Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal
Services (): My Honourable Friend, the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice ( Bellamy KC), has made the
following statement:
'Today I am publishing the Government response to the
consultation on the United Nations Convention on International
Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (New York, 2018)
(the “Singapore Convention on Mediation”).
In an increasingly globalised world, it is important that
businesses have the confidence to trade across borders in the
knowledge that private international law rules are in place to
determine which country’s courts will hear a dispute raising
cross-border issues (jurisdiction), which country’s law will
apply (applicable law) and whether a judgment obtained in one
country will be recognised and enforced in another (recognition
and enforcement). These rules also establish procedures for
cooperation in areas such as the taking of evidence, the service
of legal documents and cooperation between Competent Authorities.
The Singapore Convention on Mediation (“the Convention”) is a
private international law agreement which provides a framework to
allow for the recognition and enforcement of international
commercial settlement agreements reached via mediation. It
enables a party which has mediated their dispute to enforce the
resulting cross-border mediated agreement in any country that is
Party to the Convention without needing to commence an action for
breach of contract.
The Convention has garnered international support and recognition
since it opened for signature in August 2019, with 55 countries
having already signed it, including a number of the UK’s key
trading partners and 18 of the UK’s fellow Commonwealth nations.
The Convention has been ratified by 10 countries to date, namely
Fiji, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Ecuador, Honduras, Turkey,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Singapore.
With this global reach, the Convention presents opportunities for
the UK to strengthen its relationships with our existing
international partners and to establish new relationships. It
will also reaffirm the UK’s intention to build upon its long
history of leadership in international law-making fora such as
the United Nations and the Hague Conference on Private
International Law.
Mediation as a dispute resolution process is integral to the UK
justice system. It can provide a cost-effective method of
resolving disputes whilst also aiming to preserve important and
potentially long-standing business relationships. It is estimated
that commercial mediation can save businesses around £5.9 billion
per year in management time, damaged relationships, lost
productivity, and legal fees. In February 2023, the value of UK
mediated cases each year was estimated at approximately £20bn.
The Convention provides a uniform framework for the effective
recognition and enforcement of international mediated settlement
agreements resulting from commercial disputes. Its non-reciprocal
nature means that the settlement agreements that UK courts may be
asked to enforce, as a Party to the Convention, do not need to
have been concluded in the jurisdiction of another State party.
Parties to international mediated settlement agreements will
therefore be able to have their settlement agreements recognised
and enforced in the UK under the Convention rules, regardless of
the jurisdiction in which they were reached. This wide
application of the Convention will reinforce and potentially
increase the UK’s attractiveness as a respected jurisdiction for
international dispute resolution.
The Government launched a public consultation in February 2022 to
seek the views of the UK’s flourishing legal sector and mediation
community on whether the UK should become a party to the
Convention. The majority of the responses were in favour of the
UK joining the Convention. In practical terms, many respondents
noted that joining the Convention will mean that where it might
be necessary to enforce a mediated agreement, having a direct
route for enforcement would be preferable to the current practice
of having to enforce by way of a breach of contract or following
a court order. Respondents also generally agreed that becoming
party would signal the UK’s commitment to mediation, further
enhance the UK’s status as an attractive international dispute
resolution hub, promote the UK legal sector and increase the
credibility of UK-based mediators.
For these reasons, the Government has concluded that it is the
right time for the UK to become a party to the Convention to
provide for recognition and enforcement of international
commercial mediation settlement agreements throughout the UK.
This decision will be a clear signal to our international
partners that the UK is committed to maintaining and
strengthening its position as a centre for dispute resolution and
to promote the UK’s flourishing legal and mediation sectors.
The UK will sign the Convention as soon as possible, as an
important signal of our intentions to remain a world leader in
this area and as a clear indication of the UK’s commitment to
mediation. We will work to ratify at a later date once all
necessary implementing legislation is in place and after the
Convention has been laid before Parliament under the terms of the
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
I invite you to consider the Government response to the
consultation, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-singapore-convention-on-mediation(opens
in a new tab)'.
