Recent Developments in International Mediation: Singapore’s Unique Approach

Abstract

Singapore’s vibrant dispute resolution sector has been growing on the back of a significant rise in commercial transactions in Asia and a corresponding increase in the number and complexity of cross-border disputes. In order to make Singapore stand out as a premier destination for legal services and resolution of disputes for Asia and the world, the Ministry of Law of Singapore concluded that focus needed to be placed on developing the mediation space, particularly to deal with international commercial disputes, as a complement to arbitration and litigation.In April 2013, the Chief Justice and the Ministry of Law appointed an International Commercial Mediation Working Group (“the Working Group”) in April 2013 with the weighty task of making recommendations to develop Singapore into a centre for international commercial mediation. The Working Group’s recommendations were submitted on 29 November 2013 and the three main recommendations were to: (a) establish the Singapore International Mediation Institute (“SIMI”) as a professional standards body; (b) establish the Singapore International Mediation Centre (“SIMC”) as a provider of world-class commercial mediation services; and (c) enact a Mediation Act to strengthen the legal framework to support mediation and enhance enforceability of mediated settlement agreements. SIMI and SIMC were both officially launched on 5 November 2014 and the Mediation Act is currently being prepared by the Ministry of Law. This paper seeks to examine the significance of SIMI and SIMC in the context of the present mediation scene in Asia. In particular, SIMI has a unique tiered accreditation framework aimed at allowing mediators to gradually obtain higher levels of accreditation and ultimately achieve certification over time as they grow in skills, experience and knowledge. SIMC offers user-centric services and products, including an arbitration-mediation-arbitration service in collaboration with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre that allows mediated settlement agreements to be made enforceable as consent arbitral awards. Finally, the paper makes some suggestions in relation to the Mediation Act under development, particularly in view of the experiences of other jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and the United States.