The finals of the "The City Bank- BIAC International Inter-University Arbitration Contest 2022" was held online on Sunday.
Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan, acted as the claimant team and Bhuiyan Academy, Bangladesh acted as the respondent team, reads a press release.
The two teams competed against each other and the Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan won the contest.
Speaking on the occasion, BIAC Chairman Mahbubur Rahman said that it is essential for the upcoming legal professionals to have the skills and knowledge necessary to settle disputes outside of court as ADR has become the preferred choice of many parties to resolve commercial disputes.
So, BIAC has taken a stance for students of Law from home and abroad to learn the characteristics of the arbitration process, as to how the parties opt for private dispute resolution in the real world and to provide an equal opportunity for the students to witness the entire legal process and technical spectrum of the arbitration proceedings that is much needed for them, Rahman emphasised.
BIAC hosted this Arbitration Contest to provide national and international students of Law a practical knowledge of ADR and to give them the opportunity to arbitrate a real case acting as Claimant and Respondent in a real-life scenario.
Eight universities from Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh participated in the contest, which was sponsored by the City Bank Limited.
In the finals, Shehara Varia, Director, the International ADR Center, Sri Lanka, Secretary General, ICLP Srilanka, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Attorney at Law, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and Partner, F J & G de Saram, Accredited Mediator, London School of Mediation Limited was the Tribunal Chairperson.
Along with her, there were two Members of the Tribunal, namely, Mohammed Forrukh Rahman, Barrister-at-Law and Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Head of Chambers, Rahman's Chambers, Panel Arbitrator, SAARC Arbitration Council, Panel Arbitrator, SCIA, China and Nicky Balani, Consultant at SCL Nishimura & Asahi Member of the Bar of England and Wales.
Guest of Honour to the event Mahia Juned, Additional Managing Director, The City Bank, in her address said that there is a monumental backlog of cases in the Bangladeshi Courts and therefore ADR has the potential to provide cost effective and speedy dispute resolution to the aggrieved parties.
She highly appreciated the BIAC's initiative of conducting the International Inter-University Arbitration Contest which will bolster the process of bringing change in the mindset of people. She further emphasised the importance of ADR in terms of creating a sustainable and predictable environment for dispute resolution which will eventually increase investments and entrepreneurship within the country and therefore, City Bank has already started to incorporate BIAC Rules within their contracts. The City Bank Limited will continue to be the title sponsor of this annual Contest till 2023.
Kaiser A Chowdhury, Chief Executive officer of BIAC in his address said that the international contest has been launched with the aim to introduce the youth with the purpose and practice of ADR right from the onset.
He further highlighted BIAC's activities along with a number of BIAC's new initiatives such as BIAC's collaboration with CLDP, an organ under the United States Department of Commerce for popularising ADR in Bangladesh and trying to explore this global best practice in Bangladesh.
Under this collaboration, BIAC recently organised a Training Programme on Arbitration and a Consultation Session jointly with CLDP. Soon, BIAC will arrange an exclusive training course on ADR for students and launch BIAC Youth Forum to provide students with the scope to work with BIAC in research and publication activities.
BIAC's General Manager Mahbuba Rahman Runa, assistant counsels Khushnuma Khan and Sal Sabil Chowdhury were present at the online event.
