To,

The Vice Chancellor,

National Law Institute University.

Subject: Proposal for conversion of Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell to Alternative

Dispute Resolution Centre.

Respected Sir,

Greetings from the Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell, NLIU. This application is with
respect to the conversion of ADR Cell into an ADR Centre.
ADRC has been one of the most active cells in the university, since its inception in 2007 it
has organized multiple events and has undertaken multiple activities in the past. In the past
few years, ADRC has evolved from a cell hosting a tournament in a year to include a
platform for academic research, multiple courses and workshops promoting ADR, a monthly
newsletter etc. We seek to be promoted into a Centre of Research and Excellence to take
longer strides towards the same.

A few of the activities ADRC has undertaken over the last couple of years are:

1. ADRC Blog: ADRC has launched its Blog Series in furtherance of the cell’s commitment
to spreading awareness about ADR and its role and importance in the redressal of
disputes along with developments in the field. With a foreground created by write-ups
covering preliminary issues surrounding ADR in India, we formally launched the Call for
Articles in March 2021, in an attempt to publish quality legal writing pieces on pressing
legal issues in the field of ADR and take a significant step towards its commitment.

A few topics on which blogs posts have been published are as follows:
 Mediation Ethics in India, Mediation as a Form of ADR
  Family Disputes and the Importance of Mediation, Mediation: Process and
Strategies, Singapore Convention on Mediation: Rules and Challenges
 AFCONS Infrastructure and Ors. V. Cherian Varkey Constructions and Ors: An
Overview of the Implications of the Case, and many others.
Converting ADRC into a Centre would go a long way in awarding more recognition to
the Blog and related research initiatives. It would cater to a wider audience and give
more institutional credibility.

2. Training Sessions and Workshops: The ADRC in addition to the training sessions
organized during the tournaments, has hosted various training sessions and workshops on
different aspects of Mediation with the help of world-renowned mediators and members
of the Inter National Alternative Dispute Resolution Board. Some of these are as follows:
 Certificate Workshop on Mediation by Dr. Kimberly Schrieber, Mr. Cezary Rogula,
and Mr. John James Samuel, on 16th November 2018.
 4-Day Workshop and Training of Mediation by Mr. Thomas Valenti, from 26 th to 30th
July 2019.
 3 Day Training Session on Mediation Competition in collaboration with INADR,
from 24th to 26th March 2022
 Training Session for Fresher’s Pool Selections, every year.

3. Credit Courses and Lex Peretia Knowledge Series: Within the ambit of the ADRC
Blog, the Lex Paretia Knowledge Series was also initiated. This was an umbrella series
comprising seminars and interactive training sessions conducted by notable experts in the
industry like Colin Rule, Kevin Brown and Ajay Mehta. Additionally, under this
Knowledge Series, ADRC also collaborated with Mediator Academy. Mediator Academy
is a recognized course provider for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. 
ADRC has had the constant aim of making the concept of ADR accessible and
comprehensible to the student community, and in furtherance of that aim, the Cell
organized a credit course conducted by John Lag on ‘The Art of Purposeful
Negotiations’. John Lag is one of the Directors at INADR and a professor in Negotiation
Theory and Practice. Through this course, the students received the opportunity to enact
real-life scenarios of mediation and negotiation by using their out-of-the-box thinking and
effective communication skills. The students were tested at the end of the credit course to
 analyze their performance and sense of understanding of the subject matter. We believe
that having a Centre for ADR would assist in getting more collaborations for Credit
Courses and ensure that these courses receive higher participation from the student
community. 
4. World Mediation Congress, 2021: NLIU has always been a frontliner in organizing
some of the best events in its field. The 10th INADR World Mediation Congress, 2021 on
18th June 2021 stands as a strong testimony to the rich legacy of ADRC’s commitment to
intellectually stimulating research and academic projects. This event was in collaboration
with Loyola University School of Law, and Mykolas Romeris University on a crucial
aspect - “Common Ground: Using Mediation to Cool off the Heated Planet”.
This congress was organized virtually due to the unprecedented circumstances faced by
the world. The Congress focused on mediation as a tool to resolve and prevent conflicts in
environmental and intercultural disputes, public administration issues and political
dialogues.

5. Representation With the Government of India: ADRC has put forth recommendations
for the advancement of mediation in India by filing a Representation in the Ministry of
Law and Justice. The concerns highlighted were –
(a) Discrepancies between the Rules of Public and Private Mediation Centres;
(b) Improper referral of matrimonial and property disputes to mandatory mediation;
(c) An undefined scope for the nature of disputes that can be mediated;
(d) Multiple instances of judicial say in this regard.
ADRC looks forward to placing more of such comprehensive suggestions under the
banner of a Centre which would inevitably boost its organisational credibility.

6. NLIU Khaitan International Negotiation Mediation Competition

In line with the advancing status of ADR in India, National Law Institute University hosted
the 2nd NLIU- Khaitan International Negotiation Competition from 18th to 21st November,
2021. This competition revolves around the participants interchanging the roles of counsel
and client. The event comprised 24 teams which were shortlisted on the basis of previous
experience. The nature of the competition involved cracking comprehensive problems testing
the commercial realism, practicality and spontaneity of the participating team.
7. NLIU INADR International Mediation Tournament
The NLIU INADR IMT is a crown jewel in terms of a tournament for the NLIU competition
is the ADRC’s proudest organizational endeavour and witnesses augmented levels of
competition, reflection and feedback with each new edition. Even virtually the tournament
which was organized from 24th to 27th March, 2022, witnessed the participation of 72 students
and over 40 judges, and the conduct of training sessions preceding the competition.
ADRC aspires to continue the same vigour in organising large-scale competitions to change
the face of mediation in India and beyond.
Collaborations: The Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell has collaborated with various
national and international organizations over the last couple of years and we aim to take
our relations with these organizations forward and establish a relationship and collaborate
with other prominent organizations in the field of mediation. A few of the organizations
that the Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell has collaborated with in the past are:
 SCC Online
 EBC – Eastern Book Company
 Centre for mediation and conciliation: an initiative of the Bombay chambers of
commerce and industry
 International mediation institute
 INADR
 Khaitan & Co.
 Indian institute of arbitration and mediation
 Legge Rhythms
 Prerna foundation
 Lawctopus
 Ex Cruia international
 Mediator academy
 Singapore international mediation institute
 Association of mediation practitioners

A few proposals that we would like to introduce after being converted to the Alternative
Dispute Resolution Centre are as follows:
Certification courses: ADRC intends to organize Certification Courses in addition to
Credit Courses. Certification Course helps an individual to showcase his competency,
commitment for the profession, build expertise in his professional subject area, and helps
with job advancement. Therefore, organizing a Certification Course requires a higher
level of credibility. This is owing to the fact that the issuance of certificates to the
participating students must necessarily come from a Centre. The certificate, therefore,
holds more value when issued by a Centre. 

ADRC Newsletter: We plan on releasing a newsletter at the end of every month to the
NLIU Student community. This newsletter will include the latest developments in the
field of Alternative Dispute Resolutions, Updates regarding call for blogs and papers,
Updates regarding the cells' activities and student achievements, and Articles and other
literature on topics related to ADR. We have already started working on the first edition
of the newsletter which will be released for the month of August, 2022.
NLIU ADRC Journal: The Cell aims to expand its research initiatives. Therefore we
would like to start an Alternative Dispute Resolution Journal to promote academic
research and writing. We believe that having a journal dedicated to ADR would promote
students to undertake academic writing and editing articles for the journal will keep them
updated on the developments in the field.

Additionally, we also request to be allotted a room in any building on the campus to have
a permanent place to manage all our activities. Apart from conducting regular practice
and training sessions for teams representing the University and other interested students,
such a place would also enable the team to have a permanent workplace with lesser
distractions and disturbances as compared to the status quo, where the members are often
forced to work from the library which is not conducive for discussions or other places on
the campus which are not suitable to be working on laptops. ADRC also invests a major
share of time in planning events and seminars. This need warrants the cell in the journey
to become a centre to have a separate room being allotted to it so that the functioning can
become more streamlined and uniform. Constant permission for rooms acts as a barrier
for the cell to host internal meetings and store important competition documents and
stationery.

Owing to all the aforementioned reasons, ADRC requests the University be promoted to
the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution. While continuing as a cell wouldn’t stop
ADRC from conducting its proposed and existing activities, becoming a centre would go
a long way in simplifying the procedure and streamlining the events. Therefore, we would
like to submit a formal request to be promoted from a cell to a centre.
 INDEX

Sl. Particulars Page No.

No.

1. Annexure No. 1
Link to blogs
2. Annexure No. 2
SS of World Mediation Congress Page
4. Annexure No. 3
One hour certificate announcement
5. Annexure No. 2

6. Annexure No. 3.

7. Annexure No. 4

8. Annexure No. 5

9. Annexure No. 6

10. Annexure No. 7

11.
PROOFS:

Annexure No. 1

Links to the blogs:

1. Mediation Ethics in India- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/16/mediation-ethics-in-
india/;
2. Mediation as a Form of ADR- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/16/mediation-as-a-form-
of-adr/;
3. Family Disputes and the Importance of Mediation-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/16/family-disputes-and-the-importance-of-mediation/;
4. Mediation: Process and Strategies- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/16/mediation-
process-strategies/;
5. Singapore Convention on Mediation: Rules and Challenges-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/16/singapore-convention-on-mediation-rules-and-
challenges/;
6. AFCONS Infrastucture and Ors. V. Cherian Varkey Constuctions and Ors: An
Overview of the Implications of the Case - https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/afcons-
infrastructure-and-ors-v-cherian-varkey-construction-and-ors-an-overview-of-the-
implications-of-the-case/.
7. Roles and Duties of a Mediator-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/16/roles-and-duties-of-a-mediator/

8. Global v. Indo Unique: Extrapolating Arbitration Clause from Unstamped Substantive

Contract- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/global-v-indo-unique-extrapolating-
arbitration-clause-from-unstamped-substantive-contract/
9. Rights and Duties of the Parties in the Mediation Process-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/rights-and-duties-of-the-parties-in-the-mediation-
process/
10. Mediation of Consumer Disputes- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/mediation-of-
consumer-disputes/
11. Conciliation as a Dispute Resolution Mechanism: Merits & Demerits-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/conciliation-as-a-dr-mechanism-merits-
demerits/

12. Principles and Applications of Conciliation-

https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/principles-and-applications-of-conciliation/

13. Virtual Hearings in Arbitration: A Mistouted Panacea-

https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/virtual-hearings-in-arbitration-a-mistouted-panacea/

14. Mediation under Companies Act, 2013-

https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/mediation-under-companies-act-2013/

15. Arbitration Tribunal Appointment Procedure: The Conflict between Party Autonomy
and Principles of Natural Justice- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/arbitration-
tribunal-appointment-procedure-the-conflict-between-party-autonomy-and-principles-
of-natural-justice/
16. Chess Clock Method – Alley to the Due Process and Oral Hearing-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/08/03/chess-clock-method-alley-to-the-due-process-and-
oral-hearing/

17. Arbitration Council of India: The Regulator in Disguise-

https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/01/27/arbitration-council-of-india-the-regulator-in-
disguise/
18. Mediation – Solve your Commercial Disputes-
https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2023/01/23/mediation-solve-your-commercial-disputes/

19. Board of Conciliation and References of Disputes-

https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2020/12/16/board-of-conciliation-and-references-of-disputes/
20. The Conciliator: Power and Duties- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2020/12/21/the-conciliator-
power-and-duties/
21. The Shadow of the Indian Courts on Pre-Arbitration Clauses- A Pro-Arbitration
Dilemma- https://adrc.nliu.ac.in/2022/01/27/the-shadow-of-the-indian-courts-on-pre-
arbitration-clauses-a-pro-arbitration-dilemma/
Annexure No. 2
Annexure No.3
ANNEXURE NO. 3