Mediation is a human, not mechanistic process. As practitioners who are intervening in human systems, we use our “self” to do what we do. Our self is the instrument and the greater our knowledge of ourselves in relationship to others, the more successful we will be.
As with many dispute mechanisms, “pulling the trigger” on an SOP Adjudication is also firing the starting gun for what is generally, and particularly in SOP’s case, a short race to prepare for a hearing. SOP Adjudication is, deliberately and necessarily, a fast-track process, with the emphasis on obtaining a quick decision.
As mediators become more versatile mediating online, the effectiveness of virtual mediation will continue to likely increase.
The global rise of mediation as an effective mechanism for resolving complex disputes will continue to grow thanks to a new treaty that establishes a global framework for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation.
On 4 June 2021, Brazil signed the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation, also known as the “Singapore Convention on Mediation” (the “Singapore Convention”).
Just like in basketball, mediations have moments of “hang time” – that point where everything is in the air, suspended. In basketball, hang time usually means a slam dunk is about to happen; for mediations, though, this can become a slam funk.
Former Supreme Court judge Goh Joon Seng, who had served on Singapore’s Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) for more than a decade, died of cancer on Tuesday afternoon (June 15).
It is not always automatically bad if the parties at the mediation table are not diverse, because it might for example just be coincidence. It is problematic however, if diversity was hindered and people faced disproportionate or intentional obstacles to keep them away from the table.
One area of innovation is the continued development and adoption of the Singapore Convention on Mediation (“Singapore Convention”), which if ratified more widely in the coming years will provide an enforceable framework for international mediation.
In Asia Pacific, we have already witnessed changes in the judicial systems to adapt to the new “norm.” While the circumstances present many challenges, there are also considerable opportunities for those who are set to renew and reinvent. What, then, does this mean for the future of disputes?