By: Staff Writer
January 16, Colombo (LNW): The Parliament on Wednesday passed the Recognition and Enforcement of International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation Bill.
The enactment of this bill marks Sri Lanka’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from arbitration, commonly known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation.
The primary objective of this Act is to give effect to the provisions outlined in the Singapore Convention on Mediation.
The newly passed bill focuses on making provisions for the recognition and enforcement of international settlement agreements, aligning Sri Lanka with international standards for dispute resolution through mediation.
The bill’s provisions are designed to facilitate the recognition and enforcement of international settlement agreements, and it also addresses matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
This legislative step is a crucial development in strengthening Sri Lanka’s legal framework concerning international mediation agreements.
Sri Lanka is now poised to ratify the Singapore Convention on Mediation. As per the convention’s terms, it will enter into force in respect of a State six months after ratification.
The Enforcement of International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation Bill was published in the Gazette of October 16, 2023. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, P.C presented the Bill in Parliament and it received the support of all political parties to enact a statute that will be of benefit to Sri Lanka.
The Bill establishes a domestic regime to enforce international commercial settlement agreements that have resulted from mediation.
The provisions are based on the principles of the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018, and which came into operation on September 12, 2020.
Sri Lanka signed the Convention when it opened for signature in Singapore on August 7, 2019. As of October this year, 56 States including five of the six largest economies of the world — the USA, China, Japan, India, and the UK — as well as South Korea which is one of the largest economies in Asia, have signed the Convention.
Twelve States have ratified the Convention, Singapore being one of the first and Japan being the most recent (October 1, 2023). Sri Lanka is poised to ratify the Convention after the enactment of the law. Known also as the Singapore Convention on Mediation, it is to international commercial mediated settlement agreements what the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) is to foreign arbitral awards.
