Singapore Convention Week 2021 Brings Together Global Legal And Business Community

• On June 2018, the United Nations Commission on
  International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”), finalised the United Nations Convention
  on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation and adopted the
  UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Mediation and International
  Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, 2018 (amending the Model Law on
  International Commercial Conciliation, 2002).
• On 20 December 2018, the United Nations General
  Assembly (i) adopted the Convention; (ii) authorised the signing ceremony of
  the Convention to be held in Singapore; and (iii) authorised the nomenclature
  of the “Singapore Convention on Mediation” (the “Singapore Convention”) making
  it the first
  UN treaty to be named after Singapore.

• On 7 August 2019, the Singapore Convention
  Signing Ceremony and Conference was held where Singapore hosted more than 1,500
  delegates from 70 countries at the event. 46 countries signed the Singapore Convention
  on that day and subsequently, seven other countries signed at the UN
  headquarters in New York, bringing the total number of signatories to 53.

• On 12 September 2020, the Singapore Convention came
  into force.

• On
  4 June 2021, Brazil signed the Singapore Convention, bringing the total number
  of signatories to 54 countries.

Key Benefits

• Mediation is rising in popularity as a means to
  resolve cross-border commercial disputes for several reasons, including the
  fact that it results in party-driven solutions which are not imposed by a third
  party. It also reduces time and costs for parties as well as burdens to the
  state. Due to its conciliatory nature, it better facilitates business
  continuity and relationships, also reducing instances where a dispute leads to
  termination of commercial relationships. Mediation is also a flexible solution
  for international disputes as it can be combined with or complement other modes
  of dispute resolution, such as litigation or arbitration.

• However, its growth has been hindered by the
  long-standing obstacle of a lack of enforceability of the mediated settlement agreement.
  Unlike a court judgment or an arbitral award, previously, a mediated agreement
  was only binding contractually and not directly enforceable. The lack of an
  efficient and harmonised framework for cross-border enforcement of settlement
  agreements resulting from mediation was often cited as a challenge in utilising
  mediation as an effective solution.

• The Singapore Convention directly addresses the
  lack of an effective means to enforce cross-border commercial mediated
  settlement agreements by providing the framework by which agreements may be
  enforced. 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 Singapore Convention.

• This certainty of outcomes is beneficial for
  businesses especially during a period of uncertainty such as the COVID-19
  pandemic. It will also help to promote the use of mediation around the world
  for cross-border disputes, saving time and costs, and potentially ensure better
  business continuity, facilitating the growth of international trade and
  commerce.

Applicability of the
Singapore Convention