NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

Singapore Convention on Mediation* Att. Melissa Balikci Introduction The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ap- proved the final draft of the Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation 1 , also known as the Singapore Convention (“Convention” or “Singapore Convention”) on 26 June 2018. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on 20 December 2018. The signing ceremony of the Convention will be held on 7 August 2019 in Singapore 2 , and will come into force once it is ratified by at least three member states 3 . As it is clear from the name of the Convention, it deals with the enforcement of international settlement agreements resulting from mediation and, thus, aims to promote mediation. In the preamble of the Convention, the increase in the usage of mediation as a form of dispute resolution, as well as the benefits of mediation, are acknowledged. If successful, the Singapore Convention is set to provide a framework for settlement agreements resulting from mediation, akin to what the New York Convention 4 provides for with respect to arbitral awards 5 . * Article of July 2019 1 For the full text of the Convention please see: https://www.uncitral.org/pdf/eng- lish/commissionsessions/51st-session/Annex_I.pdf. 2 https://uncitral.un.org/en/ 07.08.2019. 3 Article 14 of the Convention reads as: “ This Convention shall enter into force six months after deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession”. 4 NewYork Convention on the Recognition of and Enforcement of ForeignArbitral Awards 1958. 5 Schnabel, Timothy: The Singapore Convention on Mediation: A Framework for the Cross-Border Recognition and Enforcement of Mediated Settlements, https:// papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3239527.