The Singapore Law Gazette

The Enforceability of International Mediated Settlements in Singapore

This article provides an overview of the enforcement mechanism for international mediation settlement agreements, which supports mediation as a mainstream form of dispute resolution for both domestic and cross-border commercial disputes. It also briefly explains the role of the SIMI Certified Mediators (the SIMI’s highest tier of accredited mediators) in the enforceability of such agreements under Singapore’s Mediation Act 2017.

“ … international mediation received a boost in Singapore and internationally, when the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (also known as the “Singapore Convention on Mediation”) opened for signature in Singapore in 2019, ¹As at 10 July 2025, there are 58 signatories to the Singapore Convention on Mediation, with 18 countries having ratified it including Singapore, Japan, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and others and entered into force a year later.”²Speech by Mr Murali Pillai SC, Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Transport, at the Singapore International Mediation Institute’s 10^th Anniversary Celebration – Mr Murali Pillai SC, Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Transport, at the SIMI’s 10^th Anniversary Celebration on 8 November 2024

Growth of Mediation as a Mode of Dispute Resolution

Slowly but surely, mediation as a mode of dispute resolution for international commercial disputes is growing.

In his Response Speech at the Committee of Supply Debate 2025, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, Mr Edwin Tong SC, noted that “[t]he caseload of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC), in both the arbitration and the mediation spaces, have also seen a general upward trend. Many of these cases, in fact, have minimal connection to Singapore.”³Response Speech by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong SC at the Committee of Supply Debate 2025

At the Singapore International Mediation Centre’s (the SIMC) 10^th Anniversary Celebration in August 2024, the SIMC’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chuan Wee Meng, shared that the SIMC’s caseload increased by almost four-fold between 2019 and 2023, driven by increased demand from 61 jurisdictions worldwide.⁴10 Years Strong: SIMC’s Journey in Advancing Mediation Practice Globally As a testament to the growth of mediation as a dispute resolution platform, the SIMC’s caseload increased by 13% between 2021 and 2022,⁵SIMC Newsletter March 2023 and by 17% between 2022 and 2023.⁶SIMC Newsletter Quarter 1 2024

More recently, in an Asian Legal Business article headlined “THE BRIEFS: Mediation Grows in Popularity as Singapore Stakes Claim as Dispute Resolution Hub” published on 21 October 2024, Ms Una Khng, a commercial disputes director at Helmsman and a former District Judge and Assistant Registrar at the Supreme Court of Singapore, observed that “Singapore’s rise as a premier international mediation centre has highlighted mediation as a compelling and economical choice for businesses engaged in commercial disputes.” In the article, it was also reported that Ms Khng’s team “has been increasingly advising clients on mediation as a potential dispute resolution option, and mediation strategies in the management of complex commercial disputes.”⁷THE BRIEFS: Mediation Grows in Popularity as Singapore Stakes Claim as Dispute Resolution Hub

In light of such developments, the issue of the enforceability of mediated settlement agreements gains significance.

The Mediated Settlement as an Order of Court: The Role of Designated Mediation Service Providers and the SIMI Certified Mediators in Encouraging Mediation in Singapore

In Singapore, the Mediation Act 2017 (the MA)⁸Mediation Act 2017 was promulgated to “strengthen the enforceability of a mediated settlement agreement … [and] provide much-valued certainty for cross-border mediation users, in areas where the common law position is unclear or differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.”⁹The Second Reading of the Mediation Bill on 10 January 2017

One key feature of the MA is section 12, which allows parties to apply to a court to record their mediated settlement agreement as an order of court. This allows the mediated settlement agreement to be directly and immediately enforceable as a court order in the event any party breaches its terms subsequently. 

However, section 12(3)(a) further states that for a mediated settlement agreement to be recorded as an order of court, certain requirements must be met, including that the mediation must have been:

• administered by a “designated mediation service provider”; or
• conducted by a “certified mediator”.

In a press release issued by the Ministry of Law on 1 November 2017, the following were designated as “designated mediation service providers”:

• Singapore International Mediation Centre;
• Singapore Mediation Centre;
• Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management; and
• World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center.¹⁰Mediation Act to commence from 1 November 2017

The Minister for Law also designated the Singapore International Mediation Institute Credentialing Scheme (i.e., the SIMI Certified Mediator) as an approved certification scheme.¹¹Id.

Who are the SIMI Certified Mediators? Where are They Registered?

Under the SIMI’s Credentialing Scheme, a Certified Mediator is someone who has, amongst other things, completed a SIMI Registered Training Program and who has conducted at least 20 full-scale mediations within three years from the date of his/her application for the SIMI accreditation. He/she must have also undertaken a post-experience knowledge and skills assessment administered by senior mediators.¹²SIMI Credentialing Scheme The SIMI Certified Mediators are deemed to be at the pinnacle of the mediation profession in the SIMI’s register not only because of their experience, but also because of them having passed the advanced assessment of their skills by senior mediators.

The SIMI administers a publicly accessible administrative register of its Certified Mediators which includes comprehensive information about the mediators such as their language abilities, mediation style, location and practice areas. This is useful to parties searching for the most suitable SIMI Certified Mediator to mediate specific types of disputes.¹³The list of SIMI Certified Mediators

The Relationship Between the Mediation Act 2017 and the Singapore Convention on Mediation Act 2020

On the global front, the enforceability of cross-border mediated settlement agreements has been strengthened by the coming into force of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (or the Singapore Convention on Mediation) on 12 September 2020.¹⁴United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation

In a press release on 12 September 2020, the Ministry of Law stated that “[w]ith the Convention in force, businesses seeking enforcement of a mediated settlement agreement across borders can do so by applying directly to the courts of countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, instead of having to enforce the settlement agreement as a contract in accordance with each country’s domestic process.”¹⁵Singapore Convention on Mediation Enters into Force 

The Singapore Convention on Mediation Act 2020 (the SCMA),¹⁶Singapore Convention on Mediation Act 2020 which also came into force on 12 September 2020, implements the Singapore Convention on Mediation in Singapore. Section 4 of the SCMA provides that a party to an “international settlement agreement” (i.e., settlement agreement relating to a cross border commercial dispute)¹⁷Article 1 of the Singapore Convention on Mediation defines what an “international commercial dispute” is on several counts, e.g. the parties have places of business in different states, or the state where the parties have places of business is different from that state where the substantial obligations under the settlement agreement are performed may apply to the Singapore High Court to record the agreement as an order of court.

The MA works in tandem with the SCMA. The MA was amended in 2020 to cover “international settlement agreements”.¹⁸Section 6(3) of the Mediation Act 2017 Parties of international mediated settlement agreements can therefore choose to record their agreements under either the MA or SCMA (but not both), depending on their needs and circumstances.¹⁹Singapore Convention on Mediation Together, the MA and SCMA strengthen and broaden the framework for the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements in Singapore.

Conclusion: Opportunities for the SIMI Certified Mediators

To reiterate, the MA prescribes that a mediated settlement agreement may be recorded as an order of court only if the mediation was administered by a designated mediation service provider or conducted by a SIMI Certified Mediator.

Accordingly, legal advisors to businesses and in-house counsels are encouraged to advise their clients or decision-makers to opt to have any commercial disputes mediated by a SIMI Certified Mediator, both to ensure that the mediation process is conducted by a mediator with the highest standards of professionalism and to ensure the enforceability of the mediated settlement agreement.