Law & Technology Society, NMIMS Hyderabad is inviting law students to participate in LexTech DraftCon 2.0, an online national-level AI policy drafting competition.
About Law & Technology Society, School of Law, NMIMS Hyderabad
The Law & Technology Society at the School of Law, NMIMS Hyderabad was established in 2023 to examine the evolving relationship between law and technological innovation. The Society adopts a multidisciplinary approach to help students engage with contemporary techno-legal issues and also conducts digital awareness sessions focused on grassroots legal literacy.
The Society organises academic and competitive initiatives, including roundtable symposia, policy drafting competitions, competitive advocacy activities, the National Lecture Series, Extempore Competition and LexTech DraftCon. It has also launched Manthan, its official Tech Law Review magazine.
About the Opportunity
LexTech DraftCon 2.0 is a national-level AI policy drafting competition that requires law students to develop executive guidelines addressing regulatory gaps in artificial intelligence.
The theme for the competition is “Bridging Statutory Gaps Through Executive Soft Law.” Participants are required to assume the role of a regulator and draft a set of executive guidelines addressing AI regulation under one of the prescribed sub-themes.
The drafts must identify the relevant legal gap, identify a plausible issuing authority and incorporate judicial precedents, global regulatory benchmarks and relevant statutory intersections.
Mode
The competition will be conducted in online mode.
Practice Areas
AI and Copyright
Participants may draft executive guidelines addressing regulatory issues arising from the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law.
AI and Social Media
This sub-theme focuses on regulatory issues involving artificial intelligence and social media platforms.
AI and Labour Law
Participants may examine the relationship between artificial intelligence and labour law and develop appropriate executive guidelines.
AI and Autonomous Contracting
This sub-theme concerns regulatory questions arising from the use of AI in autonomous contracting.
AI and Humanoid Autonomous Robots
Participants may address regulatory challenges associated with humanoid autonomous robots and their deployment.
Eligibility Criteria
- The competition is open to students pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate programmes in law from a recognised university or institution in India.
- Participation may be individual or in teams of up to two members.
- Cross-institutional teams are permitted.
- Each participant may be a member of only one team.
- Participants must be bona fide students of their respective institutions at the time of registration.
Roles & Responsibilities
Policy Drafting
Participants must prepare a comprehensive set of legal or regulatory guidelines addressing AI regulation under one of the five prescribed sub-themes.
Legal Analysis
The draft should identify the relevant statutory gap, anchor the proposed guidelines to a plausible issuing authority and incorporate applicable judicial precedents, global regulatory benchmarks and statutory intersections.
Regulatory Framework
The proposed guidelines should be clear, coherent, legally sound and practically implementable.
Oral Presentation
Ten teams will be shortlisted for the Preliminary Oral Round, with two teams selected from each sub-theme. One team from each sub-theme will subsequently advance to the Final Oral Round.
Finalist teams will be required to present and defend their proposed guidelines before the judging panel and answer questions concerning their legal reasoning, regulatory approach and practical considerations.
Submission Requirements
The draft must follow the prescribed structure, comprising:
- Preamble/Background
- Objectives
- Scope and Applicability
- Definitions
- Guiding Principles
- Stakeholders/Entities Covered
- Roles, Duties and Responsibilities
- AI Governance, Risk Management and Human Oversight
- Rights, Safeguards, Transparency and Accountability
- Compliance, Monitoring and Review
- Grievance Redressal/Dispute Resolution
- Enforcement and Consequences of Non-Compliance
- Miscellaneous/Schedules/Annexures
Participants may modify sub-headings where necessary to suit their chosen sub-theme.
Formatting
The submission must not exceed 4,000 words, excluding footnotes. The main text must use Times New Roman, 12-point font, while headings must use 14-point font. The document must have 1.5 line spacing and one-inch margins on all sides.
The Bluebook 20th Edition must be followed for citations. The submission must be provided in both Word and PDF formats.
Originality and Similarity
The draft must be original and prepared specifically for the competition. It must not be under review or accepted elsewhere at the time of submission.
A similarity index exceeding 10% will result in disqualification. Submissions will be screened through Turnitin for plagiarism and AI-generated content.
Late Submission
A deduction of 3 marks will apply for every hour of delay after the submission deadline. Any part of an hour will be counted as one full hour.
Deadline
The early-bird registration deadline is August 26, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
The standard registration period is from August 27 to September 1, 2026. The last date for registration is September 1, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
The last date for submission is September 11, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
The evaluation of submissions will take place from September 12 to 17, 2026. The top 10 teams will be announced on September 17, 2026.
The Preliminary and Final Oral Rounds and the Valedictory Ceremony will be conducted on September 20, 2026.
Registration Fee
During the early-bird registration period, the registration fee is Rs. 500 for an individual participant and Rs. 500 for a team of two.
During the standard registration period, the registration fee is Rs. 1,000 for an individual participant and Rs. 1,000 for a team of two.
Prizes
The winner will receive Rs. 15,000 along with a digital certificate.
The runner-up will receive Rs. 10,000 along with a digital certificate.
The three finalists ranked third, fourth and fifth will each receive Rs. 1,500 and a digital certificate.
The Best Draft and Best Speaker will each receive a memento and digital certificate.
All 10 teams qualifying for the Preliminary Oral Round will receive Certificates of Merit, while all registered participants will receive digital Certificates of Participation.
The total cash prize pool is Rs. 29,500.
Contact
Ms. Divya Sri Paduru, Convenor
Phone: +91 9704456025
Ms. Akshara, Co-Convenor
Phone: +91 6302049040
Email: lawtech.hyd@nmims.edu.in
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Application Procedure
Interested participants may register through the following:
Participants may register individually or in teams of up to two members. Cross-institutional teams are permitted, but each participant may belong to only one team.
The standard registration deadline is September 1, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
After registration, participants must submit their drafts in both Word and PDF formats.
Email the submission to: lawtech.hyd@nmims.edu.in
Subject Line: Submission – LexTech DraftCon 2.0 (Team Code)
The final submission deadline is September 11, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
