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Symbiosis Law School, Pune, organized its Third Annual National Conference on “Contemporary Legal Scholarship” today the 8th of November, 2014 in its campus at Viman Nagar, Opp. Pune International Airport, VIP Road, Viman Nagar, Pune- 14.The objective behind the Conference was to offer a platform to the budding scholars and researchers to discuss and share ideas. The conference was organized in the backdrop of Symbiosis Law School Pune’s flagship Journal SCLJ and the student Journal SSLR published with LexisNexis since 2012.
Event started with the ceremonial lighting of lamp by the dignitaries including, Guest of honour, Prof. (Dr.) Gurjeet Singh, Founder Vice Chancellor, RGNLU, Patiala, Founder Vice Chancellor, NLU and Judicial Academy, Guwahati, Chief Guest, Prof. (Dr.) Bharat H. Desai, Prof. of International Law, JNU, Delhi, Dr. Rajani Gupte, Vice-Chancellor, Symbiosis International University and Prof. (Dr.) Shashikala Gurpur, Director, Symbiosis Law School, Pune and Dean, Faculty of Law, Symbiosis International University.
In her opening address, Dr. Rajani Gupte, emphasized upon the importance of being inquisitive during student-life. She also appreciated the integral role played by Symbiosis Law School, Pune as an institution, in building and fostering new knowledge.
Dr. Shashikala Gurpur in her address congratulated the SLS, Pune team for building up the legacy of this annual national conference which is growing richer and bigger each year. This endeavor shall go global next year, she said. She said that Symbiosis Law School, Pune will soon be building up an interdisciplinary consortium blending environment Law, Corporate Law and Intellectual Property Rights at the same time not ignoring Constitution Law and Human Rights Law.
Prof. (Dr.) Gurjeet Singh, in his address on Quality Legal Research congratulated Symbiosis Law School, Pune, for its outstanding contribution in knowledge creation and academic enrichment. He reflected on the positive change that he had noticed in the present generation of law students who were keen to undertake research and publish. This, in his opinion, has motivated young students to come out and take up exclusive themes for their research creating a greater knowledge base.
This was followed by the Chief Guest’s address, Prof. (Dr.) Bharath Desai where he spoke about the role of a teacher in motivating the students to create master pieces in the field of legal research. He exhorted the teaching community to encourage and guide the students to carry out legal research.
The plenary session on Indicators of quality legal research and how to publish started with the address by Prof (Dr.) Durgambini Patel, Savitribai Phule Pune University. She spoke about how interdisciplinary research gives a more exemplified output to the hypothesis. She enlightened the audience on the need to include the right authorities that would validate research and the need to infuse skills of analysis and legal reasoning.
Prof. (Dr.) Gurjeet Singh, in his plenary address introduced the audience to the world of research and publication through an interesting session with anecdotes and pointers. He further went on to highlight the need for publications both for future professors and practitioners. This was followed by Prof. (Dr.) Subhash C. Raina, Campus Law Centre, Delhi University addressing the audience regarding the benefits the digitized era provides to researchers and tips for developing and honing skills for research.
A special feature of the 3rd Annual National Conference was introduction of a legal scholar from the University College Cork, Ireland Prof. (Dr.) Siobhan Mullally. Through her skype address she enlightened the audience on Research and publication skills and impact pathways, thus giving a comparative and international perspective to the session. This best practice will now be a regular feature of the future conferences.
Inauguration session came to an end with the concluding remarks of Dr. (Prof.) Shashikala Gurpur where she stressed upon the need to have research in consonance with the requirements of the society. She further added that empirical research is the need of the hour through which we can ensure stability without compromising with the reforms.
The inauguration ceremony was followed by research paper presentations divided into four different tracks namely, Public Law & Governance, Intellectual Property Rights, Business Laws and International Law & Human Rights. Every track witnessed new and emerging legal issues ranging from the rights of the Physically Disabled, Judicial Appointments in India, Environmental Concerns, FDIs, Traditional Knowledge, Air Space Law and IPRs evolving Space Technology, to highlight just a few.
In the Valedictory Ceremony the speakers summed up the proceedings by appreciating and acknowledging the efforts of the students and the research scholars however, they also acknowledged the scope for further improvements especially with regard to the mode of citations, the need and efficacy of historical research, the lack of good reading habits and recognizing the limitations of the black letter law. The session concluded with Dr. Gurpur expressing her satisfaction that the younger generation being more flexible, adaptable and exposed to the latest technology may overtake the senior students and researchers if they do not respond to the changing times.
Then came the finale, the declaration of the much awaited results. The first prize was awarded to Ms. Samra Fareed, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, for her paper “Futile Penalty with an Uneven Balance: Are Men Hanged on Theories?”. Second prize was awarded to Vaibhav Sonule, PhD Scholar, Symbiosis International University, for his paper on, “Socialism in India-Reality or Myth with special reference to Foreign Direct Investment in Retail”. The third prize was awarded to Dhanya T. Mallar and Shireen Priya, Symbiosis Law School, Pune for their paper titled, “Judicial Appointments in India: A Panoramic View”.
As a side event, a photographic exhibition titled, “Iridescence” displaying the budding photography talent of the students of SLS, Pune was organized within the premises of the institute.
The conference came to an end with the vote of thanks by Dr. Bindu Ronald, Deputy Director, Symbiosis Law School, Pune.
