About the Centre

The Centre for Mediation and Research ("CMR") at MNLU Mumbai was inaugurated in January 2019. It is the first Centre in India dedicated solely to the subject of Mediation. The Centre envisions itself as a place of Study and Research, and wishes to Collate, Build Resources, Archive and Disseminate the Knowledge, Process and Practice of Mediation and Conciliation in the Country.

The aim of the Centre is to design and run courses for the Study and Certification in Mediation, Conciliation, Conflict Resolution and Collaborative Dispute Resolution. The Centre also hopes to be able to publish papers/journals relating to Mediation, Conciliation, Collaborative Dispute Resolution and such practices.

CMR began its journey in January 2019, with an inaugural program on 19th Jan at the hands of the Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.S. Oka, who was then the Chairman of the Main Mediation Monitoring Committee of the High Court of Bombay.

Activities of the Centre:

In February 2019, as a first pilot program, CMR conducted a workshop on ‘Mediation Orientation for Patient Doctor Conflict Resolution’, which was attended by Doctors, Health Administrators, Medical Law Practitioners and Patient Rights Activists. 28 participants came all the way from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Ratnagiri, Dhule, Pune and Mumbai.

In May 2019, CMR held a 40 hours certificate course on Mediation in Family Disputes. 41 participants attended the course, mostly being advocates and lawyers of the Family Courts in and around Mumbai.

In June 2019, CMR signed an MOU with the Main Mediation Centre, High Court of Mumbai for imparting training to its judicial officers, lawyers and judges.

In July 2019, CMR signed an MOU with the MAHARERA to conduct training workshops for its Conciliation officers and in furtherance of the same, on 29th and 30th August 2019, CMR and MAHARERA organised a 2-day seminar on Conciliation for MAHARERA members. Around 60 participants from NAREDCO, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, and some lawyers and students attended the seminar.

In November 2019, CMR held a session with Finland’s foremost mediator - Antti Heikinheimo. This talk was one of the first in the series ‘Meet the Mediator’. The Centre aims to invite and learn from the experiences of some of the finest mediators across the globe. Till now the Centre has completed 5 such events.

In February 2020, CMR along with the in-house Literary & Debating Society and ADR Society hosted a Mediation session for MNLU Mumbai students and faculty, on the CAA issue to generate dialogue between CAA supporters and protesters in the University.

In September 2020, the Centre launched India's first Master's Degree Program in 'Mediation and Conflict Resolution.' This Program was specially curated for the mature mind which sought to develop leadership through excellent conflict resolution approaches in his/her career. The University received more than 40 applications, between 25 to 75 years of age group, from professionals in different sectors like banking, education, government, legal, construction, etc. To find out more about the Course, please click here.

In February 2021, the Centre started with Capacity Building Workshop Series. The first of which was on ‘Legal Validity of Mediation’ by Mr Prathamesh D Popat. 13 professionals participated in the program.

Publications by the Centre:

A Research Paper titled ‘Application of Mediation in Health Care Disputes: Prospects and Challenges in India’ (ISBN: 978-93-87839-51-9) authored by Anoushka Mehta, student co-ordinator of CMR and Dr. Suyash Patankar, a CMR workshop Participant.

Upcoming Activites:

The flagship Program of the Centre- M.A (Executive) in Mediation and Conflict Resolution invites application starting from 15 June 2021.To know more about the course, please click here.