Singapore Mediation Convention has been signed by 53 countries
Tomorrow marks an important day for dispute resolution users as the Singapore Mediation Convention comes into force, just over a year after its signing ceremony on 7 August 2019. The UNCITRAL Working Group II’s aim to implement an international regime for the enforcement of mediated settlements broadly akin to the 1958 New York Convention for the enforcement of arbitral awards, has finally come to fruition after several years of dedicated effort to provide dispute resolution stakeholders with a tool that tackles speed, cost and efficiency.
The coming into force was triggered by Qatar becoming the third country to ratify the Convention on 12 March 2020 (after Singapore and Fiji on 25 February 2020). To date, a total of 53 states have signed the Convention and a total of 5 states have either ratified (Singapore, Fiji, Qatar and Saudi Arabia on 5 May 2020) or approved (Belarus on 15 July 2020) the Convention. Asia’s signatories include three of its largest economies and 5 ASEAN nations. The signatories also include three of the world’s largest economies, the US, China and India.
At this stage, the Convention will only apply where a settlement agreement is sought to be enforced (or relied on as a defence) in the ratifying states – Singapore, Qatar, Fiji or Saudi Arabia or the approving states – Belarus (details of its listed reservations can be found here) . However, given that 53 countries have already taken the first step of signing the Convention (including China and the US), it seems likely that this list could soon increase substantially. read more
Source: Herbert Smith Freehills