7th Kerala Law Academy National ADR Competition 2026, Thiruvananthapuram (Hybrid; Best Team Rs 20,000)

The Kerala Law Academy Law College, Peroorkada, Thiruvananthapuram is hosting the 7th Kerala Law Academy A.D.R. (Hybrid) Competition, 2026, a national-level competition in alternative dispute resolution. The competition is built around hypothetical problems with legal subject matter that participants develop into a role-play format, testing their skill across conciliation, mediation and international arbitration.

The preliminary and semi-final rounds are held virtually over Zoom from the Kerala Law Academy campus on 18 and 19 September 2026. The final round is held in hybrid mode at the Kerala Law Academy campus on 9 October 2026.

• Open to all law colleges, law schools and university departments of law in India recognised by the Bar Council of India.
• Students pursuing post-graduation in law and students undergoing correspondence courses are not eligible.
• Each team consists of two members and a Rapporteur.
• There is no bar on the number of teams from the same institution. Multiple entries from the same institution are possible only with the permission of that institution.

• Separate problems are provided for each round: Problem No. 1 for the preliminary round, Problem No. 2 for the semi-finals and Problem No. 3 for the finals.
• The three problems cover conciliation, mediation and international arbitration respectively.
• In all rounds the rapporteurs of the competing teams are exchanged.
• Parties are to draw a conciliated settlement agreement, a mediated settlement agreement and an arbitral award.
• Indian laws are applicable in pari materia.
• The preliminary round runs on a league basis and the semi-finals on a knock-out basis, with the fixture decided by a draw of lots.
• Time allotted is 30 minutes per team in the preliminary round and 40 minutes per session in the semi-final and final rounds.

A party wishing to share confidential or private details of the dispute with the rapporteur alone may call for a Caucus Session. The opposite party is moved to a separate room for its duration. The total time allotted is 5 minutes, drawn from the session time already allotted rather than added to it. Incorporating a Caucus Session is at the discretion of the team and is not mandatory.

A Settlement Deed must be prepared for all three rounds, running to a maximum of 20 pages on A4 size paper. It should cover identification of the problem, the parties involved, the laws involved, evidence if any, and the settlement.

Soft copies in both Word and PDF format are to be mailed to klaadr@keralalawacademy.in on or before 9 September 2026.

Registration runs in two stages, and both dates matter.

• Provisional registration: institutions or teams interested in participating register provisionally by sending an e-mail to klaadr@keralalawacademy.in on or before 20 August 2026.
• Direct (final) registration: teams must register on or before 31 August 2026 by submitting the duly filled proforma provided on the Kerala Law Academy website and making an online payment of the registration fee through the registration link.
• Registration fee: Rs 3,250 per team.
• Team codes are allotted on 2 September 2026.

Each participant is marked out of 100, made up of 20 marks for the Settlement Deed and 80 marks for the oral presentation. Marks for oral arguments are assigned by a quorum of judges drawn from a panel of eminent judges, lawyers and law teachers from across India, while a separate committee of judges marks the memorials.

Individual prizes are awarded on the total marks secured by each participant across all rounds. Team prizes are awarded on the selection round and the total outlay of marks across all rounds. Where a person participates in more than one round, their average marks are counted.

The organisers reserve the right to impose a penalty on a team at any stage if the problem memo or any part of it is found to be plagiarised. Revealing the identity of the speaker or of their college during oral submissions, and scouting, both lead to disqualification.

Dress code. Female participants: black or white salwar kameez for the parties, with the Rapporteur in a black coat. Male participants: white or black pants and a white shirt for the parties, with the rapporteur in a black coat and tie.

Online rounds. The prelims and semi-finals run on Zoom. Participants must use a desktop or laptop with a working camera and a sound internet connection; mobile phones are not permitted for the video conference. Meeting credentials are communicated by email 15 to 25 minutes before each round, and links or passcodes for a slot are sent to the WhatsApp group created by the Participant Management Committee, with teams expected to join 20 minutes before the scheduled time. Videos must stay on throughout the session, earphones are required except on medical grounds intimated in advance, there must be a distance of one metre between the webcam and the participant, and no other person may be present in the room. Screen sharing and any form of malpractice lead to disqualification.

Complaints and disputes are to be submitted to an appeal committee consisting of Prof. Hareendran K, Professor and Principal of the Kerala Law Academy, as its President, together with two other faculty members of the host institution. The decision of the appeal committee is final. The organisers are entitled to change the format of the competition without prior intimation.