12th Lex Infinitum International Dispute Resolution Competition 2027 at V. M. Salgaocar College of Law, Goa [21-23 Jan 2027; Cash Prizes Worth Rs 1,65,000]

Lex Infinitum is the International Dispute Resolution Competition of V. M. Salgaocar College of Law, Miramar, Panaji, Goa. The college will host the 12th edition from 21 to 23 January 2027 at its Miramar campus. The competition focuses on mediation and negotiation, and has been held since 2016.

Negotiating teams compete for the Best Negotiating Team award and mediators compete for the Best Mediator award. Rounds are scored by expert assessors, who also give feedback to participants after each session. The competition is held in person and English is the only language of the rounds.

• Bonafide full-time, part-time or exchange students of any stream enrolled in an undergraduate course at an institution anywhere in the world, for the academic year 2026-27.
• The Counsel member of a negotiating team must be a law student.
• Each institution may apply for one negotiating team, one mediator, or both.
• If the institution is a college, all team members must be from that college. If it is a university, members may come from different colleges affiliated with the same university.
• Each team may register one coach (a full-time or adjunct professor of the institution, a qualified lawyer or an ADR professional), who must attend in person.

A negotiating team has two members, a Client and a Counsel, from the same institution. A mediator enters individually. Negotiating teams and mediators are admitted separately.

The organisers will select 24 negotiating teams and 12 mediators, plus two reserve teams and one reserve mediator. At provisional registration, applicants must furnish:

• a report or profile of the institution's ADR board, society, cell or equivalent body, if any;
• the institution's performance and participation in national or international ADR, mediation and negotiation competitions in the preceding two years;
• a brief resume of each student, highlighting ADR competitions, training, seminars, certificate courses and conferences.

As per the rulebook, selected teams will be informed by email on 5 November and must complete final registration by 15 November 2026, 11:59 pm IST. Selected teams must also attend the mandatory online training session on 17 January 2027.

Provisional registration fee (paid with the application form, refunded if the team is not selected):

• Indian teams: Rs 5,000 per negotiating pair, Rs 3,000 per mediator.
• International teams: USD 55 per negotiating pair, USD 35 per mediator.

Final registration fee (inclusive of the provisional fee, so only the balance is payable after selection):

• Indian teams: Rs 23,000 per negotiating pair (balance Rs 18,000), Rs 13,000 per mediator (balance Rs 10,000), coach Rs 7,500 (optional).
• International teams: USD 400 per negotiating pair (balance USD 345), USD 200 per mediator (balance USD 165), coach USD 150 (optional).

Once final registration is complete and the fee is paid, it is non-refundable. A team that fails to complete final registration forfeits its selection and its provisional fee.

• Each competition session lasts 120 minutes: a 30 minute confidential information session, a 60 minute main round (including caucus and breaks), 10 minutes of scoring and 10 minutes of feedback.
• All teams and mediators take part in two preliminary rounds on Days 1 and 2. Each negotiating team represents the Requesting Party once and the Responding Party once.
• The top 8 negotiating teams and top 4 mediators advance to the knock-out quarter finals on Day 2.
• The semi-finals on Day 3 are the final round for mediators. The negotiation final, also on Day 3, is mediated by a professional mediator.
• Four competition problems are used across the rounds. They will be released on 5 December 2026, and teams have 10 days from release to email clarification requests.
• Dress code is business formal (Indian or Western).

The organisers provide shared accommodation (20 to 24 January 2027 as per the brochure) and transport between the accommodation and the college on competition days for participating teams. Accommodation and transport are not provided to coaches, and airport or station pick-up is not included.

Participants and registered coaches receive breakfast and lunch on all competition days and an invitation to the inaugural and valedictory ceremonies. Every participant receives a participation certificate, handed over in person at the valedictory ceremony; attendance at the inaugural and valedictory ceremonies is mandatory.

Fill in the provisional registration form on the official website, lexinfinitum.org, and pay the provisional registration fee on or before 1 November 2026, 11:59 pm IST. There are separate forms for negotiating teams and for mediators, and an institution may apply for both. The forms may ask you to sign in with a Google account.

Payment details for the final registration fee are sent to selected teams by email. Proof of payment must be emailed to teams.lexinfinitum@gmail.com.