Acknowledging the importance of mediation and adopting convention on international settlement agreements enhanced the existing legal framework on International mediation and international economic relations, on 12th March 2020, 52 states including India has signed the convention and 3 states have ratified the Singapore convention on mediation.
With the Convention in force, businesses seeking enforcement of a mediated settlement agreement across borders can do so by applying directly to the courts of countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, instead of having to enforce the settlement agreement as a contract in accordance with each country’s domestic process.
Mediation as an option for dispute resolution is available in India from a very long time, however, systematized legislative recognition has not been given yet.
Section 89 of the civil procedure code has introduced Mediation, through which Judges are required to give the parties an option to resolve their disputes through either Arbitration, Mediation, conciliation, Lok Adalat or Judicial settlement. However, the measures adopted are not enough and would require propel by changing the perspective of choosing the old litigating method.
Supreme court of India through a unique step has set up a Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee to give Mediation in India statutory recognition.
Under Singapore convention Mediation, enforcement of settlement agreement works on the same line as New York Convention in the enforcement of arbitral awards in any state which has administered New York Convention.
Financially effective and quicker resolution: Pandemic has created a dramatic impact on financial markets all over the world which is also one of the issues for upcoming disputes. Mutually settled agreements at this time not only provide quicker solutions but also a cost-effective way without being a burden on any party.
Mediation as a first option to resolve disputes: This change in disputes resolution will give a push and a new turn to the field of mediation in India with trained mediators, court-linked mediation centres, private mediation. With its success in the international sphere, it will create an atmosphere of trust in which parties would prefer mediation over arbitration or litigation.
Singapore Mediation convention can give mediation holistically a new approach in India over other dispute resolution methods and can prove as an opportunity for India to establish a system which will embark a beginning of mediation era in both domestic and international disputes. A threshold of achieving success in the International field, avenue of creating systematized and successful mediation in the domestic sphere is required.
