The teams will select any one theme of the proposed draft code relating to national healthcare such as Regulations of medical and clinical establishments, medical practitioners, drug research and clinical trial, health insurance sector, rights of patients etc. They will then study in depth the existing law on the selected subject at central and State level,consulting authoritative texts and their judicial interpretations.
The teams may prepare codified versions of the existing law relating to healthcare sector on the basis of the theme given to them and identify the areas of conflict among these different laws, as well as incompatibility if any, with the Constitution and human rights instruments. The doctrinal study may take a period of one to two months provided; the teams divide the work among them and agree on standardized methodologies of legal research.
The above exercise constitutes mostly the library component of the competition employing largely doctrinal research methods. The participants are expected to have discussions, deliberations and seminars may have to be convened during this period to monitor progress and evolve consensus on the status of the law and the future reforms to be proposed in the research. Ample research and writing will have to be undertaken by the participants to gather research materials and has to be eloquently presented.
The second major phase of the project is empirical field study for gathering the views, opinions and experiences of the stakeholders such as health care professionals, paramedical staff, support staffs, different categories of patients, biomedical researchers, among the others who are likely to be affected by the law. This phase involves an empirical study about the appropriateness of various provisions to be incorporated which will govern the theory and practice in health care sector so that the right to healthcare of people is adequately honoured.
The questions and tools to be employed for the research have to be prepared carefully taking into account of various aspects based on the subject allotted to the team. For example, a team allotted with the topic ‘Regulating Clinical Establishments’ has to look into the current practices and nature of establishments, its socio - legal implications in the society, views of the professionals, social security aspects, rights of patients and other stakeholders, governmental authorities - its liability and responsibilities.The names and socio - economic profile of the individuals and organizations interacted with will have to be fully documented and acknowledged in the report.
Research forms the soul and the most difficult part of the competition and may take a time of two to three months (preferably during summer vacations). The data has to be prepared using sampling techniques and eliciting the views objectively and systematically. Students may seek the help of statisticians to prepare sampling method and questionnaire. They are advised to split themselves in groups of three to five members, decide on the issues around which interviews are to be taken and document the strengths and weaknesses of law in action. The research questions have to be formulated carefully in order to comprehend the proposed legislation. The questions and tools employed for the study should be explained and appended to the final report.
The third step of the project is re - visiting the law as clarified in the first phase, in the context of the practice in which it is gathered from the stakeholders of the law in the second stage. The purpose is to find the differences between the existing laws and the areas required to be regulated.The formations of a new law, its procedure, its authorities, or its administration are to be addressed in line with international health standards.
This exercise will naturally lead to ideas on how the new laws are to be structured/drafted in order to propose the reform proposals (in terms of norms and principles or in terms of institutions and procedures) through reflective analysis of the law gathered and data collected.
The final stage is report writing which must be written in six parts as given below:
a) Identification of the problem as found from analysis of various statutes, judicial decisions, international regulations, and other sources.
b) Planning and execution methods
c) Research questions and methodology adopted for field study, challenges experienced and the resolving methodology adopted.
d) Findings of the study.
e) Draft proposal in the form of a legislation or amendments to the existing legislation on the topic studied with explanatory notes and comments.
f) Sharing of the experience in learning law in social context and impressions about the rule of law and its maintenance in plural societies.
This part of the project may take another two months for completion, in addition to the time undertaken for the initial research. Four hard copies of the study are required to be submitted along with a digital copy. The reports should be typed in A4 size paper and bound properly. The final report shall be of 200 pages in length and in no case should exceed 300 pages inclusive of the appendices and footnotes.
The Head of the College should certify that the study strictly abides by the rules of the competition and the college and the students involved agree to surrender the copyright provided proper acknowledgment is made. This would, however, not prevent the college concerned in making use of the document for their own use including publication, after the results of the competition is announced.