BIAC Inter University Arbitration Contest begins

The first round of first-ever 'BIAC Inter University Arbitration Contest 2020' was held through online platform on Saturday, says a statement.

The second and final rounds of the contest will be held on September 19 and 26 respectively.

This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC) conducted the contest via Zoom virtual platform.

In the first round, Justice Abdus Salam Mamun, former Judge of Supreme Court of Bangladesh, was present as the Tribunal Chairman. Along with him, there were Barrister Ali Asif Khan, Advocate, Supreme Court, and Head of Chambers of Hossain and Khan Associates, and Barrister Md Monzur Rabbi, Advocate, Supreme Court, and Head of Chambers, Rahman and Rabbi Legal, as members of the Tribunal.

Four leading universities of Bangladesh are taking part in this contest. They are the University of Dhaka, the London College of Legal Studies (LCLS) South, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), and Bhuiyan Academy.

In the 1st Round, London College of Legal Studies (LCLS) South acted as the Claimant team and the University of Dhaka as the Respondent team competing against each other.

Dhaka University won the First Round and will be competing in the Final Round on September 26.

Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC) is hosting this Arbitration Contest to provide students a practical knowledge of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and to give them an opportunity to arbitrate a real case acting as Claimant and Respondent in a real-life scenario.

Moreover, one of the main objectives of the contest was to involve law students with BIAC's endeavours in the dispute resolution realm in the country towards easing doing business and accelerate overall economic development of Bangladesh.

M A Akmall Hossain Azad, Director of BIAC, while speaking on the occasion gave a background of the emergence of BIAC as the first licensed ADR institution to resolve commercial disputes at the behest of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Dhaka.

He hoped that integrating ADR mechanism with our judicial system will help raise the country's rank in the World Bank's Doing Business Global Index and affirmed that BIAC, now widely considered as the ADR hub of the country, will continue its best efforts to help develop practice of ADR among stakeholders in a more concerted way.

Mahbuba Rahman Runa, General Manager, BIAC, the coordinator and host for the first round of the contest, highlighted BIAC's recent initiatives for university level students for popularising ADR by acclimatising them with the norms, practices and benefits of ADR in resolving commercial disputes.