The Bar Council has today welcomed the UK Government’s commitment to ratify the Singapore Convention on Mediation. It is the Bar Council's longstanding view that mediation is an important contributor to cost-effective dispute resolution.
Sam Townend KC, Vice Chair of the Bar, said: "Barristers make excellent mediators and mediation advocates; the profession leads the world in the provision of mediation as one of many forms of dispute resolution.
"The Bar Council welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to ratify the Singapore Convention. Ratification of the convention allows for the direct enforcement of mediated settlement agreements on international and commercial cases.
“The move bolsters confidence in the UK legal sector and is further recognition of the vital contribution that British lawyers make to UK exports."
The Singapore Convention is formally known as the United Nations(UN) Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation. It was formally adopted in 2018 and opened for signature in 2019. The convention is an international agreement regarding the recognition of mediated settlements.