Support for the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition

Problems and the Competition Outline

The competition has two parts, Round A devoted to arbitration and Round B to negotiation, with Japanese and English divisions for each part. In both rounds, the theme was breach of obligations under a contract between Red Museum, which is a national institution with a long history, and Blue, Inc., a company involved in urban development, large-scale facility construction, real estate leasing, and the operation of commercial and resort facilities. The arbitration and negotiation concerned construction of a new museum wing and the loan of artworks for an exhibition. The teams took on the roles of either Red or Blue.

The issues to be arbitrated in Round A were 1) the New Wing Case and 2) the Orange Collection Case.
The New Wing Case was about a serious incident in an exhibition room of the New Wing of the Red Museum, which occurred after the handover and opening of the new wing. The construction of the new wing was contracted to Blue. There are four issues to be considered.

　1) Did Blue breach its obligations?:
　　Room temperatures in a gallery of the
　　new wing rose sharply and humidity
　　levels greatly exceeded the design
　　standards. According to the evaluation
　　report by the external experts engaged by
　　Red, discrepancies between the design
　　documents and the actual
　　placement of
　　sensors and piping may have been the
　　cause.
　2) If Blue breached its obligation, how much
　　compensation should Blue pay?:
　　Ten paintings were damaged.
　3) Is Red obligated to pay USD 200,000 to
　　Blue?:
　　Blue has spent USD 200,000 to repair the
　　new wing. Blue claims that it should be
　　borne by Red.
　4) Should the arbitration proceedings be
　　suspended? Should the decision by the
　　technical expert agreed upon by both
　　parties be used as the basis for the
　　arbitration process?

On the other hand, regarding the Orange Collection Case, Red asked Blue to acquire the “Orange Collection,” having concluded an agreement granting Blue an exclusive agency right representing Red. However, Red acquired certain pieces through Green and the rest of the pieces directly. There were two issues.

　1) Did Red breach its obligations?:
　　It needs to be determined whether the
　　exception clause to the exclusive agency
　　applies.
　2) If Red breached its obligations, how much
　　compensation should Red pay?:

The teams acted as attorneys representing either Red or Blue, stating their claims in the presence of the arbitrators whose roles were played by the judges.

In Round B, the teams negotiated the following two points, assuming that the New Wing Case exists but has not undergone arbitration, and that the Orange Collection Case does not exist.

　1) How to resolve the New Wing Case
　　through negotiation
　2) The terms for the loan of the 12 artworks
　　owned by Blue to Red

Results

Awards by Category

Results for the competition in Japanese

Results for the competition in English