The Singapore Mediation Lecture is presented by the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) and Harry Elias Partnership LLP, in collaboration with the Singapore Management University. The Lecture series is held annually with the aim to enhance the understanding and use of mediation in resolving commercial disputes.
This year’s lecture will focus on the types of long-term commercial contracts that involve a high degree of communication, collaboration and co-operation by the parties (i.e. the characteristics of a ‘relational contract’ under English law) and how disputes arising from such contracts can be resolved. In this regard, our keynote speaker and panellists will discuss the options including the SMC’s new scheme – Integrated Appropriate Dispute Resolution Framework or INTEGRAF, in which a Conflict Avoidance Board is constituted to help preserve relations and resolve disputes throughout the span of long term projects.
The keynote address will be delivered by The Right Honourable Lord Justice Peter Fraser, Royal Courts of Justice, Law Commission of England and Wales. The address will focus on relational contracts under English law as described in Alan Bates and Others v Post Office Limited [2019] EWHC 606. This will be followed by a discussion by our esteemed panellists on such contracts and INTEGRAF.
The lecture is suited for mediators, adjudicators and dispute resolution advocates who want a better understanding of the workings of a conflict avoidance board and how it helps in diffusing large scale disputes. The lecture will also be combined with an Appreciation Lunch for the SMC’s mediators, adjudicators and dispute resolution advocates. We are pleased to welcome those who wish to meet with like-minded participants and widen individual networks.
Kindly note that attendance to the physical event is by confirmation from Singapore Mediation Centre only.
EVENT INFORMATION
- Title: Singapore Mediation Lecture & Appreciation Lunch
- Date: Thursday, 29 August 2024
- Venue: Shangri-La Singapore, 22 Orange Grove Rd, Singapore 258350
- Time: 09:00 to 14:30 hrs
- Dress code: Business attire
- Note: The physical event registration is closed
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Fraser
Sir Peter Fraser
Royal Courts of Justice | Law Commission of England and Wales
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Fraser was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1989 and took Silk in 2009. In 2002 he was appointed as a Recorder and as a High Court Judge in 2015, assigned to the King’s Bench Division. Lord Justice Fraser was educated at his local state secondary school, Harrogate Grammar School in Yorkshire, before reading Law at Cambridge. He graduated in 1986 and also obtained the postgraduate LLM degree from Cambridge, for which he studied 1987-1988.
He was called to the Bar in 1989 by Middle Temple. He completed his pupillage at Atkin Chambers in Gray’s Inn in 1990 practising as a barrister from there, both in the UK and internationally in a wide variety of jurisdictions. He was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2002, and Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2009. He also sat as an arbitrator internationally under both the ICC, the DIAC and the HKIAC.
Lord Justice Fraser was appointed a High Court Judge in 2015, and was Judge in Charge of the Technology and Construction Court from 2017 to 2020. He became a Judge of the Commercial Court in 2021. On 29 June 2023 the Government announced the appointment of Lord Justice Fraser as the new Chair of the Law Commission of England and Wales. Taking up his role on 1 December 2023, Lord Justice Fraser will play a pivotal role in overseeing the Commission’s law reform and making key strategic decisions. Alongside the other Commissioners, he will be instrumental in leading the Commission’s work to ensure that the law is fair, modern, simple and cost effective.
His Majesty The King approved the appointment of Lord Justice Fraser as a Lord Justice of Appeal, from 15 December 2023.
PANELLIST
Judicial Commissioner Wong Li Kok Alex
SG Courts, Supreme Court
Judicial Commissioner Alex Wong Li Kok was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court on 1 August 2023. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1999 and admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2007. In 2018, He was designated a Senior Accredited Specialist for Building and Construction by the Singapore Academy of Law – the only transactional lawyer so designated by the Academy at that time.
Before he was appointed to his current position, Mr Wong was the Office Managing Partner of Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee where he practised as a transactional project finance lawyer in the energy, utilities and infrastructure space both in Singapore and internationally. In the years before he joined the bench, Mr Wong worked extensively on offshore wind power projects in Taiwan, water and mining projects in Africa and hydro power projects in Malaysia.
PANELLIST
Dr. Mark McLaughlin, Assistant Professor of Law
Singapore Management University
Mark McLaughlin is Assistant Professor of Law at Singapore Management University and the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy. His research focuses on the reform of arbitration and mediation, international economic law, and the intersection of law and technology.
Mark has been a trainer for government officials around the world in managing their investment treaty commitments and navigating investor-state disputes. In 2022, he became of a member of the ISDS Academic Forum. He has published in leading international journals on novel areas of law, such as investor-state mediation, state-owned enterprises, and artificial intelligence. He holds an LL.B. from the University of Glasgow and a Ph.D. from the China University of Political Science and Law, where he was a lecturer in international investment law.
MODERATOR
Mr. Francis Goh, Equity Partner
Harry Elias Partnership LLP
Francis Goh has been a mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) since 2001. Currently a Principal Mediator with the SMC, Francis is a SIMI and IMI Certified Mediator. He is also an IMI Certified Mediation Advocate. Francis is a mediation trainer, coach and assessor. With the over three decades of dispute resolution experience, Francis leads the International Arbitration and Mediation Practice group at Harry Elias Partnership. An early adopter of mediation since 2001, Francis has incorporated mediation techniques into his dispute resolution practice, both as mediation advocate and as mediator. Francis weaves litigation, arbitration and mediation expertise to obtain outcomes enabling clients and parties to ‘get back to doing business’ in a time and costs-efficient way. Francis is the Chairman of the Advocacy Committee of the Law Society of Singapore. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Apart from the SMC, Francis is a Mediator on the panel of many institutions including the Singapore International Mediation Centre, the Brunei Darussalam Arbitration Centre, the Beihai Asia International Arbitration Centre and AAA-ICDR.
- Number of Public CPD Point: To be advised
- Practice Area: Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Training Level: General
SILE Attendance Policy
Participants who wish to obtain CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy set out in the CPD Guidelines. For this activity, this includes logging in at the start of the webinar and logging out at the conclusion of the webinar in the manner required by the organiser, and not being away from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes. Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the activity.
Please refer to http://www.sileCPDcentre.sg for more information.
