Essay Competition | International Arbitration | NLU Jodhpur | Submit by 25th April 2026
National Law University, Jodhpur [“NLUJ”] is one of India’s premier law schools established under the National Law University, Jodhpur Act, 1999 legislated by the State Government of Rajasthan. Nestled in the culturally vibrant city of Jodhpur, the Blue City, NLUJ is committed to the advancement of knowledge and learning, in furtherance of its vision to become a centre for excellence in legal studies.
About CARTALThe Centre for Advanced Training and Research in Arbitration Law [“CARTAL”] was established by National Law University, Jodhpur to advance research and scholarship in the specialized legal domain of arbitration law. The Centre aims to equip students with both theoretical and practical knowledge of arbitration by creating a platform where academicians, professionals, and students can engage in discussions on contemporary arbitration law issues. In furtherance of its mandate, the Centre organizes workshops, conferences, and guest lectures that enhance the understanding of these topics. Additionally, the Centre publishes the Indian Journal of Arbitration Law [“IJAL”] bi-annually.
IJAL is a bi-annual, open-access and double-blind peer reviewed publication, recognised widely as a prominent source of literature on dispute resolution, with a focus on transnational debates as regards to international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration. The Journal has successfully published twelve volumes, regularly hosting contributions from globally renowned experts, and is indexed on HeinOnline, Kluwer Arbitration, Westlaw as well as SCC Online. The articles published in IJAL have, inter alia, been referred to in the Report of the High-Level Committee to Review Institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism in India constituted under the chairmanship of Justice B.N. Srikrishna, Federal Court of Australia’s website, Submission of the European Federation for Investment Law and Arbitration to the UNCITRAL Working Group No. III on ISDS Reforms, UN Secretariat’s note on Bibliography of recent writings related to the work of UNCITRAL, ICC Digital Library. Additionally, IJAL has been cited in Nakul Dewan’s “Enforcing Arbitral Awards in India,” Jan Paulsson and Georgios Petrochilos’ “UNCITRAL Arbitration,” Anselmo Reyes and Weixia Gu’s “The Developing World of Arbitration: A Comparative Study of Arbitration Reform in the Asia Pacific,” and several other noteworthy works.
The Centre for Advanced Research and Training in Arbitration Law [“CARTAL”], National Law University, Jodhpur, is organising the 9th Gary B. Born Essay Competition on International Arbitration [“Competition”] to encourage research and literature in international arbitration. The Competition has the gracious support and patronage of Prof. Gary B. Born, the chair of the International Arbitration Practice Group of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP.
The themes of the ninth edition of the competition aim to foster research on some of the contemporary developments in international arbitration, and are listed below:
Recently, the Indian Supreme Court in Gayatri Balasamy v. Novasoft Technologies Ltd., recognised limited judicial powers to modify arbitral awards in certain specific instances of manifest clerical or computational errors, severability of invalid portions, inequitable or statutorily impermissible outcomes, and in exceptional cases in the exercise of the constitutional power of the Indian Supreme Court to do complete justice. While such a power of judicial modification of arbitral awards has been expressly provided for in jurisdictions such as the U.K. and Singapore, the marked reluctance of the Indian Parliament to incorporate this power of modification into statutory language, despite policy recommendations, points to a deliberate legislative intent to that effect. Participants are invited to explore the implications of such evolving interpretations of judicial discretion on party autonomy and the broader arbitration ecosystem. Essays may explore how any procedural flexibility, including judicial modification of awards, needs to operate within the confines of the statutory framework of the seat of arbitration in order to preserve party autonomy. Participants are encouraged to look beyond the narrow aspect of modification of arbitral awards and explore how other factors, such as the increasingly relied upon public policy exception to the mandatory enforcement of arbitral awards under Article V of the New York Convention, impact party autonomy across jurisdictions.
The new SIAC Rules, 2025 now enable parties to apply for a Protective Preliminary Order (“PPO Application”), which allows them to apply to an emergency arbitrator for a provisional ex parte order to prevent counterparties from frustrating the emergency relief(s) requested. Such an application can be filed without prior notice to the counterparties, which becomes especially important in cases where immediate protective orders are required such as those involving the imminent dissipation of assets, threat of disclosure of confidential information, or a risk of destruction of property or evidence. This marks a departure from interim arbitral reliefs being in the domain of domestic courts across most jurisdictions, such as the powers of the Indian Courts u/s 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The Indian Supreme Court has also interpreted Section 17 of the Indian Arbitration Act, which grants arbitral tribunals the power to issue interim measures in India-seated arbitrations, to include Emergency Arbitration Orders within its ambit. Participants are invited to explore the evolving scope and nature of interim reliefs in arbitral proceedings. Essays may examine the expanding role of emergency arbitrators, the legitimacy and enforceability of ex parte interim measures, and the shifting balance between judicial authorities and arbitral tribunals in granting such reliefs across jurisdictions. Participants may also adopt comparative perspectives to assess how different legal systems approach interim and emergency relief, the safeguards required to prevent procedural abuse, and the broader implications of these developments on due process, party autonomy, and the efficiency of international arbitration.
Disputes arising out of public–private partnership (PPP) arrangements present some of the most complex arbitrability questions in international arbitration. PPP contracts, particularly in infrastructure and construction sectors, are long-term, capital-intensive arrangements involving State entities, statutory authorities, and private investors, often implicating public law considerations alongside contractual obligations. While international arbitration has traditionally been adopted as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism in PPP frameworks to ensure neutrality, enforceability, and investor confidence, the involvement of sovereign parties continues to raise questions concerning consent, public interest, and the limits of arbitrability. In India, the arbitrability of PPP disputes has been shaped by judicial attempts to delineate the boundary between purely contractual claims and disputes involving sovereign or public functions. Courts have increasingly scrutinised whether certain categories of disputes, such as those involving statutory powers, policy decisions, or public interest considerations, can be validly referred to arbitration, even where arbitration agreements exist. Internationally, approaches to the arbitrability of PPP disputes vary considerably. While several jurisdictions permit arbitration against State entities subject to express consent and statutory limitations, others impose restrictions grounded in public law doctrines, non-arbitrability of sovereign acts, or mandatory judicial supervision. This theme invites participants to examine the arbitrability of PPP disputes within the framework of international commercial arbitration. Essays may explore how courts and tribunals distinguish arbitrable contractual disputes from non-arbitrable public law claims, assess the impact of sovereign immunity and statutory mandates on arbitral jurisdiction, and analyse comparative approaches to PPP arbitration across jurisdictions. Participants are encouraged to engage with doctrinal, comparative, and policy perspectives to evaluate how international arbitration can effectively accommodate disputes involving public–private contractual arrangements without undermining principles of State sovereignty and public interest.
Participants are permitted to go beyond the sub-themes discussed above, however, the essay must fall within ANY ONE of the broader themes.
| First Prize | Cash prize of USD 400, Letter of Appreciation from Prof. Gary B. Born, Signed copy of a book authored by Prof. Born, andAn opportunity to be considered for publication in the next issue of IJAL. |
| Second Prize | Cash prize of USD 250, Letter of Appreciation from Prof. Gary B. Born, Signed copy of a book authored by Prof. Born6-month subscription to Born’s International Arbitration Lectures, and An opportunity to be considered for publication in the next issue of IJAL. |
| Third Prize | Cash prize of USD 125Letter of Appreciation from Mr. Gary B. BornSigned copy of a book authored by Prof. Born, andAn opportunity to be considered for publication in the next issue of IJAL. |
Any queries can be emailed at ijal@nlujodhpur.ac.in, or you can contact Harshita Baswana, Senior Advisor (CARTAL) at +91 8858887870, or Hitanshi Jain, Executive Editor (IJAL) at +91 8368907288.
To participate in the competition, interested students upload a copy of their essays at the below mentioned link by April 25, 2026, 23:59 hours (Indian Standard Time, GMT +5:30). Late submissions shall not be accepted under any circumstances.
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