Certificate Course on Mediation at Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur with MP State Legal Services Authority (3 Months, 160 Hours, 40 Seats)

The Certificate Course on Mediation is a joint initiative of Dharmashastra National Law University (DNLU), Jabalpur and the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (MPSLSA), carrying the tagline "Transforming Conflict into Consensus". It runs over three months and carries 160 hours, blending theoretical instruction with extensive practical training and live observation of mediation proceedings.

The course is conducted under a Memorandum of Understanding executed between MPSLSA and DNLU at Jabalpur on 22 June 2026 for collaboration in mediation education, training, research and capacity building, and it follows the guidelines of the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee (MCPC), Supreme Court of India. Special emphasis is placed on the Mediation Act, 2023, court annexed mediation and community mediation.

The stated objective is to develop mediators with strong communication, negotiation, ethical, psychological and settlement facilitation skills, with learning built through role plays, simulations and observation rather than lectures alone.

The course is open to graduates in any discipline from a recognised university who have a minimum of three years of experience working with communities, in legal services, social work, community development, public administration, education, civil society organisations, dispute resolution or allied fields.

• Minimum age: 25 years on the date of admission
• Maximum age: ordinarily 65 years
• Applicant categories recognised on the form: Advocate, Retired Judicial Officer, Social Worker / NGO, Law Student, Public Servant, Counsellor / Psychologist, and Other

A batch may be conducted for the hearing and speech impaired community, with at least ten percent of the seats, that is four seats, for eligible applicants from that community. Interpretation and accessibility support can be arranged for that batch.

The intake is ordinarily 40 participants per batch. Where eligible applications exceed the intake, selection is made by a Selection Committee constituted jointly by MPSLSA and DNLU.

Preference is ordinarily accorded to retired judicial officers, advocates, mediation and dispute resolution professionals, applicants with legal aid and social work experience, and applicants with longer community experience. Where the applications received and shortlisted exceed the seats available, the remaining shortlisted candidates are considered for the next cohort of the course.

The curriculum runs across ten modules over three months.

• Month I (Foundations): Introduction to ADR and Mediation; Principles of Mediation and Learning Skills; Legal Framework of Mediation (Section 89 CPC, the Mediation Act 2023, pre-litigation and court annexed mediation, enforcement and landmark judgments); Psychology of Conflict and Resolution
• Month II (Skills): Communication Skills in Mediation; Negotiation, Bargaining and Techniques; Impasse Management, Ethics and Standards
• Month III (Practice): Practical Training and Specialised Mediation across family, matrimonial, commercial, labour, consumer, community, online and institutional disputes; Drafting and Documentation; Observation, Simulation and Field Exposure

Of the 160 hours, 80 hours are theory sessions, 40 hours are practical training through simulations and role plays, and 40 hours are observation and field exposure. The suggested distribution of the observation and practical component is 16 hours of live and court annexed mediation observation, 8 hours of pre-litigation and community mediation observation, 4 hours of online mediation observation, 4 hours of institutional visits and interaction sessions, and 8 hours of role plays, mock sessions and assessments.

Assessment is weighted as written examination 50 percent, practical examination 20 percent, project and practical training 20 percent, and attendance and class participation 10 percent. To be certified a participant must meet the prescribed attendance, pass the end-of-course written examination, demonstrate mediation skill in a supervised mock session before assessors, and submit the project and observation record within the prescribed timeline.

On meeting the prescribed academic and attendance requirements, participants receive a certificate jointly issued by MPSLSA and DNLU, bearing the signatures of the Vice-Chancellor of DNLU and the Member Secretary of MPSLSA.

An application fee of Rs 500 is payable by every candidate at the time of applying. This covers processing of the application and is not the course fee.

• Application fee (payable with the application): Rs 500
• Course fee, General and OBC: Rs 7,000
• Course fee, SC and ST (concessional, on production of a valid caste certificate): Rs 6,000
• Examination and certificate: included in the course fee
• Hostel and mess: payable separately

The course fee is payable only by candidates who are selected, who will be informed separately about the amount and the mode of payment. Both the application fee and the course fee are non-refundable, including where a shortlisted candidate is carried forward to the next cohort or chooses not to take up an offered seat.

Sessions are held at Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur, with the observation component at the courts and institutions where mediation takes place. The University describes the mode of delivery as offline sessions at DNLU, Jabalpur with online and practical components as determined under MCPC guidelines, and four of the observation hours are earmarked for online mediation observation.

Theory sessions and mock mediation are held in the seminar hall, and participants get access to the University library, its ADR collection, digital databases and the digital reading list for the duration of the course. Hostel and mess facilities are available on campus on a first-come-first-served basis subject to availability, with charges payable separately; payment of the course fee does not by itself guarantee hostel allotment.

Applications are made online on the course website in four steps: your details, your qualification, the application fee, and review and submit. Only the application fee is payable at this stage.

• Step 1: name, contact details, date of birth, city and state, and applicant category, as they should appear on the certificate
• Step 2: highest qualification, discipline, university, year of award, sector of community work and years of experience
• Step 3: pay Rs 500 on the University payment page, then record the transaction reference, the date and the amount, and upload the receipt
• Step 4: check every entry, accept the declaration and submit

Four documents must be uploaded separately as a PDF, JPG or PNG of not more than 5 MB each: degree certificate, experience proof, photograph and identity proof. On submission an acknowledgement carrying the application reference opens as a separate document for the applicant to print or save, and a confirmation is emailed. The admissions office is open on all working days between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

The course is under the patronage of Hon'ble Shri Justice Vivek Rusia, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Madhya Pradesh and Executive Chairman, Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority. The Course Directors are Smt. Suman Shrivastava, Member Secretary, MPSLSA, and Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Kumar Sinha, Vice-Chancellor, DNLU Jabalpur. Dr. Praveen Tripathi, Registrar, DNLU Jabalpur, is the Course Coordinator.

Sessions are taken by a mix of MCPC-trained mediators, serving and retired judicial officers, university faculty, senior advocates and behavioural specialists.