
The Convention, which came into force in September, seeks to provide a uniform enforcement mechanism for international mediated settlement agreements.
Professor Bryan Clark, University of Newcastle, UK, and Professor Tania Sourdin, University of Newcastle, Australia, outline how the Convention works and why it may have some unintended negative consequences.
They write that international commercial arbitration has been criticised in recent years for its increasing costs and complexity, and ‘the same charges have been brought against lawyers in mediation.
‘The increasing infiltration of lawyers in mediation has been well documented of late with party representatives at times accused of treating mediation akin to judicial settlement conferences.’