Türkiye: The newest Member State of the Singapore Convention on Mediation

In December 2018, a resolution for the adaptation of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (“the Singapore Convention”) was passed in the UN General Assembly.  As of October 2021, 55 states signed the Convention, but only eight member states, including Türkiye, ratified it.

Generally, parties to a commercial agreement rely on arbitration or litigation because international conventions secure the enforceability of their outcome. However, now, because of the Singapore Convention, the parties can choose and undertake mediation without worrying about the enforceability issues.

The Singapore Convention endeavours to provide harmonization of international mediation rules and to secure the confidentiality of the proceedings.  All of these make mediation more appealing as an ADR method. Regarding the enforceability of the agreement, each member state must now consider Article 5 of the Singapore Convention which lists the grounds for refusing the enforcement.

Türkiye, by having ratified the Convention, becomes the most recent state that participated in the harmonization of international mediation rules.