E-briefing: The much anticipated Singapore Convention on Mediation for the Enforcement of International Mediation Settlements is slated to be open for signature on 1 August 2019

The much anticipated Singapore Convention on Mediation for the Enforcement of International Mediation Settlements is slated to be open for signature on 1 August 2019

On 26 June 2018, the United National Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) approved the text of Working Group II’s draft treaty pertaining to the enforcement of mediation settlement agreements arising from international commercial mediation and the corresponding Model Law.

The much anticipated Singapore Convention on Mediation is scheduled for adoption by the General Assembly in the second half of 2018, and will be open for signature in Singapore on 1 August 2019. The Convention must then be ratified by at least three member states to come into force. The final text of the Singapore Convention on Mediation will be available online when the report of the UNCITRAL Commission is published.

This is a momentous achievement because the Singapore Convention on Mediation provides an established international framework for the cross-border recognition and enforcement of mediated settlements. This Convention is similar to the 1958 New York Convention for the enforcement of arbitral awards, thereby placing international mediation on an equal playing field with international arbitration in terms of enforcement.

To download the text of the draft Singapore Convention on Mediation and the amended draft Model Law on international settlement agreements resulting from mediation, please see http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/commission/sessions/51st.html