A Study on the Linkage Between China's Commercial Mediation System and the Singapore Mediation Convention

Abstract

In order to establish a unified and effective cross-border enforcement mechanism to promote the efficient development of international commercial activities, the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the “Singapore Mediation Convention” or “The Convention”) officially entered into force on September 12th, 2020. The Convention for the first time explicitly provides for the direct enforceability of settlement agreements, addressing the issue of cross-border enforcement of such agreements. It improves the system of diversified dispute resolution mechanisms including litigation, arbitration, and mediation. As one of the first signatory countries of the Convention, China has expressed its goal and determination to establish an international commercial mediation system. In recent years, Chinese scholars have made rich research achievements on this subject, but China lacks legal norms for commercial mediation and corresponding mediation procedures still need to be developed. The implementation and enforcement of the Convention will pose new challenges to the legislation and institutional construction of commercial mediation in China. This article starts from the current status of the commercial mediation system and the Convention, combines the difficulties of China's existing mediation system, and puts forward reflections and suggestions on the institutional linkage of the Convention. This article is divided into five parts: the first part analyzes the current status of the commercial mediation system, summarizes its origin and development, studies the characteristics of the Convention, and discusses the significance of China's signature of the Convention. The second part summarizes the current status of commercial mediation in China and analyzes the issues of inconsistency and difficulty in aligning China's current commercial mediation system with the Singapore Mediation Convention. The third part explains the necessity and legitimacy of aligning China's current system with the Convention. The fourth part points out the realistic dilemmas of aligning the Convention based on the current development status of China's commercial mediation system. The fifth part presents reflections and suggestions on the dilemmas.