UK to sign the Singapore Convention on Mediation

On 2 March 2023, the UK Government announced its intention to become a party to the Singapore Convention on Mediation. This Convention seeks to improve the enforcement of international commercial settlement agreements reached via mediation. This is a huge step forward for the UK and the mediation community, with the UK now joining over 55 countries in signing the convention.

Lord Bellamy, Minister for Mediation, said: ‘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.’

IPOS mediator and partner, Henrietta Jackson-Stops, was quoted in Commercial Dispute Resolution welcoming the announcement as “a clear indication of the UK's ambition to remain a global leader in the development of international dispute resolution. Mediation is an important method of dispute resolution for both domestic and cross-border disputes. Signing the convention will give added weight to London as a centre to resolve disputes and help raise the profile of mediation”.