Singapore Convention on Mediation: New Scenarios and Opportunities for International Commercial Disputes.

The Singapore Convention on mediation was approved little more than three years ago, and since then great steps have been taken: with 55 signatory Countries, 8 of them having ratified it to date, the Convention is in force since 12 September 2020, and its implementation is going much faster than the average multilateral treaties, New York Convention on International Arbitration included.

But what about the actual impact of the Convention on international commercial contract negotiation and dispute resolution? And what are the current positions of different Countries’ globally?

The topic was covered by the MDisputes Founder Michael Mcilwrath, together with other prominent speakers, in the webinar “Effects of Cross-Border Disputes After the Singapore Convention”, held on 6 October 2021 within the CPR International Conference.

After having recalled the circumstances in which the need of the Convention was raised by the US in 2015, Michael highlighted the position of the EU throughout both the drafting and implementing processes and – bringing as eloquent example the contract that the EU itself signed with AstraZeneca for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine – illustrated the huge benefit that mediation can produce and, as opposite, how lacking to include mediation in the dispute resolution clause can have a devastating impact on a commercial, economic and social perspective.

Full video of the webinar is available here