The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation, will provide for the cross-border enforcement of mediated settlement agreements. Intended signatories include the USA and China. However, EU member states will not be included, as the EU has not yet determined whether it can sign as one entity or whether all 28 members must sign individually.
According to the Singapore Ministry of Law, ‘mediation is rising in popularity as a means to resolve cross-border commercial disputes.
‘However, its growth has been hindered by a long-standing obstacle―the difficulty that a party faces in ensuring that the other party complies with their mediated settlement.’ This is because a mediation agreement is only binding contractually rather than being directly enforceable by the courts.
The ministry said: ‘The Convention therefore addresses the lack of an effective means to enforce cross-border commercial mediated settlement agreements.
‘Businesses can have greater assurance that mediation can be relied on to settle cross-border commercial disputes, because mediated settlement agreements can be enforced more readily by the courts of contracting parties to the Convention and may also be invoked by a party as a defence against a claim. This will facilitate the growth of international commerce and promote the use of mediation around the world.’
More than 1,500 lawyers are expected to attend the signing ceremony on 7 August and the week-long Singapore Convention conference, which will include sessions on dispute resolution, mediation, negotiation and infrastructure development.
Singapore is a major player in global dispute resolution, benefits from considerable government investment, and boasts an International Arbitration Centre and the Singapore International Commercial Court.
For more information, see CEDR Managing Director James South's article for NLJ, 'Working better together'.
