Insights

Braving negotiations for almost two decades, the Singapore Convention on Mediation finally came into force this year, on 12 September 2020 – a win for international commercial mediation.

In the third instalment of our Singapore Convention on Mediation series, we unlock the near misses, miracles and milestones that led to the coming into force of the Convention.

A webinar jointly hosted by JIMC and SIMC took place via Zoom on the evening of 20 November 2020. Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law in Singapore, K. Shanmugam SC and Minister for Justice in Japan, Yoko Kamikawa as well as distinguished panellists spoke at the event.

SIMC Chairman George Lim SC plays a key role in promoting mediation as the next game changer in dispute resolution, and positioning Singapore as a respected global business hub in the world.

The World Bank had recently announced that in East Asian and Pacific countries alone 38 million more people would fall below the poverty line due to the coronavirus pandemic. Given the severe economic challenges experienced by businesses and people all over the world, George Lim SC hopes mediation would become the preferred mode of dispute resolution to help parties solve disputes amicably.

The question of the role of lawyers in a mediation process inevitably arises when one thinks that a mediator, as a neutral third party, is already facilitating negotiations between disputing parties.

This is particularly so given that disputing parties typically play a more central role themselves in the mediation process, with the platform to communicate their key interests to each other...

As international trade treaties go, the Singapore Convention on Mediation is relatively short. It was designed to be simple and easily applicable to different jurisdictions – no matter their legal traditions. Despite its brevity, the Convention packs a powerful punch in allowing mediated settlement agreements to be globally enforceable. In the second instalment of this series, we illustrate the...

Counting down: The Singapore Convention on Mediation enters into force in two weeks – on 12 September 2020. As we count down to this momentous milestone, we explore more about the treaty and its significance. In the first instalment of our infographic series, we cast an eye on the potential impact of the Convention in terms of its geographic and economic reach.

The Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) and Singapore’s Ministry of Law recently ran a consultative workshop on the Singapore Convention on Mediation for senior Cambodian officials. 

One year ago on this date, the Singapore Convention on Mediation was signed by 46 countries in Singapore. To commemorate the first anniversary of the Convention, it is fitting to share the Seven Keys to Unlock Mediation’s Golden Age. 

What a new legislation could mean for India's mediation scene.

With courts in India currently overwhelmed by a backlog of cases and the number of disputes expected to rise quickly in the next few months due to Covid-19 disrupted contracts, industry pundits suggest that international commercial mediation may finally get a much-needed boost in India.