Singapore Prepares To Be Among The First Countries To Ratify The Singapore Convention On Mediation
06 Jan 2020 Posted in Press releases
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The Ministry of Law (“MinLaw”) has tabled the Singapore Convention on Mediation Bill 2020 (‘the Bill”) for First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill implements the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation (“the Convention”).
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The Convention is an international treaty on mediation that addresses the need for an effective means to enforce cross-border commercial mediated settlement agreements. Singapore aims to be among the first countries to ratify the Convention, which will enter into force six months after the third State deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
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The Bill seeks to implement Singapore’s obligations under the Convention. When passed, the Bill will strengthen Singapore’s offerings as a leading international dispute resolution hub providing a full suite of options for commercial parties to resolve their cross-border disputes, whether through litigation, arbitration or mediation.
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The Bill provides for a party to apply to the Supreme Court to: (i) enforce an international settlement agreement; or (ii) invoke the settlement agreement to prove that a matter had already been resolved when defending court proceedings in Singapore concerning that matter.
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The Bill provides parties with different ways of making enforcement or invocation applications under the Convention, such as applying to the High Court to record the agreement as a court order. Existing contractual remedies are also preserved. The availability of options provides flexibility to parties to decide on the most appropriate mode for their circumstance, and saves them time and costs.
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Other provisions in the Bill include the requirements that a party must satisfy before the court will consider approving an enforcement or invocation application, and provisions that stipulate the grounds that the court may consider in refusing such an application.
Annex A: Factsheet on SCM (70KB)
MINISTRY OF LAW
6 JANUARY 2020
Last updated on 6 Jan 2020