On June 25, 2018, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) finalized the draft Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, to be known as the Singapore Convention.
UNCITRAL’s Working Group II was initiated in 2014 in order to explore the development of mechanisms for the enforcement of mediated agreements in international commercial disputes. Over fifty (50) countries participated in Working Group II, with active contribution from the US, EU, Canada, Australia, Israel, China, India, Korea, Russia, Mexico, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and many others. After four years of collaboration and negotiation, the Working Group has issued a text it hopes will do for international mediation, what the New York Convention did for international arbitration.
As a companion text, the Working Group has also drafted a Model Law. Together, the Convention and Model Law drafts outline the requirements for a settlement agreement, the process for enforcing an agreement, and the grounds for refusing to grant relief. The documents are seen as completing the ADR framework for international disputes.
The text is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly later this year. In August 2019, a signing ceremony will be held for the Convention in Singapore.