Signing up to an international convention on enforcing international settlements may create new relationships in Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well as aligning with the government's vision of the UK's role in the world, the government has claimed. 

A consultation on joining the Singapore Convention on Mediation opened today. The 2018 convention, formally titled the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, allows parties to a mediated international settlement to apply directly to the competent court for enforcement. It applies only to international commercial settlement agreements resulting from mediation. 

So far, 55 countries have signed the convention and nine, including Singapore and Turkey, have ratified it. Signatories include China, India and the US, but not the EU.  

The consultation document notes that, as the convention requires contracting parties to enforce agreements irrespective of the seat of mediation, it is likely to create further mediation business in the UK regardless of whether the UK signs up. However, stating that mediation 'ought to be integral to the justice system', it cites estimates that the process can save businesses around £4.6bn per year in management time, relationships, productivity and legal fees.

A previous ‘limited and informal’ consultation on joining the convention found respondents to be ‘broadly favourable’. However some respondents noted that, in practice, mediated settlement agreements rarely need to be enforced. Another concern was over the convention's broad definition of mediation. 

According to the consultation, if the government agrees to join the convention it would be implemented by secondary legislation under the Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Act 2020. 

The consultation runs to 1 April.