South Asia made headlines this year with a stunning win at the recently concluded Mediation Competition by the Bucerius Law School in Germany.
Shayhum Aboosalih a past pupil of St. Peter’s College representing both Sri Lanka and the University of London together with Rishika Pandey from India, a Final year Law student at Jindal University- Delhi, caught the attention of judges and expert mediators, as they negotiated their way through the cases ranging from areas in Space Travel, International Business and Intellectual property.
A Mediation Competition is a simulation of what occurs during a real Mediation, a form of Alternate dispute resolution or ADR where disputing parties try to resolve matters outside court while protecting their privacy.
The negotiations have an expert mediator present who helps the conversation by being impartial and guiding parties where the structure may help make the conversation more effective.
Rishika Pandey from India is reading her final year in both business and law at the University of Jindal, Delhi. She is no stranger to ADR. Her contribution to the field ranges in a myriad of forms, from authoring many published articles to being a coach for over 10 mediation teams. Together Rishika and Shayhum caught the attention of organisers, mediators and judges with their advocacy skills and scored the highest overall marks in the preliminary rounds. The duo then became the only South Asian and Virtual team to make it into the semis, ultimately winning the competition. This is the first time that a Sri Lankan won first place. In addition, Rishika was also awarded the Best Negotiation Style.
While this is a proud moment the team wishes to use the experience and network made during the event to develop Mediation and ADR in their countries. Such competitions are useful ways where students can broaden their horizons and find better opportunities. Legal professionals can improve their attitude towards disputes, especially by always seeing how matters can be resolved in the most amicable manner possible.
