CIC215 | International Commercial and Investor- State Mediation

The course offers a specialisation in International Commercial Mediation with a focus on Investor-State Mediation. With the coming of the Singapore Mediation Convention and the inclusion of international mediation in the Mediation Act, 2023, cross-border businesses in India are embracing mediation as an ADR mechanism to resolve their disputes. Increasingly the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) practitioners are incorporating mediation into their advocacy toolkit. The present course will build on prior knowledge about mediation that was offered as a basic component in ADR course at NLSIU and will equip students evolve as global mediation experts who can save their future clients from the risk of getting stuck in the courts, either because of regular litigation or enforcement delays in the cases of foreign arbitral awards.

This course is an opportunity for students to specialise in International Commercial Mediation in general and Investor-State Mediation in particular. Students shall be introduced to the fundamentals of commercial/investor-state mediation through all major international legal instruments. The focus shall be on the mediation principles in international law that govern such mediations and procedures followed by major institutions (like ICSID) in the field. The course shall offer intensive insights into investment treaty clauses on mediation and shall also cover regional arrangements like the EU Mediation Directive of 2008. The majority of the reading material shall be sourced from the websites of the relevant international institutions and the Energy Charter Treaty. It shall be further supplemented with articles published in journals and book chapters.

Teaching pedagogy shall comprise a semi-Socratic combination of lectures with occasional use of workshop-style discussion. Students shall be equipped with a holistic understanding of the law on international commercial mediation and, through role plays, they ALL shall participate in some active capacity and shall also learn how international mediation works in a typical mediation room of an international institution. Necessary handouts shall be shared as and when necessary.