《新加坡调解公约》是由联合国国际贸易法委员会历时四年研究拟订的，并经联合国大会会议于2018年12月审议通过，公约旨在解决国际商事调解达成的和解协议的跨境执行问题。在通过公约的决议中，联合国大会表示，调解在友好解决国际商事争议上具有独特价值，公约将补充现行国际调解法律框架，有助于发展和谐的国际经济关系。
新加坡总理李显龙在签署仪式上表示，《新加坡调解公约》在诉讼、仲裁之外，进一步健全了国际商事争议解决的调解制度。签署方签署公约，展示了国际社会对多边主义重要作用的共识。
调解是高效灵活的争议解决程序，比起诉讼和仲裁等其他争议解决程序更具成本及时间优势。《新加坡调解公约》将允许在国际商业纠纷中执行和解协议的一方直接诉诸缔约国一方的法院，该法院届时必须根据该缔约国的程序规则以及公约规定的条件执行和解协议。
United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (New York, 2018) (the "Singapore Convention on Mediation")
Date of adoption: 20 December 2018
Open for signature: 7 August 2019 in Singapore and, thereafter, at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Adopted in December 2018, the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation, also known as the “Singapore Convention on Mediation” (the “Convention”) applies to international settlement agreements resulting from mediation (“settlement agreement”). It establishes a harmonized legal framework for the right to invoke settlement agreements as well as for their enforcement.
The Convention is an instrument for the facilitation of international trade and the promotion of mediation as an alternative and effective method of resolving trade disputes. Being a binding international instrument, it is expected to bring certainty and stability to the international framework on mediation, thereby contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), mainly the SDG 16.
The Convention is open for signature by States and regional economic integration organizations (referred to as “Parties”).
Article 1 provides that the Convention applies to international settlement agreements resulting from mediation, concluded in writing by parties to resolve a commercial dispute. Article 1 also lists the exclusions from the scope of the Convention, namely, settlement agreements concluded by a consumer for personal, family or household purposes, or relating to family, inheritance or employment law. A settlement agreement that is enforceable as a judgment or as an arbitral award is also excluded from the scope of the Convention in order to avoid possible overlap with existing and future conventions, namely the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958), the Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (2005) and the convention on judgments, under preparation by The Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Further, Article 3 addresses the key obligations of the Parties to the Convention with respect to both enforcement of settlement agreements and the right of a disputing party to invoke a settlement agreement covered by the Convention. Each Party to the Convention may determine the procedural mechanisms that may be followed where the Convention does not prescribe any requirement. Article 4 covers the formalities for relying on a settlement agreement, namely, the disputing party shall supply to the competent authority the settlement agreement signed by them and evidence that the settlement agreement results from mediation. The competent authority may require any necessary document in order to verify that the requirements of the Convention are complied with.
The Convention defines in Article 5 the grounds upon which a court may refuse to grant relief at the request of the disputing party against whom it is invoked. These grounds can be grouped into three main categories, namely in relation to the disputing parties, the settlement agreement and the mediation procedure. Article 5 includes two additional grounds upon which the court may, on its own motion, refuse to grant relief. Those grounds relate to public policy and the fact that the subject matter of the dispute cannot be settled by mediation. With the aim to provide for the application of the most favourable framework for settlement agreements, Article 7 foresees the application of the more favourable law or treaty.
Article 8 includes reservations. A first reservation permits a Party to the Convention to exclude from the application of the Convention settlement agreements to which it is a party, or to which any governmental agencies or any person acting on behalf of a governmental agency is a party, to the extent specified in the declaration. A second reservation permits a Party to the Convention to declare that it will apply the Convention only to the extent that the disputing parties have agreed to its application.
The Convention and any reservations thereto apply prospectively, to settlement agreements which have been concluded after the entry into force of the Convention for the Party concerned, as provided in Article 9.
The Convention is consistent with the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Mediation and International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation (2018). This approach is intended to provide States with the flexibility to adopt either the Convention, the Model Law as a standalone text or both the Convention and the Model Law as complementary instruments of a comprehensive legal framework on mediation.
高贺新律师提示：本公约目前在开放签署阶段，尚未生效。
