan Rodrigues, a listed mediator with the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation, and Tom Valenti, a Chicago based conflict resolution practitioner. An orientation workshop was also organized by Mr. Pascal Comvalius, an International Mediation Institute certified mediator, and Mrs. Catherine Davidson, a nationally accredited mediator practicing in Australia.
On 20th January, the stage was set for the RMLNLU International Conference on “The Challenges and Prospects of Arbitration and other forms of ADR in India”. The first technical session, chaired by Mr. D Sengupta, Additional Director-Registrar, Indian Council of Arbitration and Dr. Atul Kumar Tiwari, Associate Professor, RMLNLU, was on “The Challenges of International Commercial Arbitration in India: Role of the National Court- the Legislature and Executive.” The second technical session was centered on “Online Dispute Resolution Mechanism: Prospects and challenges in India.” It was chaired by Mr. Sumit Rai, Advocate, Bombay High Court and Dr. Aditya Pratap Singh, Associate Professor, RMLNLU. The third and last session of the day was chaired by Mr. Sumit Rai and Mr. Sheelendra Kumar. It focused on “Emerging Issues in International Commercial Arbitration.” On the next day, the conference taking forward the discussion of its previous sessions started with the fourth technical session on the “Role of Mediation, Conciliation & Lok Adalat as ADR Mechanisms: Growth and Contemporary Challenges.” It was chaired by Prof. (Dr.) SC Srivastav, National Professor, UGC and Mr. GP Tiwari, Secretary, DLSA, Lucknow. The final and the concluding session was conducted by Prof. (Dr.) SC Srivastava and Mr. Prasenjit Kundu, Assistant Professor, RMLNLU.
