About the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC)
Officially launched in November 2014 by the Honourable the Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon and the Minister for Law, Mr K Shanmugam SC, SIMC is an independent, not-for-profit institution that aims to provide world-class mediation services and products targeted at the needs of parties in cross-border commercial disputes, particularly those doing business in Asia.
Recent Press Release: SIMC Announces Appointment of New Deputy Chief Executive Officer
23 May 2016 – SIMC is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Aloysius Goh as its new Deputy CEO with effect from 1 July 2016.
Mr Goh is an International Mediation Institute Certified Mediator and has resolved several high value transnational disputes. He has pioneered mediation schemes for youth and healthcare in Singapore and has received awards from the Singapore Mediation Centre and State Courts for his mediation service.
Mr Goh formerly worked as General Counsel and Company Secretary to a state university and several public healthcare institutes. He holds a Bachelors and Masters of Law from the National University of Singapore and Masters of Education (Educational leadership) from Boston College.
Read more here.
Recent Update: SIMC issues Practice Note 1 of 2016 to govern appointing authority service
SIMC is able to serve as an appointing authority for mediators or experts on an ad hoc basis, i.e. in cases not administered in accordance with the SIMC Mediation Rules, in accordance with the agreement between the parties.
The appointing authority service is governed by SIMC Practice Note 01/2016 issued to take effect on 1 May 2016.
Parties wishing to use SIMC’s appointing authority service may submit a request along with the requisite appointment fee as follows:
- 1 mediator or expert – S$2,000
- 2 mediators or experts or 1 mediator and 1 expert – S$3,000
- 3 mediators or experts or any combination of 3 mediators and experts – to be determined by SIMC on a case-by-case basis
Recent Article: Mediation: concord from discord (A perspective on mediation in Indonesia)
20 April 2016 – Made Barata, S.H. with assistance from Bobby Manurung, S.H. and Arkie Tumbelaka, S.H. of Mochtar Karuwin Komar gives an overview of mediation in Indonesia and tells why he believes that going forward, this avenue will become more popular.
Mediation has been in the spotlight recently, as authorities strive to streamline adjudication to foster a more efficient and cost-effective forum to settle commercial disputes. Unlike litigation, mediation strives to find a win-win solution to limit court fees as much as possible, and it allows the parties to resolve their disputes without a cumbersome court process. Unlike in commercial litigation, in mediation the parties are in control of the timing and flow of the whole process, and many formalities intrinsic to litigation are simply stripped away. In the past, the mediation process was regulated under SC Reg no. 1 of 2008 (Old SC Reg) and despite the positive aspects mentioned above, too many parties in dispute seem to regard it as just another bureaucratic hurdle to surmount and dispense with before actual court proceedings can be entered into. … To better streamline and encourage effective mediation, a new Supreme Regulation (Supreme Court Regulation no. 1/2016 or New SCReg) was recently issued which replaces and supersedes the Old SC Reg. …
Read more here.