Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) is an independent not-for-profit organisation in Singapore providing

mediation Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...

services, through its panel of international mediators, to parties wishing to resolve their cross-border commercial disputes amicably. The centre is housed at

Maxwell Chambers Maxwell Chambers is an integrated alternative dispute resolution (ADR) complex located in Singapore. It provides hearing rooms and facilities for the conduct of ADR hearings in Singapore, as well as the regional offices of a number of ADR institut ...

. A working group, co-chaired by Edwin Glasgow CBE QC and George Lim SC, was set up in April 2013 by the Chief Justice of Singapore

Sundaresh Menon Sundaresh Menon (born 26 February 1962) is a Singaporean lawyer and jurist who has been serving as the fourth chief justice of Singapore since 2012, appointed by President Tony Tan. Education Sundaresh graduated from the National University of ...

and the Ministry of Law to assess and make recommendations on how to develop Singapore as a centre for international commercial mediation. In its report, the working group recognised the need for enhanced and sophisticated dispute resolution services for cross-border disputes to support the rise in trade and investment in Asia. The working group made various recommendations, including the establishment of an international mediation service provider offering a panel of international mediators and experts as well as user-centric products and services. This resulted in the establishment of SIMC, which was officially launched in November 2014 by the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Minister of Law,

K Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam ( ta, காசிவிஸ்வநாதன் சண்முகம்; born 26 March 1959), better known as K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister for Law since 2008 ...

. SIMC complements the

Singapore International Arbitration Centre Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) is a not-for-profit international arbitration organisation based in Singapore, which administers arbitrations under its own rules of arbitration and the UNCITRAL The United Nations Commission o ...

(SIAC) and

Singapore International Commercial Court The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) was established on 5 January 2015. The idea to create the SICC was mooted by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the Opening of Legal Year 2013, with a key feature being the internationalisation of ...

(SICC); these three entities are designed to provide a full suite of dispute resolution options for parties involved in cross-border disputes. For instance, SIMC and SIAC administer the "Arb-Med-Arb" protocol, which allows a party to begin

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

under SIAC before proceeding to mediation under SIMC. The aim is to allow settlements reached at mediation to be recorded as enforceable consent awards. Parties can avail themselves of the protocol by incorporating a model clause into their contracts. SIMC maintains a panel of around 70 international mediators from 14 jurisdictions. They are certified by the Singapore International Mediation Institute, which acts as the professional standards body for mediation in Singapore. SIMC's panel of mediators include Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large

Tommy Koh Tommy Koh Thong Bee (; born 12 November 1937) is a Singaporean diplomat, lawyer, professor and author who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1968 and 1971. Early life and education Koh was born in Si ...

and

William Ury William Ury is an American author, academic, anthropologist, and negotiation expert. He co-founded the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Additionally, he helped found the International Negotiation Network with former President Jimmy Carter. Ury is ...

. SIMC also maintains a panel of technical experts to assist in mediations involving specialised issues. In July 2018, the

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) ( French: ''Commission des Nations Unies pour le droit commercial international (CNUDCI)'') is a subsidiary body of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) responsible for helping to fa ...

concluded the

Singapore Convention on Mediation The Singapore Convention on Mediation, formally the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation which was adopted on 20 December 2018 and opened for signature on 7 August 2019, is an international agr ...

, a treaty that makes it easier for businesses to enforce mediated settlement agreements across international borders. Formally known as th
United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation
the Singapore Convention was adopted on 20 December 2018 and opened for signature on 7 August 2019. It was signed by 46 countries on that day, the highest number of "first day" signatories for an UNCITRAL Convention.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2015 2014 establishments in Singapore Legal organisations based in Singapore Mediation