Opportunities and Challenges Created by the United Nations Convention on International Mediation Settlement Agreements

Abstract

In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (also known as the Singapore Convention). The key feature of this convention is to make disputing parties enforce and invoke settlement agreements easily with different signatory states. This paper intends to investigate the possible effects from the ratification of the convention on dispute resolution practice in the Hong Kong construction sector. The authors conducted questionnaires and interviews with experienced construction mediators in Hong Kong. According to the data collected, the convention will be beneficial to the promotion of construction mediation, development of mediation in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong’s mediation status in global mediation. Meanwhile, it will also pose a certain degree of threat to the status of Hong Kong as a mediation center, such as higher competitiveness of other countries in serving as an international mediation seat and difficulties encountered by Hong Kong mediators in claiming relief under the convention. Because of the conservative attitude of the construction industry and unpopularity of mediation in cross-border construction projects, it is expected that both pros and cons brought by the Singapore Convention will be to a confined extent.