MOCK DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS IN ARBITRATION

On December 3-4, 2022, New Vision University Legal Ethics Chair with the support of the USAID Rule of Law Program organized the Mock Disciplinary Hearings in Arbitration for the first time in Georgia.

26 teams from 6 Georgian universities have registered to participate in the competition. 12 teams from six Georgian Universities (including one regional university) were selected to participate in the competition, based on the cover letters.

Prior to the competition, on November 3, 2022, the New Vision University hosted a training session facilitated by the invited experts – Mr. Giorgi Kekenadze and Mr. Irakli Kordzakhia. Experts overviewed the legal framework of arbitration in Georgia, discussed the Code of Ethics for arbitrators and disciplinary statute; the hypothetical case and competition rules were also reviewed during session. Mr. Jaba Gvelebiani, the chairperson of the board at the Georgian Association of Arbitrators gave very interesting presentation about arbitration at the end of the session. In total, 12 teams were involved in the training from the following universities: Free University of Tbilisi, Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University, Akaki Tsereteli State University (Kutaisi), University of Georgia, Ilia State University and Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University.

The preliminary rounds, which were held on December 3, were conducted with the assistance of two judges for each panel. After each round, the judges gave a detailed assessment to the participating teams. Four teams reached the final rounds based on their scores.

The final rounds were held on December 4. The finalists were awarded the following nominations: two teams from Free University of Tbilisi were awarded for the Convincing Presentation and Reasoning and for Proper Use of the Law and Presenting Relevant Precedent; team from Tbilisi State University was awarded for the Best Team Work and the team from University of Georgia was awarded for the Successful Counter-Argument All the finalists were awarded with the certificates, legal ethics textbooks, bookshop vouchers and branded tote bags; all other participants were awarded with the certificates and legal ethics textbooks.