Post Graduate Diploma in Conciliation

Post Graduate Diploma in Conciliation (PGDCON)  

A Professional Specialized Skill Training Program by Indian Arbitration Institution (IAI)

• Eligibility: Any Basic Qualification or any Formal Education with Diploma or Graduation appearing or passed.

• Total Fees: Rs. 7,500/-
  (Everything Included from Admission, Course Fees and Delivery of Certificate, no additional Fees Apart from it)

• Mode: Online

• Study Material:  Will be provided through Learning Dashboard/Portal

• Learning Type: Self Paced

• Duration:  3 Months (Preferably, but can be completed anytime as soon as you give the Exam)

• Enrollment:  Any Time, there is no Fixed Enrolment Date or Day. A candidate can choose any time and the enrolment will be processed real time.

• Exam: One Online Exam, MCQ and Subjective Type Questions of 100 Marks. Passing Marks 40%. If unsuccessful, you can give additional two attempts.

• Procedure: Fill the Apply Now Form →  Pay the Requisite Amount of Fees by Clicking Pay Now Button → Then Click on Payment Confirmation button and fill the form with all the Details → Then login to the Dashboard.

Course Overview

The Post Graduate Diploma in Conciliation (PGDCON), offered by the Indian Arbitration Institution (IAI), is an advanced, post-graduate-level professional qualification engineered to build high-level expertise in consensual dispute resolution, institutional conciliation, and negotiated settlements. While court systems around the world face unprecedented trial delays, commercial, industrial, and civil sectors increasingly demand dispute specialists capable of resolving complex conflicts without the friction, expense, and reputational damage of conventional litigation.

This diploma offers a comprehensive operational bridge between legal jurisprudence and practical conflict management. Conciliation occupies a unique position within the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework: unlike a purely facilitative mediator, a qualified conciliator is legally empowered to formulate proposals, evaluate claims, suggest objective terms of settlement, and steer contentious parties toward mutual compromise. The PGDCON curriculum unpacks the entire statutory, procedural, and behavioral architecture required to manage these sensitive proceedings from appointment to final settlement enforcement.

Learners examine key legal foundations, including Part III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules, and cross-border settlement recognition under the Singapore Convention on Mediation. Beyond statutory mastery, the program prioritizes executive skills: dynamic caucus handling, interest-based bargaining models, commercial risk assessment, psychological barrier breakdown, and procedural ethics. Candidates analyze real-world case studies spanning banking defaults, corporate joint ventures, supply chain disruptions, workplace conflicts, and family property settlements.

A major focus of the PGDCON is settlement enforceability. Under Indian law and prevailing international standards, an authenticated conciliation settlement carries the status and legal force of an arbitral award on agreed terms. Participants receive thorough, hands-on training in drafting binding settlement agreements that withstand judicial scrutiny, eliminate ambiguity, and protect party confidentiality. Certified under the professional auspices of the Indian Arbitration Institution, this postgraduate diploma prepares legal professionals, corporate executives, human resource leaders, and independent consultants to operate as authoritative neutrals and dispute resolution experts in contemporary dispute practice.

Course Structure and Modules

The tentative modules are as follows:

Module 1: Jurisprudential and Statutory Foundations of Conciliation

• Evolution of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and comparative analysis: Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration.

• Detailed analysis of Part III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Sections 61 to 81).

• International frameworks: UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules and the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention).

• Institutional vs. Ad-Hoc conciliation: Institutional codes of conduct, neutrality, disclosure norms, and strict confidentiality mandates.

Module 2: The Conciliation Process, Case Strategy, and Procedural Rules

• Commencement protocols: Submitting the conciliation notice, appointment procedures, and role of single vs. multi-conciliator panels.

• Preliminary case assessment: Scrutinizing written statements, documentary evidence, and establishing ground rules.

• Conducting joint opening sessions: Setting the agenda, managing party expectations, and maintaining control over volatile exchanges.

• Caucus mechanics: Strategizing private meetings, information handling, testing positions, and identifying zone of possible agreement (ZOPA).

Module 3: Negotiation Dynamics, Behavioral Psychology, and De-Escalation

• Integrative vs. distributive negotiation models; transitioning disputants from positional to interest-based bargaining.

• Psychological drivers in dispute resolution: Overcoming cognitive biases, loss aversion, sunk cost fallacies, and pride barriers.

• Advanced communication methodologies: Active listening, strategic questioning, reframing hostile declarations, and reality-testing claims.

• Power dynamics: Addressing bargaining imbalances between corporations and individuals, unrepresented parties, and complex joint ventures.

Module 4: Commercial, Financial, and Corporate Settlement Practice

• Commercial contract disputes: Breach of contract, infrastructure delays, supply chain breakdowns, and liquidated damages.

• Corporate governance and shareholder deadlock: Minority squeeze-outs, partnership dissolutions, and joint venture exits.

• Banking, insolvency, and debt workouts: Non-performing asset (NPA) restructuring, MSME disputes, and financial default settlements.

• Intellectual property and technology conciliation: Software licensing conflicts, patent licensing negotiations, and trade secret breaches.

Module 5: Workplace, Industrial Relations, and Cross-Border Disputes

• Conciliation mechanisms under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and contemporary Labour Codes.

• Executive employment disputes: Non-compete covenants, wrongful termination, severance packages, and workplace harassment claims.

• Cross-border and multi-jurisdictional conciliation: Cultural nuances, choice of law, currency fluctuation risks, and sovereign counter-parties.

• Community and consumer disputes: Real estate (RERA) settlements, public utility conflicts, and consumer forum references.

Module 6: Settlement Drafting, Legal Enforceability, and Execution Practice

• Drafting legally unassailable Conciliation Settlement Agreements (CSA): Essential terms, recitals, operative clauses, and releases.

• Statutory status and legal effect of a settlement agreement under Section 73 and Section 74 of the Act (enforceable as an arbitral award).

• Judicial enforcement procedures before civil courts, execution petitions, and conditions under which a settlement may be challenged.

• Post-settlement compliance monitoring, dispute closure protocols, and ethical duties of the conciliator following final execution.

Importance of Doing this Course

In an era of congested court registries, escalating litigation costs, and severe commercial pressure for rapid turnaround, organizations and clients can no longer afford years of formal adjudication. The Post Graduate Diploma in Conciliation delivers an essential strategic advantage for modern professionals across multiple disciplines.

First, statutory and regulatory bodies across industries now require or incentivize mandatory pre-institution dispute resolution. Commercial courts and regulatory authorities routinely refer matters to conciliation to divert docket volume. Possessing specialized postgraduate training in conciliation equips practitioners to step into these proceedings with formal procedural authority, ensuring efficient, legally compliant resolutions.

Second, the corporate world strongly favors consensual settlement over public litigation or adversarial arbitration. Public courtroom battles often destroy valuable commercial relationships, depress market confidence, and leak sensitive trade secrets. Conciliation provides total statutory confidentiality and enables creative, win-win settlements that preserve long-term partnerships. Professionals who can masterfully conciliate commercial impasses protect company balance sheets, brand equity, and business continuity.

Third, conciliation requires technical precision in legal drafting. A poorly drafted settlement agreement can lead to secondary litigation, creating greater disruption than the original claim. This diploma trains candidates to translate fragile verbal compromises into rock-solid, binding agreements carrying the statutory power of an arbitral award.

Finally, an advanced diploma from the Indian Arbitration Institution signals verified subject-matter competence, advanced negotiation capabilities, and ethical rigor. It elevates your professional standing, differentiates you from conventional legal practitioners, and establishes you as a credible, forward-looking conflict resolution expert.

Career Prospects

The advanced training provided by the Post Graduate Diploma in Conciliation prepares graduates for prominent roles across the corporate, legal, and public sectors:

• Empaneled Institutional Conciliator: Qualify to serve as a neutral conciliator or panelist on the dispute rosters of arbitral institutions, industry councils, chambers of commerce, and stock exchanges.

• Corporate Settlement Counsel: Represent corporations, multinationals, and business owners in high-stakes pre-litigation settlement conferences, contract renegotiations, and commercial conciliation hearings.

• Head of Legal and Dispute Management: Direct internal dispute management divisions within corporate enterprises, steering vendor disagreements, partner deadlocks, and customer complaints toward prompt out-of-court resolutions.

• Industrial Relations and HR Director: Lead industrial dispute negotiations, manage trade union dialogues, and oversee internal conciliation committees for executive and employee grievances.

• Banking and Asset Recovery Specialist: Manage debt resolution, loan restructuring, and SARFAESI-related pre-litigation conciliation for banks, financial institutions, and asset reconstruction companies.

• RERA, Consumer, and Real Estate Conciliator: Facilitate rapid resolutions between builders, buyers, and financial institutions under real estate regulatory frameworks and consumer commissions.

• Independent ADR Consultant: Establish an independent dispute resolution consultancy, providing advisory services on conflict prevention, consensus building, and contractual settlement drafting.

Necessary Details

The Indian Arbitration Institution delivers the PGDCON through a flexible, fully digital infrastructure built to accommodate practicing professionals, lawyers, corporate managers, and full-time students.

Eligibility Applicants must hold:

• Any Basic Qualification or Formal Education with a Diploma or Graduation (either completed or currently appearing/enrolled).

Candidates from all academic streams—including Law, Management, Commerce, Human Resources, Engineering, Social Sciences, and Public Administration—are eligible to enroll. No prior background in legal practice is required.

Total Fees The all-inclusive fee for the program is Rs. 7,500/-. This single fee covers everything across the entire duration: admission processing, digital learning material, dashboard portal access, examination administration, and the physical printing and courier delivery of the Post Graduate Diploma certificate. There are no additional or hidden costs.

Mode and Study Material The program is delivered 100% Online. Upon registration, each learner receives dedicated login credentials for the secure IAI Learning Dashboard/Portal. Complete Study Material—including structured modules, case analyses, procedural flowcharts, statutory guides, and model settlement templates—is accessible on the portal at all times.

Learning Type and Duration The program runs on a Self-Paced model. While the recommended program duration is 3 Months, candidates have full autonomy over their study timeline. You may complete the curriculum as fast as your schedule allows and take the online exam as soon as you feel prepared.

Enrollment Enrollment remains open Any Time throughout the year. There are no rigid enrollment dates, intake batches, or application cutoffs. Applications and enrollments are processed in real time, granting candidates immediate portal access.

Examination Structure The course concludes with One Online Exam carrying a total of 100 Marks:

• Format: A balanced combination of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Subjective/Case-Study Questions.

• Passing Marks: 40%.

• Re-attempt Policy: If a candidate is unsuccessful on the first attempt, they can take up to two additional attempts at no extra fee.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Fill out and submit the official Apply Now Form on the IAI portal.

2. Complete the program fee payment of Rs. 7,500/- by clicking the Pay Now button.

3. Click the Payment Confirmation button and fill in the verification form with your payment transaction details.

4. Log into your assigned Learning Dashboard to access study materials and start your course.