On 7 August, the Justice Minister of Georgia Thea Tsulukiani signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, which is also called the Singapore Convention on Mediation, reported agenda ge.

“Georgia is one of the first countries that joined the convention. By joining the convention Georgia took one step closer to the goal to become the regional hub of mediation”, read the press release published by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. In addition to Georgia, Singapore, China, the United States, Israel, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and other countries signed the agreement.

The Convention ensures that a settlement reached by parties becomes binding and enforceable in accordance with a simplified and streamlined procedure. The Convention provides a uniform and efficient international framework for mediation, akin to the framework that the New York Convention has successfully provided over the past 60 years for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.  It is designed to become an essential instrument in the facilitation of international trade and in the promotion of mediation as an alternative and effective method of resolving trade disputes. It also contributes to strengthening access to justice, and to the rule of law.

“This will help advance international trade, commerce and investment. Today, a group of states have come together to recommit ourselves to multilateralism and to declare that we remain open for business,” said Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the signing ceremony.