Singapore Convention on Mediation
The Singapore Convention is to mediation what the New York Convention is to arbitration — a treaty that lets an international mediated settlement be enforced directly across borders, without re-litigation.
What the Singapore Convention does
Before 2019, parties to a cross-border mediation faced a recurring problem: a successful settlement was, in legal terms, just a contract. Enforcing it abroad required suing on the contract in the foreign jurisdiction — slow and expensive, and undermining the very point of mediating.
The Singapore Convention solves this. Under Article 3, each contracting state must enforce a qualifying international mediated settlement agreement in accordance with its own rules of procedure. Refusal grounds (Article 5) mirror the New York Convention model — incapacity, invalidity, mediator misconduct, public policy — and are read narrowly.
The Convention entered into force on 12 September 2020. Signatories include Singapore, the United States, China, India, and a growing list of others. The current status list is maintained by UNCITRAL.
How Akordans uses the Singapore Convention
When an Akordans mediation (€39.50/party) resolves a dispute between parties in two different contracting states, the resulting settlement can be enforced under the Singapore Convention without needing to be re-cast as an arbitral award. For mixed situations — one party inside the EU, one outside in a New York Convention state — the Enforcement tier (€199/party) issues a consent arbitration award instead, which travels under the broader 172-state New York network.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Singapore Convention?
- The Singapore Convention on Mediation — formally the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation — was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2018 and opened for signature in Singapore on 7 August 2019. It entered into force on 12 September 2020.
- How does the Singapore Convention differ from the New York Convention?
- The New York Convention (1958) provides cross-border enforcement for arbitral awards. The Singapore Convention provides an analogous regime for mediated settlement agreements — meaning a settlement reached through international mediation can be enforced directly in a contracting state, without having to be re-framed as an arbitral award.
- Does the Singapore Convention apply inside the EU?
- The European Union has not, as a bloc, signed the Singapore Convention. Some Member States have signed individually. Inside the EU, the EU Mediation Directive (2008/52/EC) and Directive 2025/2647 remain the primary framework for making mediated settlements enforceable; the Singapore Convention becomes useful when one party sits outside the EU in a contracting state.
- What kind of settlement qualifies?
- Article 1 covers written international commercial settlement agreements resulting from mediation. Domestic disputes, consumer disputes, and family or employment matters are excluded, as are settlements that have already been recorded as a court judgment or arbitral award (those travel under their own treaties).