United Nations Convention on international settlement agreements resulting from mediation

Disputes in international trade are generally resolved through jurisdiction and arbitration, but the mediation, which is cheaper, relatively gives results in less time, and aims to protect future relations, is used less frequently. The most important reason for this is the easy enforceability of judgments and arbitral awards in other countries. In this context, as a result of a long-term study carried out by UNCITRAL, a convention was prepared and opened for signature on 7 August 2019, giving the enforceability and recognition to the settlement agreements resulting from mediation. The purpose of the Convention is to promote mediation in the resolution of international commercial disputes, to accelerate the enforcement of settlement agreements, to facilitate international trade. A new era has commenced for the resolution of disputes in international commercial mediation with the signing ceremony held in Singapore. Accordingly, the settlement agreements made through international commercial mediation within the scope of the Convention will benefit from the enforcement and recognition mechanism established by the Convention. For this, they must meet the conditions and must not have a limited number of determined grounds for refusal in the Convention. The Convention, having been signed by more than fifty countries over two years, entered into force on 12 September 2020. While the presence of countries with a large volume in world trade such as the USA, China and India among the signatory countries is promising, the absence of European countries and the EU, as well as Japan and Russia creates a negative impact. In this sense, in order to be successful for the Convention, it has great importance that more countries sign it and complete the ratification process. In addition, in order to be successful for the Convention, those involved in the implementation process must act in a way that will ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the Convention, and interpret the issues within the scope of the Convention in a way that will ensure a more effective application of mediation in the resolution of international commercial disputes.